Internet Marketing Blog » Online Press Release (PR)

5 Tips to Increase the Visibility of your Online Press Release

Rory — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:16:36 +0000

Using premium PR services such as PR Leap, PR Web or Vocus is becoming an increasingly valuable tactic for search engine optimisation and internet marketing strategies because it generates links from authoritative domains, gets your brand good visibility in the SERPs and an online PR can be a very influential marketing tool. In this blog I’d like to explore how you can increase the potential of PRs to increase your online visibility, build brand awareness and even win new leads.

1. Use the Facebook ‘Like’ Button –

With over 800 million active users, Facebook is easily the largest social network on the web, and as a result, it’s the easiest way a brand can share with their audience on a mass scale. By ‘Liking’ your press release on such a visible platform, it increases the chances that your target audience will read your Press Release and maybe even interact with it. This is great for increasing your brand visibility, engaging with your audience, and spreading the news that was included in the PR.

2. Use Twitter –

Twitter is one of the most effective social networks for businesses using online customer service, or looking to directly engage with their clients. This is what makes it so useful for facilitating the spread and outreach of a Press Release. By sharing a PR directly on a businesses Twitter account, they are maximising potential that PR has to connect with the relevant audience. You can write a brief message describing the PR, and how it might help people, and this will also include a link directly to the PR. It’s a simple, but very effective strategy.

3. Embed your Press Release on your company blog –

By simply posting any press releases on your company blog you are maximising the potential for it to reach the audience it has been written for. This mean people who are interested in the type of services or products you offer, or users that read your blog regularly and are likely to engage with it or share it on their own social media profiles. It’s simple to do, and it makes sure that the potential outreach of the press release is capitalised upon.

4. Link to your Press Release from your homepage –

Sometimes, when you post your Press Release on your blog, it might be missed by browsing users who are just scanning your homepage. An almost foolproof way to ensure this isn’t the case is to link to the Press Release directly from your home page. Again, like the previous points, this is an effective strategy because it makes the most relevant audience aware of the content included in the PR.

5. Use intelligent internal linking in the PR –

One of the great features of releasing an online Press Release is that it naturally creates many new links form authoritative sources. Because of the increased online visibility that a premium online PR generates, it is crucial that you optimise the linking in that press release so that users can navigate from it to any relevant websites quickly and easily. This will make them more likely to share the PR, or even a direct link to your company website on one of their social media profiles. This is a brilliant way to boos online visibility.

These are just five simple tips to increase the visibility of your online press release. If you have any further questions about how online PR might influence your digital marketing campaign, then please feel free to contact anyone here at Click Consult via our website.

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Small Things Can Undo Hard PR Work

John — Fri, 07 May 2010 07:30:41 +0000

When it comes to search marketing press releases, there are small things and big things that you need to concentrate on. Naturally, the big things tend to take up most of your attention. The small things still need to be taken care of, however. Failing to take care of small things can harm your online press release just as badly as overlooking bigger issues.

Take the humble comma, for example. It’s much abused. If you’ve taken some trouble over your online press release, it’s likely that much of this abuse has been avoided. Your readers won’t be likely to be confronted by the usual ‘The company, said today’ kind of mistakes. But did you know that there are other comma issues that can annoy your readers just as much?

Here’s another example:

The product, ‘Wonderglow’, has been described as ‘Nothing short of astounding.’ ‘Wonderglow,’ which promises super powers, is on sale now.

The issue here is formatting. The sentence above is slightly irritating because the formatting choices are inconsistent. When you read a book, you won’t notice any of the style choices made. This is because they are invisible, just as they should be. The only time formatting is usually noticeable is when the decisions made are all over the place, distracting the reader.

A writing professional will usually choose one style and stick with it, but you should still be aware of the need for consistency. Talk to us at Click Consult about this and other issues you may face with online press releases.

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Be Harsh With Your PR Word Usage

Susie — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:30:37 +0000

An adjective can be a dangerous thing in an online press release. You might think that it’s a good addition to your text, but it could be the giveaway that betrays your angle to your press release’s reader.

A good online press release needs to convey sufficient information to convince the reader that they are spending their time reading something of value. The best way to do this is simply to put the information out there, and you can talk to us at Click Consult about press release creation for your search marketing campaign. All too often, however, an online press release has been designed for news that is a little less than newsworthy. That’s when adjectives and other modifiers tend to stampede in.

Consider this seemingly innocent sentence:

“Designed by expert researchers in the field, Super Bam washing powder is a revolutionary step in the technology of high-end cleaning products. The next-step evolution of micro-focused cleaner involves the use of micro-scrubbing beads, developed through innovative research.”

It doesn’t sound too bad, but once you remove the modifiers throughout the paragraph, the meaninglessness of the text becomes all too clear:

“Designed by researchers in the field, Super Bam washing powder is a step up in the technology of cleaning products. The evolution of cleaner involves the use of beads, developed through research.”

Whenever a sentence contains too many modifiers, it’s probably a sign that you have nothing worthwhile to say. If this is the case, it’s time to rethink the information you’re featuring in your online press release.

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When Fancy Tricks Ruin A Good PR

Susie — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:30:54 +0000

An online press release should open with an attention-grabbing sentence. A lot of writers spend a lot of time working on getting the opening exactly right. One famed copywriter recommended spending up to 50% of writing time working on the opening of a press release or piece of copy. All of this adds up to the strong message that a good opening counts for a lot.

What people generally fail to say is that simplicity tends to impress much more than a fancy opening. With all of the pressure on to write up a grabby opening sentence, it can be tempting to try something spectacular. The old cliché of ‘STOP! Now that we’ve got your attention…’ comes to mind here. When you’re desperate to grab people’s attention, it can seem logical to do just about anything. When you write this sort of thing it can get you into trouble when the reader moves on from the first sentence.

Readers react best to a straightforward approach. The average internet user is short on time and even shorter on patience. A well-written opening that simply informs is more likely to encourage them to read on, as long as they’re interested in the subject. If they aren’t, the rest of the press release isn’t going to interest them in any case.

Simplicity is the secret to online press release success. The absolute best opening line is one that lays out your subject neatly. Talk to us at Click Consult about web marketing press release writing. Convey important information first, and worry about wowing your audience later.

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How To Keep Your Press Release Simple

John — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:05:33 +0000

A good online press release is simple. Of course, the composing of a good online press release can be a very complicated process, but the actual end product needs to be very straightforward.

It can be difficult to stick with simplicity, especially if you’re composing your online press release yourself. Many companies opt to obtain professional advice, and you can talk to us at Click Consult. If you are designing or composing your own web marketing press release, here are some ways to keep it simple:

- Stick to plain facts. A good press release avoids fluffy speech or exaggerations. This will not only help you get your message across to your readers more effectively, it will help you keep your sentences short. Short, sharp sentences read well on the internet.

- Find one driving message and stick with it. Too many press releases wander all over the place. You’ll notice that news stories pick up one fact and transmit it, then move on to the next one. They also have an overarching message. Pick your message, and use the facts to support it.

- Cite more than one source. Using only one source will make your story seem a little flimsy. It’s a good idea to cite two or more sources. It’s also good to make the sources at least sound independent, even if they are from within your company or, as in most cases, you. ‘Smith Co. representative reported record sales’ sounds a lot better than ‘We’re selling more than ever!’

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Writing Your Way Into Google News

Susie — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:05:44 +0000

Each of the news sites around the net requires a slightly different approach with your search marketing online press releases. Don’t worry, this doesn’t usually mean that you need to write up seven different versions of your press release. It does mean that you need to select your targets before the release is written, and craft the online press release carefully to include the things that will most appeal.

Google News is currently the aspiration of many companies when issuing press releases. Unfortunately, the things that make appearing on its pages desirable are also the things that make the task difficult. Like other quality news sites, Google selects stories carefully, but unlike regular news there is no human to appeal to. Google News is different from traditional news sources as it uses an algorithm to select stories, just like the search engine uses an algorithm for picking websites.

Many online press releases include some search engine optimisation tactics to bring some benefit back to the business’ website. Optimising for Google News has a lot of similarities, but is more specific. You need to select your target audience and hone the language to meet that specific audience. Keywords are vital and you can talk to us about keyword selection at Click Consult. We can address other relevant queries too.

Where you post your online press release is just as important as how it’s written, when it comes to Google News. Quite a few press release sites feature frequently in Google News pages, so some research is worthwhile.

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Don’t Overlook The Small Things In Press Releases

John — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:05:10 +0000

Getting together an online press release can be a stressful job, even when you get the services of a press release professional. Some of the smaller things are often overlooked. These little touches can make a real difference when you want your online press release picked up by the news media or by internet users.

- Title limitations. You might think that the formation of your press release’s title is up to you, but often you’ll come across imposed limitations when you come to submit it to other websites. An ideal title is around 80 characters long, which is not a lot of room to get your offer across

- A summary paragraph. You’re likely to find that most online press release sites require a summary paragraph for their submission form. This paragraph is often displayed just below the title as a kind of teaser for the press release itself. The writing of this summary or description paragraph is almost as important as the writing of the entire press release, and it’s worth spending time on it. You can talk to us at Click Consult about online press release writing

- Length of the press release. A good press release is between 250 and 400 words. It should be three to five paragraphs long. This is only a rough guideline, as press releases can be longer, but a very long press release can bore your audience

- Contact details in the proper places. Traditionally, contact details are put at the bottom of a web marketing press release

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The Worst Press Release Blunders

Susie — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:05:44 +0000

The average business owner is likely to make some obvious mistakes when it comes to constructing an online press release. As such, it can help to be aware of some of the most disastrous blunders that do sometimes occur when people compose online press releases.

- Spelling and grammar. No matter how many times web writers note how important spelling and grammar is to presentation, near-unreadable articles and press releases continue to populate the net. It should go without saying that your online press release should not be one of them.

- Composing entirely online. There are certain time constraints whenever someone composes a piece of writing on the net, and this can lead to mistakes. It is far better to compose your online press release in Word and set aside time to edit before posting.

- Putting the entire press release in upper case. Blame it on the movies, but every so often a business owner thinks it’s a good idea to present their carefully composed press release entirely in capital letters. As you might imagine, the effect is not one that you would desire.

- Making it too short. Believe it or not, but some businesses put a lot of effort into deciding on the subject of their press release, and then ruin it by composing only a short paragraph. A press release needs to resemble a news item or story.

Obtaining professional advice is a good way of ensuring no blunders occur in your internet marketing press releases. You can talk to us at Click Consult when you are considering composing an online press release.

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The ‘Newsworthy’ Test For Online Press Releases

John — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:00:27 +0000

An online press release is traditionally intended for the press. That means news. Although the possibilities for an online press release go well beyond the traditional news makers, news is still central to online press releases. For your press release to be considered news, it needs to contain something newsworthy.

Newsworthy events happen to a business more often than you might think, but it often takes a fair bit of thinking before the average business event can be turned into something newsworthy. The help of a professional can be extremely useful when you’re looking for a newsworthy angle for your online press release, and you can talk to us at Click Consult.

The writing of a press release also needs to take on the news style. This means answering the five W’s – the what, where, who, when and why, in the early stages of the press release, and avoiding any sort of language that seems like advertising.

There are a few tests you can put your online press release under to ensure that you’re taking the right approach. The first is to read a series of news articles from the publications to which you will be submitting the press release. If the writing style of your internet marketing press release is similar, you’re probably on the right track. The second is to hand the press release over to a colleague who is unconnected with your business and can give an honest opinion whether they think it works. Their honest opinion is valuable, as it’s likely to resemble the opinion of the average internet user.

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Time Is Vital For Your Press Releases

John — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:00:33 +0000

Timing is often of the utmost importance in business. Make your offer too soon, and you give your plans away. Make it too late and it’s, well, too late! Things are no different on the web. Timing is everything when it comes to your online press release.

People sometimes forget that the web has a temporal factor. The internet seems so removed from the real world that it often seems to take on time factors of its own. However, real people use the net and real people are guided by real-world factors.

Factor 1: Time of year

Is your news seasonal? If you’re announcing a big change in your executive staff at the cut-off of the financial year, that could be big news. If you’re having your pre-Christmas sale beginning in November, you could sell it as a convenience for your customers. Seasonality can give you some great angles in search marketing and you can talk to us about this at Click Consult.

Factor 2: Time within the week

Millions of people around the world work office hours and behave very differently when surfing the net at home. Bored office workers are more likely to read random news pieces, so time your press release to suit.

Factor 3: Time of day

The time of day you send out an online press release can determine how many people read it. If, for example, you post your press release in the afternoon, it’s unlikely to make a splash. It’s worth getting up early to ensure your news hits before lunchtime.

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