Search engine optimization

Use hyperlinks in press releases: Here are 19 ideas

10/28/2010 By Joan 2 Comments

The next time you write a press release, don’t forget hyperlinks.

Too many writers do. Or they’re simply unaware of the three most important reasons to include them: they improve your search engine optimization, drive traffic to your website, and amplify your message.

Used correctly, links can also push consumers to take the action you want them to take, whether it’s buying a product or calling for a reservation.

Business Wire has a helpful White Paper, ” Six Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Press Release,” that you can download for free, and using hyperlinks is one of the tips. The White Paper givest two examples of when you should consider linking. If the release includes a quote from your CEO, link to the CEO’s bio. If the release announces a new business opening, link to a map that shows readers where it’s located.

17 Other Opportunities to Use Links

Here are 17 of my own ideas:

A sales page, where brilliant sales copy can push consumers to buy your product or service.
A video that demonstrates how to use the product you’re writing about, or provides helpful tips that tie into the topic of the release.
A page of testimonials from happy customers.
A blog post you’ve written where your readers are engaged in a lively conversation about a particular topic.
An earlier press release that offers more perspective on the topic.
A podcast that ties into the topic.
Your online press room where journalists and consumers can find more background information about you and your business.
Your social media profiles, with a recommendation that readers follow you.
A page at your website that includes an opt-in box where people can request something like a free White Paper, special report, or list of helpful tips.
A book you’re selling on Amazon.com.
A page at your website that includes frequently asked questions.
A page at your website where visitors will find product photos.
Quotes from analysts.
A page where readers can ask you a question about a particular topic. (A great way to generate sales leads!)
Reviews from customers.
An online catalog.
A photo gallery that ties into the topic of the release

But Don’t Go Overboard

A word of caution. Don’t go nuts when using hyperlinks.

Press release expert Janet Thaeler, who was my guest during a teleseminar on how to use keywords in press releases, says a good rule of thumb is one link for every 100 to 150 words in the release. Use more than that, and the release can annoy readers as well as the search engines. It will look like you’re spamming.

If you need more help on how to write press release, sign up for my free email course, 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.

Those are my ideas. Now, lets hear yours. When do you use hyperlinks in press releases and what kinds of results have you seen?

Filed Under: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Business Promotion, Photos & Graphics, Press Releases/News Releases, Search engine optimization, Social media marketing, Video Tagged With: analyst quotes, hyperlinks, janet thaeler, news release, online pressroom, press release

9 ways to spy on your competitors online

10/16/2010 By Joan 9 Comments

Writer Ed Davis asked me to pass along tips on how coffee shops can do competitive intelligence online, for an article in Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine.

These tips work just as well for any retailer selling online or offline, or anyone who wants to spy on their competitors, or any Publicity Hound who wants more publicity than the competition:

1. Start at your competitor’s website.

They might have an RSS feed (subscribe to the feed) or links to their social media profiles or a blog.

While you’re there, be on the lookout for any customer service type things you see that make it easy for customers to contact or interact with them. Example: A phone number placed prominently on the homepage. If you see something you like—an introductory video, a “contact us” form, etc.—steal the idea and add it to your own website (but don’t plagiarize).

2. Create Google Alerts.

Create separate Google Alerts for every major competitor’s business name and website URL. Google will deliver to your email inbox, as often as you wish, information it finds on the web about your competitors or their website.

When creating the Alert, choose “Everything,” “Once a day” and “Only the best results.” Be sure to set up Google Alerts for your own name and business, too, so you know instantly what people are saying about you online.

3. Look for their blog.

Are they blogging? If so, subscribe to the RSS feed.

Check to see how many comments they’re getting. Are the comments positive or negative or both? Do they seem to have a loyal following? Join the conversation if you wish, but do not post a snarky comment at their blog under your own name or a fake name. Often, it’s more valuable to just sit on the sidelines and watch.

4. Look on Facebook.

Do they have a Facebook profile or Fan Page? If so, become a friend and a fan and watch closely to see what they’re sharing with their followers. Read comments from their friends and followers. Are they offering discounts, coupons or anything special for their fans? (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook)

5. Look on Twitter.

If they have an account, follow them. Their tweets might tip you off to new products and services they’ll be offering, events they’re hosting, etc.

Have they created Twitter lists? If so, review them. You might see lists that include marketers or coaches who they’re learning from, or others who are passing along valuable information that you, too, can learn from. (See How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Generate Publicity & Build Your Brand.)

6. Use SocialMention.com.

This is just like Google Alerts, but for social media. Receive free daily email alerts of your brand or your competitor’s brand, company, CEO, marketing campaign, etc. Social Mention monitors more than 80 social media properties including Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google, etc.

7. Use Grader.com.

This website has a nice selection of tools that help you measure and analyze your marketing efforts, or those of your competitor. You’ll find tools for measuring on FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook, a blog, and more.

8. Search for their videos.

Have they created videos that are pulling in traffic to their website? Go to YouTube and search under their name. Or, do a Google search for their name and then click on ”Videos” in the upper left corner.

9. Check their search engine ranking.

How well do they rank on Google’s organic search list? Let’s say you’re a coffee shop in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where I live. Search ”coffee shop + Port Washington, Wi.” and compare how each of you rank.

There are dozens more tools for keeping track of what your competitors are doing, but these are the best and easiest places to start. What tools do you use to spy?

Filed Under: Blogs, Facebook, Search engine optimization, Twitter, YouTube Tagged With: competitive intelligence, foursquare, google alerts, grader.com, Internet marketing, social mention, spy on competitors

Free press release service offers free press room page

9/29/2010 By Joan 10 Comments

I usually frown on free press release distribution services for three reasons:

1. They seldom “distribute” anything. Instead, they park your press release at their website, to be found—or not—by the search engines.

2. You can’t be certain that the releases are getting into the major news feeds unless you check.

3. It’s next to impossible to contact them if you notice an error, like a wrong telephone number, in your release after you’ve posted it to their site. So the incorrect release lives online forever.

Yet one of the most frequent questions Publicity Hounds ask me is: “Which free press release service should I use?”

I now strongly recommend you take advantage of the free press release service that comes with the free Press Room Page in the “Expert Book” at ExpertClick.com, published by Mitchell Davis of The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities & Spokespersons. Register here.

What You Get with the Free Service

I’ve been promoting Mitch’s paid service for many years because it allows you to post up to 52 press releases a year at no additional per-release charge. And if you notice an error in your release, you call his office. A human answers the phone and fixes the error. His releases are picked up by Google and LexisNexis. Until now, you had to pay for that service.

But not anymore. You get a very basic version at the “Freemium” level.

It gets you a News Room page, photo, profile and a link to your website. You can also post one free press release each month which will also show up in Google and LexisNexis.

Only the paid service has free telephone support. But theFreemium members are offered support via email with a 24- to 48-hour commitment to questions. You can email support questions to mitchell (at) yearbookofexperts.com and the answers will be posted at their customer support blog. Mitch’s staff will notify you to visit the blog to see the answers.

Other things you need to know about the Freemium level:

You’re ranked in the topic lists and search results after the paid members, but you can include 39 topics for indexing.
These free accounts are supported by contextual Google Ads, on their profiles and news releases.
Freemium member accounts are not included in the printed Yearbook of Experts, Authorities & Spokespersons.
Inactive Freemium accounts may be removed from the system, when members do not send a news releases at least every 90 days. (I like this feature because it forces you to send releases several times a year.)
You can’t edit news releases once they’re sent, but you may cancel them.

The Paid Services

The other two membership levels are:
–Classic at $95 a month
–Club at $295 a month.

Paid members get telephone support at (202) 333-5000.

You can see the Member Handbook and the benefits you’ll get by becoming a paid member. You can also see how to send a news release. (Full disclosure: I’m an affiliate, and get a commission on any sales that result from the paid services through my affiliate link.)

A Note for PR Pros and Publicists

Participants may only send news releases about their businesses.

If you’re a PR person who wants to send news releases about clients, you’ll need to open additional unique accounts for them.

Why? Because the press room page system is what drives search engine optimization. That’s just plain smart.

Press Release Success Stories from Expertclick Members

Child safety expert Debra Holtzman knows journalists love Top Ten lists, and she has been invited to be on the ”Today” Show, based on her child safety tips.

Here’s a sample of a recent Top Ten List News Release on Ten Life Saving Tips Every Mom and Dad Should Know.

You can see all of Debra’s releases here.

Ed Poll adds his HTML subscriber newsletter and his subscriber opt-in form. He integrated his Constant Contact system into News Release Wire.

Here’s an example of how he uses the archive feature in Constant Contact to get the HTML code, and then sends a news release using that code. And here’s how Ed had added the HTML code to get more opt-ins to his email list in his Press Room Page. If you have an email system, you can do this too, by logging into your email account platform to create the HTML code and inserting that code into your Press Room Page.

You can send many types of content via News Release Wire, not just news releases, and you can upload in many formats. They will push your content to your Press Room Page, via email, and to Google News and Lexis. Content can include:

News Releases
White Papers
Blog Content
Links to your website or subpages for SEO
Your email newsletter
Your opinions on news, many follow Google Trends to get ideas.
PDFs of your brochures.

Hounds, this is a no-brainer. You’d be crazy not to sign up for at least for the free service.

Filed Under: Authors & Publishers, Business Promotion, PR Consultants/Publicists, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Search engine optimization, Writing Articles Tagged With: Expertclick, experts directory, free press release service, news release distribution, publicity for experts, Yearbook of experts

13 ways to use royalty-free stock images in a PR campaign

11/21/2009 By Joan 7 Comments

If you can’t afford your own photographer, or you take lousy photos, or you hate creating graphics, use a stock photo service to enhance everything from press releases to media kits in a PR campaign.

Royalty-free stock images can save you a lot of time and money trying to generate graphics on your own. Royalty-free means you can use the downloaded images forever and not have to worry about infringement issues.

Shutterstock has given me a complimentary subscription so I can try their service, and their photos come in handy at this blog. They’ve helped me compile this list of 13 ways you can use stock image photos in a PR campaign.

Blogs. Many bloggers are missing the opportunity to dress up their posts and make their blogs more attractive. Regardless of what topic I write about, I can usually find a stock image to accompany it.
Ezines and print newsletters. Stock photos and illustrations can enhance articles in company newsletters and ezines. Now that so many ezine publishers produce HTML newsletters, stock images come in handy.
Press releases. Most press release distribution services allow customers to upload several images at no extra charge. If the headline doesn’t call attention to your release, the stock photo just might. Adding editorial stock images of premier events such as concerts or sports competitions can add weight and influence to a related press release, blog post or ezine article.
Presentations. Whether you’re submitting a proposal for a client, or you’re a speaker who’s presenting to an audience, compelling stock images used to illustrate business presentations can help capture the attention of your audience. Highlight key points with photos and illustrations in PowerPoint.
Reports. Stock photos are a great way to add excitement to client reports and reinforce your accomplishments.
White Papers. White Papers often cry out for colorful stock imagery to break up text and hold readers’ attention.
Media kits. Including stock photos and illustrations when designing a media kit or media kit inserts to add extra visual appeal.
Event invitations and posters. Stock photos and illustrations allow PR professionals to create attractive event invitations. Stock images can also help create just the right mood for the event itself. Simply enlarge them to poster size and place them throughout the event location.
Social media. Use them to enliven your your social media presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter (Twitpic), Wikipedia, and more.
Search engine optimization. By properly tagging a stock image within a release, blog or website, you can raise your site’s rankings. PR clients will appreciate the added value as well as your SEO savvy.
Your own website. Stock photos and illustrations are a great way to demonstrate creative flair and generate interest in your website, or your PR client’s.
Advertising. If you’re buying an ad, a good stock photo can come in handy.
For the media. Offer stock photos to journalists if they’re coving a story about you, and the photos are a good tie-in. Sure, the media have access to their own stock photos, but Rule #1 when working with the media is “Be helpful.”

My ebook How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign offers thousands of helpful tips on how to incorporate images into your publicity efforts.

Filed Under: Advertising, Blogs, Celebrity tie-ins, Facebook, Photos & Graphics, PR Consultants/Publicists, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Search engine optimization, Social media marketing, Special Events

Avoid press release buzzwords—use press release keywords

10/24/2009 By Joan 2 Comments

The next time you write a press release, don’t let youself lapse into gobbledygook.

They’re annoying, overused words most people wouldn’t use when they talk, but they don’t hesitate to use them when they write because buzzwords make their releases sound ”important.”

I’ve written before about aggravating words in press releases. In this week’s Daily Dog newsletter published by Bulldog Reporter, Ken Makovsky comments on the most annoying, overused words in the workplace. When I saw the list of words—leverage, interface, viral, cutting age—I couldn’t help but think that the list is identical to words that should be banned from press releases.

If you think I’m exaggerating, just hop on over to PRWeb and glance through some of the press releases that were posted today. (The worst examples are those from technology companies.)

Instead of relying on buyzzwords, pay more attention to keywords. That is, words and phrases that people type into the search engines when they’re looking for information. Press release specialist Janet Thaeler gave dozens of kick-butt tips when she was my guest expert on Wednesday during the teleseminar on “How to Use Keywords, the ‘Magic Magnets’ That Pull Consumers & Journalists to Your Press Releases.”

Here are four tips from that call:

Use keywords in the headline, the first sentence and throughout the body copy.
Use keywords in anchor text that links to your website or your blog–about one anchor text link for every 100 words of copy. For example, if one of the keyword phrases in my press release was “free publicity tips,” and I wanted people to visit my website to sign up for my free ezine called “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” I wouldn’t say “Click here to sign up for Stewart’s free ezine on publicity tips.” I’d say “Sign up for Stewart’s free ezine on free publicity tips.” If people were searching for free publicity tips, they wouldn’t be typing “click here” into the search engines.
Use the URL again in your press release but spell it out, like this: http://www.PublicityHound.com. The place to do this is in the boilerplate, also known as the “About us” paragraph at the end of your press release. If someone cuts and pastes your press release and uses it on their website, or forwards it to a friend, but doesn’t bother to make the links live, people won’t be able to find your website unless your URL is spelled out.
Janet’s favorite keyword research tools are the Google keyword tool and Wordtracker’s free tool.

Using keywords in press releases might feel strange at first because we’ve all been taught to concentrate on things like the headline, a great “hook” in the first paragraph and powerful quotes within the release. But the more you practice using keywords, the easier it becomes. And the more skilled you become at using keywords, the easier it is for people to find your release.

Filed Under: Press Releases/News Releases, Search engine optimization