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Posts Tagged ‘social media news release service’

How to SEO your Press Release

May 14th, 2009

Today we have a guest blogger posting on behalf of Liberate Media - his name is Ian Howie, Account Director, at 1upSearch, which was one of the first ever UK companies to become a Google Website Optimizer (GWO) Authorised Consultant, making it one of an elite group of Website Optimizer specialists.

How to SEO your Press Release

An essential part of your PR strategy should be optimising your press release for Google.

Optimising for Google will also help you to build awareness on Yahoo and other smaller search engines.

Instead of just dropping copy in your release and hoping it will be picked up by the Search Engines, simply follow my five tips to make sure that your online press release works harder for you.

1. Optimise for your Audience not the Search Engines…

This may sound counterintuitive - but optimising a Press Release is all about writing copy that is going to appeal to your audience. Simply stuffing your Press Release full of words that are popular will stop your Press Release from making sense to both your audience and to Google.

I’d suggest using Keyword Tools (see my next point) to find the right Keywords - and then using them in your Headline and at least two or three times in the body copy and again in your About section.

2. Use Keyword Research

So, for my example, I have a Press Release about a new service from Pressitt.

You can use these free Keyword Tools from Google and Wordtracker to help you workout which keywords to put in and in which order.

Let’s have a look at the Google Keyword Tool:

You can either enter the Keywords you want to research into the top box or you can enter a URL from your website if you want to research a subject area.

The second half of the screen shows the actual Keywords being searched in Google, the competition on Google Adwords and an indication of Search Volume (how many Searches per month).

Now, rather than peppering the Press Release with all the phrases, I’m going to combine them into one:

Social Media News Release Service

Covering the Keywords:

Social Media News Release

News Release Service

By doing this, the release will optimise better since (a) it includes both phrases, and (b) it describes more of what the service actually is.

Here is the Optimised text applied to the Press Release:

Social Media News Release Service in Public Beta - From Pressitt

Xx April 2009

Social Media News Release Service - Pressitt - today launches in public beta, following a successful month of private beta testing.

….

Wendy McAuliffe, director of Liberate Media and Pressitt, says: “The private beta phase has been incredibly successful, and we’re delighted to be coming out of it after just one month of testing. The Social Media News Release Service has been a hot topic within the global PR industry for a while, and we’re pleased to see that businesses and brands of all sizes are eager to trial this up-to-date press release format. Early user feedback has been constructive and encouraging, and we’re making service updates as quickly as possible to ensure we’re continually innovating and responding to the needs of our users.”

….

About Pressitt

Pressitt is a Social Media News Release Service, provided by digital PR and social media consultancy Liberate Media and web development company Best Served Cold.

Pressitt allows you to create your own social media news release (SMNR) - also known as a social media press release (SMPR) or social media release (SMR) and publish it to an online community of journalists, the blogosphere and the general public.

The full release is just over 3,500 words - however we repeat the optimised terms only 7 times. The context of where you put your Keywords is very important - in the headline (which carries the most weight) and the first line. And is then repeated again within the body and the about section.

3. Use Wordle

To see how a Search Engine would see the words within your release, you can use a clever little site called: Wordle.net. You can cut and paste your copy into it. If I put in my Social Media News Release text, I get this visualisation:

Wordle

Ideally, the Keywords that you want to be indexed should show up in the largest text in the Visualisation.

4. Embed links

Put links into your copy that link to the relevant parts of your website, you can also link to client/partner websites. These links will help people reading your Press Release to find out more about you and also tell the Search Engines which of your clients’ pages are related to this Press Release, e.g.:

Social Media News Release service Pressitt today launches in public beta, following a successful month of private beta testing.

Developed by digital PR and social media consultancy Liberate Media and web development firm Best Served Cold,  Pressitt has already been trailed by an impressive list of high-profile and challenger brands and organisations. These include Johnson’s online parenting community BabyCentre, the Government’s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, online music provider Napster, digital creative agency Collective, digital entertainment and internet solutions firm iBAHN, digital engagement agency Kerb and LED lamp producer Greengage Lighting.

5, Clear Online Path Back

Name, email address and phone number are now not only ways you can be found online you can also add links to an online version of your Release, as well as your homepage URL, Twitter address, Linked In Group and your blog.

Press contacts:

Wendy McAuliffe

Director

Liberate Media / Pressitt

Tel: 07900 886791

Email: wendy@liberatemedia.com

Online:

Web: www.pressitt.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Pressitt

Blog: http://pressitt.com/blog

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pressitt-Social-Media-News-Release-SMNR/77338107702?v=wall

So here are the results: the press release is third in the Google Results ranking, after being posted on Pressitt’s sister site Liberate Media:

And ranking at number one and two on Yahoo UK:

This post was written by Ian Howie Account Director at 1upSearch

Twitter: ihowie

Web: www.1upsearch.co.uk

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ianhowie

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Social Media News Release service Pressitt launches in Public Beta

April 20th, 2009

Social Media News Release (SMNR) service Pressitt today launches in public beta, following a successful month of private beta testing.

Developed by digital PR and social media consultancy Liberate Media and web development firm Best Served Cold,  Pressitt has already been trialed by an impressive list of high-profile and challenger brands and organisations. These include Johnson’s online parenting community BabyCentre, the Government’s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, online music provider Napster, digital creative agency Collective, digital entertainment and internet solutions firm iBAHN, digital engagement agency Kerb and LED lamp producer Greengage Lighting.

In just over a month, the service has already secured a Google PageRank of four, and attracted a significant level of private beta interest.

Pressitt enables PRs and businesses to create their own SMNRs (also known as a Social Media News Release) and publish to an online community of journalists, the blogosphere and the general public. A Pressitt release contains all of the core information found in a traditional press release, but it is presented in a more digestible format along with images, video clips, links to previous Pressitt announcements and other relevant online information such as homepages, social media profiles and downloadable presentations or PDFs, ensuring all story assets are saved in one central online place.

Based on early user feedback, a range of service updates will also be launching to coincide with the public beta launch. These include brand-specific RSS feeds, enabling individuals to easily keep track of Pressitt releases published by companies of interest, and a tool called PressTwitt which allows Pressitt releases to be shared via Twitter easily. Screencast videos are being developed to provide additional guidance on how best to use Pressitt, and A new homepage design is also going live in direct response to the feedback of private beta testers.

The service is currently free to use, and a premium paid-for version with enhanced functionality will go live later in the year.

Additionally, Pressitt is also unveiling a bespoke version of the service, which enables organisations to have a customised SMNR template designed to reflect the colours, style and branding of their organisation. Those wanting to take it one step further can show-off their bespoke releases in a Social Media News Room, offering a completely branded environment housing all of their corporate SMNRs. A Social Media News Room can be a part of a company’s existing website or hosted via Pressitt.

Wendy McAuliffe, director of Liberate Media and Pressitt, says: “The private beta phase has been incredibly successful, and we’re delighted to be coming out of it after just one month of testing. The Social Media News Release has been a hot topic within the global PR industry for a while, and we’re pleased to see that businesses and brands of all sizes are eager to trial this up-to-date press release format. Early user feedback has been constructive and encouraging, and we’re making service updates as quickly as possible to ensure we’re continually innovating and responding to the needs of our users.”

Greg Doone, managing director of Collective, adds: “We’re proud to have been one of the first organisations to trial Pressitt, as we’re keen for our company news to be as ‘social’ and shareable as possible. We develop a wide range of multimedia assets for high profile brands such as Honda and EA, and Pressitt provides us with the perfect environment to showcase these to our blogger and journalist targets in one central online location.”

Please see latest news from Social Media News Release service Pressitt below:

http://pressitt.com/smnr/social-media-news-release-service-pressitt-launches-in-public-beta/35/

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