Press releases are great tools for generating publicity for a specific company, product or service.
They allow a company to directly influence the message that is being sent out to the public. They allow a business to ‘report’ news to a media outlet, without having to spend the time, effort and money to solicit the media to report a story for them.
Media editors and reporters like press releases because they automatically provide the basis for a news story, without the reporter having to actually locate a story on their own. All they have to do to find ‘news-worthy’ material is to review some press releases. If the release offers something of value to the reporter they can choose to report on the story or to investigate it further.
Press releases are also an effective part of any business’s public relations strategy because they help attract favorable media attention.
They can also be used to attract publicity for an event, product, service or specific company.
These releases can be used to convey a range of information about a business, including:
- New product or service launches
- Webinar or Online Meeting
- Company re-branding or new location
- Staff volunteering for a local charity
- New Book, E-Book or Report
- Personal promotions
- Breaking a company record or new accomplishment
Press releases help benefit both large and small businesses by allowing them to gain brand awareness, generate publicity and directly communicate with their customers. This in turn can help generate increased revenues and capture potential customers.
They can also help a business keep its existing customers informed, engaged and interested.
Generating and distributing press releases is a very cost effective form of communication, meaning they are a valuable tool for companies who are looking to increase their customer base and revenue streams.
The use of online press releases can also help a business with its search engine optimization or SEO plan. The majority of online users locate information on the web through the major search engines like Google and Bing.
SEO techniques help ensure that a specific website appears at the very top of these search engine results pages or SERPs, where the most amount of online viewers will be able to click on them.
Studies clearly show that most people will only click on website links that are listed in the top 10 results of major SERPs.
SEO techniques help make sure that a small business’s website is going to appear at the top of SERPs.
How exactly do online press releases help with a business’s SEO tactics?
Online press releases help to generate one-way links to a company’s website. A business press release can contain the company’s contact information, including a link to their website.
This not only lets the reader quickly and easily access the company’s website, but it also makes the site very appealing in the eyes of search engine crawlers.
Search engines like Google and Bing use secretive algorithms to rank a specific website’s relevancy and importance, so that they can give the site a page ranking. The higher the page ranking- the more search engine users are going to end up seeing the website. The exact methods these crawlers use to rank your company’s website is a mystery, but we do know that the more links to your website- the higher the page ranking.
Website links appear in the text as underlined words. When the reader clicks on this underlined hyperlink they are immediately taken to the website.
There are two forms of website links. These are one-way links and reciprocal links.
One-way links are exactly what they sound like. They offer a one-way trip from the website the reader is currently on to the hyperlinked website. Reciprocal links are links that connect two different websites. These usually occur when one website offers another website a link in exchange for the other website offering a link back.
Both types of links are valuable in the eyes of search engines, but one-way links tend to be of greater value to the crawlers.
The more one-way links to your business’s website you can put out onto the web the higher ranking your website will receive from the search engine’s crawlers.
Press releases are a valuable tool for any small business because they allow a company to generate an accurate news story that offers the reader a carefully crafted message. These releases let you control what information you want to be publicized about your company.
They also help you to generate interest in your company and create recognition of your brand. These releases help ensure that your business’s website will receive more traffic and a higher SERP ranking.
Press releases have been one of the most popular business public relations tools for many years in the off-line world.
When used in conjunction with the online world they can be even more beneficial.
