Press releases are a thing of the present, so how to write a press release is imperative for you to know. Google loves them, people notice them, and they are the perfect candidate for sharing around on all social platforms in existence. If you are considering a press release for your company, join the crowd investing in one of the top ways online to get your name out. With a high quality press release boosting your brand and audience, it’s time to learn the name of the game in PR.
How To Write a Press Release That Rocks Your Audience
Keywords are Your Best Friends
There are many ways on how to write a press release and it’s important for you to consider how searchable your press release is. It’s better to use specific keywords or phrases throughout your article. This will ensure that when people search for these keywords, they can find your article. Avoid using keywords or phrases that are too generic or are considered clichés. Specify keywords and use them throughout the entire article, but most especially in the headline and the first paragraph. This will entice your readers to read your whole press release since they know it contains what they’re looking for.
Headlines are there for a Reason
For search engines to properly index your site and increase its rankings, your headline should be between 2 and 22 characters long. Search engines use the headlines to increase your ranking. Also, writing press releases are like writing short articles. You have to capture your audience with the headline. Make sure that your content matches your headlines. Avoid using clichés and puns, unless they are especially witty. Generally, search engines allow only up to 67 characters for headlines, so be sure not to created headlines that are too long (your readers will get bored too).
Think of Using Sub-headlines
While your headlines are very important, sub-headlines provide an opportunity for you to include additional keywords. Search engines will like this and this will increase your rankings. They also provide supplemental stops in your press releases, letting readers decide if they want to read more. Knowing how to write a press release also means knowing when and where to put sub-headlines. Make sure, however, that your sub-headlines are supportive of your headline, or else readers will get confused. It’s also important for you to make your sub-headlines as interesting as your headlines, providing clues as to what’s next in your press release.
How Search Engines Handle Links
Search engines generally base your rankings on the first paragraph of your press release. That’s why it’s important to put links here. Not only does linking increase your rankings, but it also increases the rankings of the site that you’re linking to. It also helps search engines associate the content of your press release with other sites. Google will love your press release especially if you use “deep links.” These links do not just lazily link to the other site’s homepage, but actually finds the specific content that you are linking too. Also, be more creative and descriptive of the hyperlinks that you place. Don’t just put “click me” because that is just boring.
Watch Your Formatting
You can use the main formatting of your press release articles to emphasize your keywords. Knowing how to write a press release also means that you know the proper format. Bold, italicized and underlined words help you gather more attention to your keywords. Additionally, the use of bullets to summarize your content will help readers understand it more. Of course, if you are writing a press release for a newspaper, you can skip this. We are talking about the press releases that you commonly encounter online. You also need to be careful of using capitalization. Putting emphasis on a word through capitalizing it is not good. It just screams.
Multimedia Incorporation
Aside from creating links to other websites, treat multimedia as your friend. Pictures and audio make your press release stand out from others. Readers, for sure, are easily bored by a huge block of text. Make their reading interesting by including pictures. Those who know how to write a press release for the Internet know the double value of images. Google images gets a huge amount of traffic daily, and these images will link back to your press release. It’s important to make the file name of the picture descriptive but not too long. If you don’t change the file name, it’s harder for Google to link back to your press release.
Put Your Stamp on it
Always put your company logo at the top of your press release. This will make readers more familiar with your company and at the same time, can boost your company’s image. They will recognize the company as producing quality content and will refer back to the website while looking for your company logo at the top. Of course, make sure that your company logo is interesting as well, or else readers won’t remember it at all.
You Should Be Reachable
Include pertinent contact information when creating your press release. Place up to date email addresses, phone numbers and the company address so that readers will know how to reach you if they have further questions. This is the specific pet peeve of reporters and journalists because writing a press release is useless if you cannot be contacted by media for follow-ups. For press releases for the web, you may include your company’s Twitter account so that readers can be kept up to date with news from your company. Additionally, only place communication lines that you regularly monitor.
Identifiers
If your company is a publicly traded company, include your company identifiers. This means that you should include your stock symbol and exchange. Your International Securities Identifier Number (ISIN) should also be included. Why? This increases your rankings in financial databases and lets readers know that your company is secure and legitimate. Quality will speak for itself, but you have to know how to back it up with facts.
Now that we have identified everything that you need for how to write a press release, you have the tools to give it a whirl. Note that what we have here are guidelines for press releases intended for the Web and how to reach your target audience. You should be able to write interesting, search engine optimized content following the guidelines here. Good copywriting, like good press releases, are an excellent venue for you to try.
