Many of my clients and marketing students ask me why I use press releases as a part of every SEO strategy. The reason is simply this - when you properly optimise and distribute online PR, you can quickly and easily beat out even paid competition for your keywords because news results are almost always displayed at the top of the SERPs - over and above even paid results!

In addition to this obvious benefit, any releases you distribute will typically stay online for five years or more unless you remove them. So the more releases you distribute, the more relevant and permanent backlinks you gain.

What Goes Into A Press Release?

Any time you decide to use the news as a marketing tool,, you have to understand that a true press release must always be written in a news worthy manner. Many marketers misunderstand this concept, and will write and submit any advertisement they can think of, and try to pass it off as news. The problem with doing this is that most online PR sites will not only delete your release; but many will ban your account as well.

The key is to turn whatever you can about your business into a news worthy story. An example of this would be if you were to release a new website. Or perhaps you've added a new product to your business. And if you're an offline brick and mortar company, even the hiring of a new employee can be considered newsworthy.

Always write your news in the third person also. Look through any newspaper and you'll begin to understand the language used when reporting the news. Try to write your release as though you are simply a reporter, rather than the owner of the company.

There is a basic format that should be used whenever you are writing a news article. Your headline comes first, then a subheading - usually a sentence or two - which describes the purpose of the story. In the body of your release you need to answer the basic questions of who, what, where, when, why and how - preferably in that order. A quote from yourself as the owner of the company is also acceptable, as is a short "testimonial" quote from an existing client. You should also make certain your contact information is included at the end of each release.

Optimising Your Press Release

Only after your release is written should you begin to worry about optimising it for the search engines. Before you begin, you should already have an understanding of the primary keyword you want to target, as well as one or two secondary keywords.

The key here is to never overuse your keywords. Keywords should only be worked into the copy of the release where they fit naturally - otherwise you wind up with a news story that sounds unnatural, and therefore unreadable. Use your primary keyword phrase in your headline, as well as in your subheading if it can be worked in. Throughout the rest of your release, you should only use your primary keyword phrase once or twice more, and work in your secondary keyword phrases once or twice.

Distributing Your Press Release

There are a number of both free and paid press release distribution sites online. Depending on the level of distribution you are wanting, it may or may not benefit you to use a paid service. Personally, I use just one free distribution site, and have had unbelievable success with gaining top results in the SERPs.

If you are using a paid service which allows for text links in the body of your news story, make certain that you use your primary keyword phrase as your text link. If you are using a free service which allows links but not text links, place a link back to your company site as close to your primary keyword phrase as possible, usually somewhere within the second paragraph of your release.

Once you have everything properly formatted, simply use the service you've chosen to distribute it. These services will almost always have a form for you to enter your release into, so that you are ensured of correct formatting (i.e. headline, subheading, body, contact info).

Make sure to use the tags function at the end of the form to enter your primary and secondary keyword phrases. You will also need to submit the date you want your release to be distributed. Depending on the urgency of the news, you will typically be able to choose from having it distributed right away, or setting your distribution for a later date. The distribution site I use, like many distribution sites, will also allow you the option of choosing to be included in the major search engine news results.

Often times you will find that your optimised news article will show up in the search engine news results for your primary keyword phrase within a day or so. Many of the releases I've distributed have shown up within just a few hours, so prepare yourself for some major traffic coming your way!