4 (and a Half) Questions to Ask About Optimized Press Release Distribution

by Laurel 11/12/2008 12:13:00 PM


Traditionally, press releases have been used to reach media contacts in hopes of getting your news published.  Optimized press releases are the new guys in town.  They are keyword-rich marketing tools, distributed online and designed to simultaneously reach traditional media, social media and consumers directly, as well as generate inbound links to your Website. 

As the industry shifts toward inbound marketing, optimized press releases are becoming more common. However, as the concept is still fairly new, there will inevitably be some companies that offer optimized release distribution, but may not generate the results you're hoping for.  Here are some questions to keep in mind when evaluating optimized press release distribution services:

 

1.  How does the system recognize keywords?

Including keywords in your release is the cornerstone of an effective optimized press release.  Make sure that you choose the keywords your release is tagged with, and that the system doesn’t just pull out the most frequently used words in the release for you.

2.  How does it handle anchor text?

Those keywords mentioned above should appear several times in the release, and at least one time, each keyword should be hyperlinked to an applicable page on your Website, creating an anchor-texted link that will give your site credibility for this keyword, and also generate qualified site traffic.  These are essential to an optimized press release (that's an anchor-texted link) — so make sure that the system is capable of including them. 

 

3.  How many Websites will my release go out to?

Clearly, the more, the better.  The more sites it goes out to, the more people will see it.

     3a.  How many of those Websites render the anchor-texted links?   
     Not all sites will recognize hyperlinks.  Make sure that a good number will, or else your
     efforts will not be rewarded.

4.  What are the reporting capabilities for results?

A good release distribution service will provide you with reports that show all of the sites that picked up your release, how many people accessed it (and preferably weed out the real people from the search engine spiders, or else this number will be skewed), what kind of media it was sent to (if you sent it over a wire also) and how people found your release online.

Outside of talking to the release distribution itself, it’s worth a bit of extra research on your part to see what people are saying about the company in forums and social networks, to make sure that the company is reputable and handles its customers well.

Internally, it’s a good idea to keep track of a few things to see how your site is performing, both before and after the release is sent.  For example:

  •   How did your site rank in search results for the keywords used in the release before you sent the release?  After?
  •   How many inbound links did your site have before the release was sent?  How many new inbound links did the release generate?

Laurel Miltner is a Consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Her favorite color is green. She tweets as @laurelmackenzie.

 

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Comments

11/12/2008 1:10:19 PM

Good points about the distribution.

I would probably disagree slightly in that search engine optimized press releases have been around for a few years now, and that social media press releases are the real new guys in town. Using both together is where the real benefits will be found for businesses, PR professionals/agencies and news releases.

Danny Brown

11/12/2008 1:14:45 PM

Laurel,

Very thoughtful and relevant post... especially regarding inbound marketing.

I do, however, disagree with the first point, "Make sure that you choose the keywords your release is tagged with, and that the system doesn’t just pull out the most frequently used words in the release for you."

Releases need to be relevant to the keywords news consumers are using. Those keywords need to appear several times throughout a release (especially in the headline and subheadline). Words that are added on the back-end that are not in the content won't help much at all. First and foremost, the body of the content has to be relevant... not the meta-tags. Therefore, pulling the most frequently used keywords in a release and adding them to the meta-content is the best-practice...

Agree? Disagree?

DW

David Weiner, PR Newswire

11/12/2008 1:41:44 PM

Danny,

SEO release have been around for a lot longer than people think. We've been optimizing releases for around 5 years.

DW

David Weiner, PR Newswire

11/12/2008 2:09:50 PM


Danny, absolutely a fair point about optimized press releases not really being all that "new." However, I do feel that in the grand scheme of things, across the industry, they are still new to a lot of people. And while I think the SMNR has value in some instances, I'm hesitant to say that it's ready to take the place of a well-optimized release that can get someone to your Website. Here are some thoughts on the SMNR that I tend to agree with: blog.hubspot.com/.../...ease-is-a-Big-Mistake.aspx

David, I completely agree that the words a release is tagged with should be used within the release content. I guess I should have been more clear. Keywords should be included in the release copy, and also used for tagging. My point was that if you are able to indicate what those keywords are, it generally helps.

For example, say at PR 20/20 we optimize a release with "public relations agency," but use the phrase "public relations" alone more. The release may get tagged with just "public relations" — which isn't a very specific keyword, and thereby less relevant to the company.

Thanks for your comments!

Laurel Miltner

11/13/2008 8:09:57 AM

@ Laurel. I agree with you in that SMR's aren't meant to get readers to your website in the way that an optimized release can. I actually took part in a radio discussion on this very topic with Todd Defren, Jason Kintzler and Al Krueger for Comet Branding Radio as a result of that post you link to. What I was saying is that SMR's are definitely an invaluable tool for PR and companies alike - but only if used properly. Make them part of the campaign, not the sole focus.

@ David. I agree, David - perhaps my wording could have been better? I was pointing out my view that optimized releases have been around a few years now and aren't really the new guys in town now - that would belong to SMR's. Looking at how I phrased the reply, I can see why it might look otherwise. Smile Similar you, I've been providing optimized releases for just under 4 years now and they offer far superior results for interest than standard newswires.

Danny Brown

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