I had this grand idea of writing a pithy post on press release search engine optimization. Oh, I planned to write cogently, authoritatively–even entertainingly–about how to optimize your press releases. Then I planned to send you away thinking: “Geez Louise, that guy is really smart. I guess I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Well, it occurs to me that I’ve already provided just about everything you need to know about how to SEO your PR. Here’s what you’ll find if you search here:
The only thing I really haven’t done is tell you why you should optimize your press releases in the first place.
Press releases will raise your search engine visibility because they will be:
- Indexed by searchbots based on your keywords and keyword placement.
- Show up on Google, Yahoo! and elsewhere for months and months after you send them out.
- Contribute to your getting backlinks from news sites and blogs.
- Generate exposure for you with media outlets and consumers.
- Cheaper than pay-per-click advertising and live long past your PPC budget.
- Grab the long tail.
“Grabbing the long tail” means using keywords that are less competitive and less-oft searched for than popular keywords. When you use all your long-tail keywords, they’ll bring home more search bacon than the popular keywords.
It’s akin to being one of the kids no one liked in high school. Although you didn’t get to sit at the table in the cafe with all the other cool kids, at least you had the whole table to yourself. Sometimes, that’s a good thing.
Photo by Free Parking
