The good old press release has been a staple of PR for decades. Today, online press releases spread the word to a broader audience than ever before. Utilizing the power of SEO and the distribution potential of the Internet, marketers are using them to announce everything from a new product or hire to important upcoming events.
The press release is a popular and effective means of increasing your online visibility. But, it won’t work if you don’t do it right. Here are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them:
1. Lack of focus. Don’t try to cover too much in one press release. Focus on one piece of news. Why? Both people and search engines are looking for specific information. Too many keywords and too much news in one place waters down the message. This renders your press release ineffective as a promotional tool for the topic you want to announce.
2. Lack of real news. If your press releases are full of information that isn’t newsworthy, people are likely to say “Who cares?”, and move on. Before you put the time and energy into creating and publishing your release, think about whether the news you’re presenting is important. A new product, the hiring of a new executive, an event, or a website redesign is newsworthy. But do people really need to know about your latest video?
3. No SEO. Online press releases rely on keywords and anchor text links to get indexed properly by search engines and, thus, found by people. Include your best keywords. If you’re adding links, use those keywords as anchor text for the links. This gives your press release SEO power.
4. Too promotional. The press release should be considered a piece of news, written in a journalistic style. That means that it needs to offer facts and information. Think who, what, where, when and how rather than “here’s how great we are!” You can and should provide a link to your site and other contact information at the bottom or the side (depending on which press release service you use). But don’t talk up your company in the body of the release.
5. Too formal. Many people think that the journalistic nature of the press releases requires a stiff, formal writing style. While that may have been the standard in the pre-Internet world, today, web users like to keep things conversational—and that applies to press releases, too. Natural-sounding writing is always the best way to engage readers and keep their interest. In other words—leave out the lingo and corporate-speak.
6. Links everywhere. When it comes to links, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Some press release services won’t allow you more than 2-3 links in your release, and more than two is not advisable in most cases. Links say “I’m a promotional piece of content!” and, while you want readers to be able to click though to your site, you don’t want them to be turned off or distracted by too many links.
