Search Engine Optimization and the Press Release

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Search Engine Optimizationand thePress Release
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Agenda

• SEO basics
• How press releases are optimized
• Front end (what you do)
• Back end (what we do)
• What to expect
• Measurement

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Search Engines exist to return relevant results
to searchers

• Search engine spider (bot or
• crawler)
• Visits Web page, reads it, and crawls links to
  other pages within the website
• Indexes Web pages -Everything the spider finds
  is saved in the search engines index
• Algorithmic categorization - Sorts through the
  Index and returns results based on mathematical
  calculations

home equity loan
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News vs Natural Search

• News search
• Immediate effect
• Exposure on Google News, Yahoo News etc.
• Easy.
• Quantified in PR Newswire Access Reports.
• Natural search
• Results accumulate over time
• Results driven by individual internet searchers
  unique individual behavior.
• Difficult!
• Quantified in PR Newswire SEO reports.

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How press releases (and other content, for that
matter) are optimized
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How Press Releases are optimized

• Front-End Optimization
• Use well researched keywords (not jargon)
• Construct your release with search engines in
  mind
• Keyword density
• Utilize anchor text, etc.

• Back-End Optimization
• Format your release for search engines
  (underlying HTML)
• Host release on search engine friendly site
• Provide useful and actionable measurement and
  reporting

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Front End Optimization Keywords
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Keywords Mind the competition
Using more focused phrases can connect you with
people who are looking for exactly what youre
promoting without all the competition
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Finding the right keywords

• Talk to your web team
• Look at your web site and competitor sites
• Use free online tools
• www.google.com/trends
• http//freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
• And google your selections (and colloquial
• derivatives, like RV vs recreational vehicle)
  to ensure
• that youre lining your message up with relevant
• content.

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Front End Optimization Constructing your Press
Release

• Tip Up and to the left!
• Write a succinct headline (60-80 characters) and
  use your most important keyword towards the
  beginning.
• Repeat the keywords in the sub-head and/or the
  lead, and throughout the body copy.
• Focus on relevance.
• Use anchor text, but also include full URLs
  (http//thewholeURL.com) within your text. (Not
  all sites render anchor text, so you need to
  provide readers with a next step.)
• Utilize a keyword density analyzer, to ensure
  your release is relevant for your keywords.

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Copy and Paste Release Here
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Checking keyword density
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Case Study

• Vermont Teddy Bear Co.
• December 4, 2007
• PajamaGram release

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Two and a half months later, the press release is
still in the top 10 search results
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Checking Keyword Density
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Checking keyword density
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How PR Newswire optimizes press releases (back
end optimization)
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Extracted keywords
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Headline
Lead
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Headline
Sub-head
Full release text
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Measuring the Results

• Push vs Pull
• SEO results reveal
• Whether or not you connected with your audience.
  
• If your audiences is searching for the terms you
  use in your communications (you need to know this
  either way)
• If your audiences find your message interesting.

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This company is connected with their audience

• Almost half of all views generated from one key
  phrase
• High click through among top terms

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To wrap it up

• Good public relations SEO depends on relevance
• The relevance of the keywords you select
• The relevance of your press release for those
  keywords
• Its a different kind of communication
  engagement
• SEO is an opportunity to connect with your
  audience, to bring them to your message.

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QA

• Need more info? E-mail us at client.services_at_prnew
  swire.com