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The Benefits of an Optimized Press Release
You might wonder what the benefits are of sending out a press release. Why should you spend the time writing one and what exactly do you get out of it? How do you write an effective press release and is it really worth spending the time and effort?
These are all questions to which you might find answers using the services PressKing has to offer. The following points elaborate on how your business can benefit by sending out a press release. Some key factors are professionalism, visibility, brand building, SEO ratings, and free-targeted traffic.
A good press release shows professionalism
Sending out a compelling press release to journalists and bloggers shows that you mean business and that you are passionate about your interests, occupation or anything else you feel the urge to mention. It gives you much needed credibility and gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as an authority in your niche or field of work. Potential customers can get familiar with you, your products, services or any other informative content that you publish. Soon, you will be known as a reliable professional to whom potential clients are more likely to come to first.
Sending out a press release increases your visibility
Publishing a good press release gives you the opportunity to boost your business exposure online. The amount of exposure and visibility highly depends on how well your press release is written and how it is optimized. Relevant keywords and a prominent structure are essential when publishing. It is important that you publish your press release to an optimized directory in order to maximize your visibility and exposure.
Build your brand with the help of a press release
A well-written press release has the potential to reach thousands of interested visitors on a global scale. Imagine how you can embed your brand in the minds of a carefully targeted audience. Whether you would like to promote a service, product, blog, or brand name, a press release has the prospect to reach the desired audience of your choice. In time, your audience will get familiar with and remember your brand.
Improve your SEO rating with a good press release
Everybody knows that a good SEO rating is very important in order to be able to make money with your internet-business. An optimized SEO brings many great advantages. You can gain quality backlinks from having a higher search engine ranking. This is a very important factor and a press release can help profoundly with this.
Get free-targeted traffic from your press release
A successful internet-enterprise needs targeted traffic. A well-targeted press release can send a lot of traffic to your website. Make sure to send it to the right recipients and that you include the right links in order to lead the readers to the site you want them to visit. If the quality of your press release is good, readers are more likely to be interested in what you have to offer them.
With PressKing, you can create and send out your press release to over 200,000 media contacts worldwide. Imagine the potential exposure you could obtain with a meticulously targeted press release. Create your very own contact list or make use of our database. Be sure to get all the benefits from a good press release with PressKing and make your website stand out!
Published 9 May 2012 in Featured articles, PressKing Tips and Tricks
Get the best results with a great press release!
The 5 W’s
The press release is still one of the most commonly used tools to spread the word about newsworthy topics to clients and companies. A good press release communicates and informs about specific topics such as the release of a new product, its trends and developments, or simply about interesting events taking place.
The majority of press releases, however, fail to deliver exactly what they are supposed to. In order to maximize the potential impact of a press release, it is crucial to abide by a certain set of guidelines. In order to get the most out of your press release, you have to ask yourself certain questions. Basic journalism covers the famous five W’s: who, what, where, when and why? In addition, the ‘how’ is of great importance as well. When writing a press release, make sure that these questions are covered clearly and concisely.
Newsworthiness
What should your press release evoke? What results do you expect from its publication and to which extent? These are questions you might want to consider. It is necessary to find an adequate balance between the importance of the story you wish to publish and the anticipated impact on the audience after publishing.
What makes a story newsworthy? How can you identify an interesting topic and its specific unique audience? Sure, one can search for relevant facts and issues, although often, the most interesting topics arise from loose remarks on the sidelines. The hard part is to transform these facts into something interesting enough to write about.
Make it catchy
Once you have obtained the necessary material to get started on a press release, the next important thing to consider is the format. For this, the headline is key! The headline is why someone started reading the article in the first place. This is the first and only chance to get the attention of a journalist, client or company executive. The headline must stand out and inform the reader about the news he or she is about to read. Make it sound special and powerful, something that the reader won’t want to miss. The audience must want to keep reading. This decision will literally be made in a second, so make it count.
If the headline is catchy enough for someone to continue reading, the actual content of your message or story has to maintain a mood similar to the headline itself. As mentioned earlier, this is where the five W’s come into play. Inform your audience in the first paragraph about the ‘who, what, where, when and why.’ The rule of thumb suggests that this paragraph should contain no more than thirty words.
The key point is: put the most important information of your press release at the beginning, meaning the headline and the first paragraph. This may be all that your audience is interested in after all, so don’t save your most valuable facts for last.
Keep your press release on the short side, two pages or less. Otherwise you are not getting the point.
Stick to the facts
This point is crucial. Do not, I repeat, do not write fictional pieces. This will most certainly affect your credibility once exposed as a liar or inventor of facts. Write about something that is real, something that you know actually happened, will happen or is happening. Make the information that you spread useful to your audience. A journalist can smell a cheap sales pitch from afar, so be straightforward and to the point. Make the effort to keep slang and professional jargon to a minimum, even when your business is very difficult to explain in plain old English.
The release
Okay, you finally managed to create something to publish. When and to whom should you send it? By now, you most likely already have an idea. It is commonly known that bulk-sending some sort of template is less effective than a targeted message sent to a carefully selected and segmented distribution list. This is where PressKing can assist. Our platform offers the possibility to create a specific distribution list, which you can compile for each press release. You can either choose between contacts from PressKing’s database or create one with your own personal media contacts. The important thing is to send the right press release to the right people in order to get the best results!
Published 30 April 2012 in PressKing Tips and Tricks
How to make your press release visually attractive
Some points on how to create a well-balanced and visually striking press release.
We have already talked about how to create, how to follow-up and how to get the best results with a good press release. In this article, we would like to point out the importance and added value of using images in your PR. Journalists and bloggers are more likely to pick up on your press release when it is also pleasing to the eye. So, what exactly makes an article look visually attractive? Here are some pointers on how to make your press release more captivating and balanced.
There is no fundamental solution to making your article look good, but there is an artistic factor. In order to obtain a generally attractive design, you have to focus on a combination of a number of components such as layout, balance, imagery, color and functionality.
The layout of a press release goes hand in hand with the imagery you select to punctuate your article. The basic layout of an article consists of a header, lead, main text and images. This is a general rule of thumb you can stick with and which is globally recognized by journalists and bloggers.
Balance the imaging with your article. It is important not to overcrowd your text with too many pictures or videos, nor should you add any images that are out of context with the subject of your article. Place your visuals where it counts. There is no need to show a video at the end of you article when it would have been more appropriate at the beginning. So, place your imagery strategically and in harmony with your text.
A picture paints a thousand words. Images and videos are very powerful tools, so be careful when selecting your imagery. Some people may find some images disturbing whilst others do not. Be aware of the fact that everyone perceives differently. There is no need to risk that your article ends up in the trash because of a troubling image. Let the picture or video do its job and tell part of the story for you. Choose imagery that fits in with the context of the article and that is neutral rather than provocative, depending on the subject matter of course. Choose carefully.
The subconscious responds strongly to color. Use it: it can be of real added value to your press release. Our daily lives are filled with color, so why not your PR? Colors affect our moods, energy and emotions. So, choose your images according to the tone of your article. This will greatly add to the quality of your content and press release as a whole. Add color wisely and you will set the right tone for your subject.
The function of imagery is to add something more to your article without the need for words. It can really add that final touch to your press release. For this, you can select pictures, videos or infographics. Be careful with the latter. An infographic can be visually stunning and quickly spread, but it has to be able to tell your story correctly. Make sure your story is suited for this, as an infographic only consists of pictures. Just make sure to own every copyright to any image or video used in order to avoid legal issues in the process!
Adding imagery to your press release makes it more likely to be picked up by bloggers and journalists. Your story should be entertaining, compelling, informative and most importantly, visually articulate. With PressKing, you can achieve this and create the most suitable and visually attractive press releases for all your needs. Our easy-to-use tool enables you to add any type of imaging desired. If needed, our support team is ready to help you with this process. Make your PR stand out with PressKing!
Published 18 April 2012 in Featured articles, PressKing Tips and Tricks
Let’s start 2012 with some great Press releases!
As the year 2012 slowly crept up on us, it is time to take the bull by its horns and get cracking on some smashing press releases. In order to give you a little extra push to do so, here are 10 useful PR tips to a brilliant start in this new and creative year!
- Identify the types of content that are most useful to your clients
- Develop a list of search and keywords
- Set up a process for the creation, promotion and optimization of your content
- Create a good draft to begin with, read it at least twice
- Add some multimedia content (photo, video, pdf document) to make your content more attractive
- Remain confident and be convincing – be what you want to sell or write about
- Be consistent in delivering quality to your readers and clients
- Proofread thoroughly
- Be specific – there is nothing worse and useless than a vague article
- Be passionate and though-provoking where it counts
There you go, some nice pointers to get busy typing. Stay tuned with PressKing! See you soon and happy writing!
The PressKing team
Published 10 January 2012 in PressKing Tips and Tricks
Why and how should you follow up after a press release?
When you send a press release, most journalists won’t reply right away. There are many reasons for this: they can be too busy, they can forget your e-mail, or sometimes they don’t get your point and/or simply don’t feel the need to know more.
This is why following up after a few days can be a smart move – if you follow some simple rules!
When you follow up with a journalist, don’t ask him/her why he/she hasn’t replied yet – this would be rude, and your contacts never owe you an answer. Don’t be too pushy or aggressive: this never works. Instead, be polite and helpful. Send additional information on your product or service, or present your story with a different news angle. If you are available for an interview, mention it again, and include full contact details. Your goal isn’t just to say hello again, it is to trigger your contact’s curiosity, and get him/her to take a second look at your story or your company. Be creative, and show your contact you know him/her!
If you’re using PressKing: our Press Release tool offers a “Follow-up” feature. When you send a press release, we open a distribution report that shows you in real time the names and publications of the people who’ve opened your press release. Simply click on “Follow-up” (login > press releases > report > follow up) and instantly send a second killer e-mail to the desired contacts!
The PressKing team
Published 19 July 2011 in PressKing Tips and Tricks
Top 3 tips for optimizing your press releases for SEO
Your online press releases are independent web pages: how can you make sure that people will find them and read them? Most of your potential readers will use a search engine, such as Google, to research a specific brand or topic – then they may come across your press release, among other search results. How can you optimize your press releases for SEO? Follow these basic tips and you will maximize your chances.
1. Pick your keywords carefully
The most important part of your SEO optimization is to identify the 2 or 3 keywords that best describe your product or your news. These keywords should be common expressions that people are likely to use on search engines if they want to research your brand, product type or industry. Avoid professional jargon! If you have a doubt, search different keywords on Google and compare how many results they get.
Make sure these top keywords are included in your title: most of the times, press release titles are enclosed in < h1 > tags and have a strong importance for search engine crawlers. These top keywords should also be included in your summary and in the body of your press release, at least 2-3 times each. This will give them more “weight” for search engine crawlers – and it’ll also help your readers understand your key message!
2. Learn how to build great links
A good press release contains a good number of relevant links, that will enhance both the reader’s experience and the web page’s search engine rankings. Don’t hesitate to build anchor links: pick your most relevant keywords and phrases, and link them to related pages in your own website! If possible, don’t link them to your homepage, but to deeper, more relevant pages (i.e. with a single topic / a better keyword density). If your website doesn’t contain such resources, don’t hesitate to create specific landing pages, with rich content and a strong emphasis on the desired keywords or phrases!
3. Don’t forget that you’re writing for “human” readers!
Press releases should never be written for SEO purposes only. Your content should always be relevant, clear and easy to read. Nobody likes to read whole paragraphs with the same keywords or phrases repeated every other line, or with 3 hyperlinks per sentence – not even search engine crawlers! If your overall style doesn’t look “natural”, your SEO optimization will do more harm than good. Please visit our website for more tips on how to write a good press release
Published 17 June 2011 in PressKing Tips and Tricks
