|
|
| |
Mailware News
We publish Mailware News
approximately 6 times per
year. In each issue you will
receive: tips for using
Mailware, announcements and
mail order industry related
articles. Don't miss an
issue!
|
|
|
Increase Your Search Engine Exposure
- Optimize Your Press Releases
by: James Peggie
One of the exciting
new developments in the field of
search engine exposure is the
optimization of your press releases.
This offers you a great way to
increase your presence on the web
and be found for an expanded amount
of keywords.
Press releases were traditionally
aimed at media types such as
journalists and editors. Today they
have another audience – your target
market. Online press releases are
now coming up under searches.
Potential customers can access your
information directly from your press
releases. Therefore if you optimize
your press releases you can help
people find your web site and
product information.
The first step involves researching
keywords that your prospects will
use to find you. This is similar to
deciding on keywords for your web
site. Of course, you can target
different keywords, thus increasing
your overall chance of being found
within the search engines.
To optimize your news releases your
keywords should be placed in the
title of the press release and near
the beginning of the content of the
document. Again this is similar to
adding keywords to the written
content of your web page. Remember
that your keyword-rich title and
content should read well and be
interesting. This will attract the
reader to your site content. To help
the readers find your site you
should include your full domain name
within the text. This is a great way
to improve your reciprocal linking
and in turn your page ranking. You
should also provide links from your
written text directly to the
relevant page of your website.
Publish your press releases on your
own web site and also submit them to
online media outlets. You should
also submit your press releases to
the major news search engines. News
search engines are being used by
both media searchers and the general
public and so are a great way to
expand your search engine presence.
And the exciting part is that the
news search engines will often pick
up your story in minutes. You should
also make use of XML and RSS news
feeds.
Optimized press releases offer you
many opportunities. And they are a
great new way to increase your
visibility on the web. It requires
from you a combination of marketing
copy writing skills and web page
optimization techniques. But the
results are worth the effort - by
adding to your web presence and
attracting increasing amounts of
qualified visitors to your site.
|
Press Release
Primer
by: Lee Goins |
Press releases have the potential to
create incredible exposure. Looking
beyond the linking benefits, a well
written press release may land you
in newspapers, TV, and radio. Here
are some tips on the making of a
great press release.
Know your reader
Balance between writing for the
target audience (newspaper reader,
radio listener, web surfer) and
writing for an editor, reporter or
journalist who may take up your
subject or even reprint the story.
Hooking both the media and the end
consumer will result in a snowball
of PR. Remember, a journalist
scanning a PR source will make
decisions based on the first few
words of each article. Pack the
opening with the hot topic points.
Style
A strong headline and intro is
critical. It absolutely must capture
the eye of someone skimming press
releases and inspire further
reading. Hit them with the news
first. You can explain how and where
it comes from later.
Keep it brief, accurate and
readable. The media isn't looking
for full blown articles to copy, but
may have use of some filler content
or extra information within a
report, column or website. Don't
exaggerate. If your PR is a success
you will be getting phone calls and
emails asking questions. It is
possible to build or destroy
credibility based on your accuracy.
You may become a source for
different reporters as you build on
your record of knowledge and
accuracy. If you use outside stats
and facts, include the source. The
press release should create
confidence.
Grammar and spelling should be
checked and rechecked. Read it; edit
and re-read; print it out; read
again; email to friends for
corrections; give yourself many
chances to catch mistakes. Then
don't rush to publish. Reading
something again after a nights sleep
is always an eye opener for me.
Something about my focus during the
writing process tunes out errors
that jump off the page the next day.
This is why an extra set of eyes, or
waiting till your eyes are taking a
fresh look can make a big difference
in the writing quality. Printing a
copy to read also helps you see it
differently.
Attach images if the PR publisher
allows it. If you have image rights
or public domain images to publish
then this is one more way to make
your content usable by others.
Permission regarding quotes is
important as well within a press
release since the exposure can be
significant.
Anatomy of a Typical Press
Release
Headline
Headlines should have a hook. Make
people wonder where they stand or
curious about an outcome. For
example, "Are you a lunatic?
Research may surprise you!"
Summary
Some PR publishers allow a summary
after the Headline. This is a second
chance to grab attention. Make it
strong and to the point.
Date Instructions - capitals are
often used
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR RELEASE BEFORE __/__/__
FOR RELEASE AFTER __/__/__
Contact Information
Make it as easy as possible to be
contacted. You don't want to even
appear to be hiding. Reporters may
work odd hours, so use a phone
number you can answer day and night.
Body
Resist the temptation to tell it
all.
Hit the high points in a few
paragraphs under 350 words.
Make the reader want to visit your
site or call your company for more
details.
Pack the best parts in the
beginning, inverted pyramid style.
This makes for it easy if an editor
needs to shorten it.
About Us
If you feel the need to include a
couple sentences about the company,
this is a good place to tag it on.
"In business since___, a member
of____, awards include___" or a
brief company mission statement will
work here as extra information.
End of Press Release
### is often used to signal the end
of the press release. Anything after
the ### is not published.
Be Newsworthy
Don't kid yourself. You either have
a great story or you don't. Generic
name spreading press releases are a
waste of a reporters time. Don't
write something that reads like an
advertisement. And don't keep
re-submitting the same press
release. Surely something
interesting happens with your
company every month? If you don't
have a great story ready to tell the
editors and journalists, then wait
for one or develop a story.
Do all this well and you may be
talking live on a local radio show,
or answering the questions of a
national journalist. The power of a
great press release, when
capitalized on, can rocket an
enterprise to success.
|
| SAMPLE
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Replace This Line With Your Headline
Optional Subhead Goes Here
HOUSTON, TX - July 1, 2001 (PRB) -
This is your opening
paragraph. It should be an attention
grabber. Always start
with the city and state in all caps,
followed by the date.
The press release distribution
service (PRB) should be
included in parenthesis, after the
date. (PRB stands for
Press Release Blaster) The
media recognizes PRB so it is
helpful to keep this in. If
you don't include a distribution
service then your press release may
appear to be mailed
directly by you, and it may not get
the attention it deserves.
Do not center the headline or
subhead. The media expects
this to be left justified for press
releases sent as
plain text email.
Make sure you type no more than 65
characters per line.
The following line is 65 characters
long:
---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|-----
The body of your press release
should tell about your product,
service, announcement or other
newsworthy item. It will be
very
helpful if you review some actual
press releases. You can see
some now at newsbureau.com and
xpresspress.com.
Very important: Whenever you
reference an URL in your press
release, include the "http://" as
part of the URL. That way it
will display as a clickable hotlink
when read by the majority
of email software programs.
The next part of your press release
is optional, but has
become a defacto standard. We
recommend you include it.
It is a company summary. Once
you write one, you can include
it in all of your future press
releases. In the text below,
replace "Acme Widgets" with your own
company name.
About Acme Widgets
Acme widgets was founded in 1998 by
two young college students
who... yadda yadda yadda. This
paragraph or paragraphs should
tell about your company, including
it's founders, achievements,
product lines, and flagship
products/services. It really
helps
to look at some actual press
releases as mentioned above.
In the contact section at the end of
the press release, you can
replace the header "CONTACT:" with
"INTERVIEW CONTACT": if you
are available for interviews.
The contact info should always
include a person's name and title,
phone number with extension,
and email address. The person
listed as the contact person
should be the one person who is
knowledgeable about the news in
this press release. This can
be someone in the company, or
someone in the PR firm hired by the
company.
Below the contact section you should
include your complete
company info. Finally, the
press release should always
end with three #'s (pound signs).
Now it's time to end the press
release. You can end it with
a plug for your URL and a way to
request a brochure, like
the example below, and then the
contact info and #'s as
we discussed earlier. Ok,
let's end it now...
You can check them out at http://www.AcmeWidgetsInc.com
or call for their free brochure
800-555-5555.
CONTACT: John Doe, Vice President
Telephone: 800-555-5555 ext. 105
John.Doe@AcmeWidgetsInc.com
Acme Widgets
121 World Trade Drive, Suite 100
Chicago, IL 60625 USA
Voice Telephone: 800-555-5555
Telephone: 800-555-5555
Facsimile: 312-555-5555
http://www.AcmeWidgetsInc.com
# # #
|
|
Tip: The most widely used
(and easiest) service for
distributing your press releases is
PRWeb. Visit their web site at
http://www.prweb.com/about.php
|
|
About The Authors
James Peggie is
the Director of Marketing for Elixir
Systems – a search engine marketing
agency located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Their website is located at
http://www.elixirsystems.com and
James contributes to their blog
http://searchblog.elixirsystems.com
james.peggie@elixirsystems.com
Lee Goins is the hivemaster
at
www.Knewbees.com. Webmaster basics
are discussed and help is given without
the sting! KnewBees is a forum for
startup webmasters and those inclined to
be helpful. Knewbeepedia is also
featured as an openly developing
webmaster knowledgebase.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
