PR Perspective
The Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Public Relations
First of a three-part series on SEO "Best Practices"

By Hollis Thomases, President and Founder, WebAdvantage.net (www.webadvantage.net/)

Part One: Why and How a Press Release Should Be Search Optimized

The process of affecting a site's natural search engine results is called SEO (search engine optimization).  SEO involves implementing keyword-driven changes to a web site to remove hindrances to search engine "spiders" that crawl the site.  Although the impact of organic SEO can take up to nine months and is not a certainty, industry research clearly documents the SEO payoff is worth the wait.
Internet search is the second highest activity online, second only to email.  Up to 85 percent of Internet searchers claim they ignore paid listings (Marketing Sherpa 2005).   Nielsen/NetRatings reports that 92 percent of the online population visits a search engine, portal or community site every month.  Top search engine rankings can generate up to 900 percent more traffic to a site, potentially increasing sales up to 80 percent. 
The vast majority of people who perform online search connect with companies online. Research indicates that 93 percent of Internet surfers look for company information through search and 80 percent use search to make purchases on the Web.  A 2006 DoubleClick report cites that, nearly 41 percent of web surfers use search for navigation, typing a company name or URL into their search bar instead of manually typing into their browser’s address bar.  Consequently, businesses and consumers are relying more and more on SEO and SEM due to performance ROI.
Search can also impact a company's competitive advantage, because in the world of search its ranking not size that matters.   If a web site is not listed in the top two pages of a search engine, industry research states that means site owners are missing out on traffic, visitors and sales. 

Why You Need to Optimize Your News Releases

On the Internet, press releases can serve a greater purpose than merely conveying your latest news. The process of optimizing your press release for search engines typically makes the release optimized at large, meaning it is more likely be found throughout the Internet.
Done well, optimized online press releases can increase search engine rankings, build brand awareness, usurp competition, drive Web site traffic and help to save money on pay-per-click campaigns.
Online releases may also hold the key to getting any publicity at all.
According to a joint survey conducted by Middleberg/Ross and the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 98 percent of journalists go online every day and 76 percent search for sources/experts, while 73 percent of those do so to search for press releases. If those journalists don’t find your press release because it hasn’t been properly optimized, you’re missing out altogether. So why bother generating press releases in the first place?

Best Practices for News Release SEO

Optimizing a press release is not as complicated as it may appear.  Here are a few basic steps to follow.

• Follow the fundamentals of solid press release writing.  Keep your release short, (Avoid more than 1 page) but answer key questions within that one page (5 Ws + H).
• Be Newsworthy!  Issue releases with content that is truly “news” to the public, your target industries, not just the company issuing the announcement and/or its partners.
• Identify the crucial descriptive keywords for this release. Use these terms to craft a solid, compelling headline and first paragraph for certain. Think like a searcher, not like a brand manager.  Avoid jargon and “it” and use a descriptive keyword instead. Include a “beefy” quote (why this news is important), not just by the company spokesmen.  Industry analyst (or pundit) and customer comments are far more powerful and validate the value of your news announcement.
• Use keywords sparingly (within title of the release and 1st paragraph especially; 3x max). Avoid. Unless the proper name of your product or service is already well-known, emphasize a common description rather than its name, e.g. write "proposal writing software" rather than "PropWritePro.”  If there are too many keywords/topics for one release, then write multiple versions for your target audiences.
• Include the “http://” in any URLs you write. For very long URLs, consider using a URL replacement solution like TinyURL.com.  This helps with emailed releases, (though it’s not helpful for SEO because you loose the direct link). 

Now that you know how to create your Search Engine Optimized news release, we’ll examine press release distribution and optimized posting to your site newsroom in our next two articles.

Hollis Thomases is president and founder of WebAdvantage.net, an interactive marketing, promotions, and advertising agency. Hollis was named 2007 Small Business Person of the Year for the state of Maryland by the Small Business Administration.  She was also one of Baltimore's "40 Under 40" in 2003. She was sole recipient of the 2002 Bush Declaration Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit. Hollis speaks extensively on interactive marketing, having presented for ClickZ, Jupiter Research, The Kelsey Group, the American Marketing Association, the Direct Marketing Association, The Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association, the Business Marketing Association, and The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. WebAdvantage.net's client list has included Zurich North America, Nature Made Vitamins, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association and AMVETS. Its web site was named one of Forbes magazine's "Best of B2B Sites" for media and advertising.

Copyright © 2007 Hollis Thomases. All rights reserved.

All content ©2008 FWP Acquisition Corp.,Inc.