The Power of the Press

Many people know that they want to get their Web sites to rank well at the search engines to get qualified traffic. Unfortunately, many think that there are some "tips and tricks" and "insider schemes" that will shoot their rankings to the top.

What many site owners fail to realize is that good search engine rankings are a result of quality content. The Internet isn't referred to as the "Information Highway" for nothing. What anyone searching on the Internet is looking for is information. Top quality information, good sources to purchase from, and interactive media that helps in the selection process tops the list of items most desired in cyberspace (barring the illicit things most desired by our youths).

One way to help build credibility at your site and set your company up as the "authoritative center" is with the use of press information. Typically, press releases, if optimized correctly for the search engines, can improve a site's ranking because it offers plain text content about a specific subject. Press releases that are posted at your Web site can be more promotional and less newsworthy than those sent out to the wires, but they should still contain good, solid information about your company, services, or products.

To go one further, setup an RSS feed and/or submit your press releases to the major search engines via newswires. These press releases must be newsworthy - new product or service introduction, new company structure, investor news, change of company officers, etc. A properly optimized press release should get picked up by the major search news outlets and displayed in the correct category.

Naturally, search news isn't the only place you want your newsworthy items to appear, you also want them to show up in industry-specific publications - online and off-line. The newswires available today not only serve publications, but also freelance journalists, investment analysts, private citizens that have an interest in a specific subject, and potential investors. Once a publication picks up your news story and posts it at their online publication, this counts as an excellent link resource and can boost your site's link popularity rating which, in turn, boosts your overall ranking.

A good press release is written as a news article answering Who, What, When, Where, Why and How -- the basics of good journalism. The item should be written in third-party viewpoint (they, the company, etc - not we, our company) and should not exceed 400 words (50-250 words is usually adequate - use the brevity as an opportunity to send the reader to your Web site to learn more). Check your grammar and spelling - read it out loud to determine if it sounds correct, and be sure to put contact information somewhere in the release so that the publisher can contact you if they have further questions and don't forget to your use keyword phrases in describing your product or service. If your press release must go out in a specific time frame, be sure to put FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top.

Study some news articles, particularly ones from your industry to see how they are organized. The top "header" part should contain the date for release, the date it was written, and the headline, which should be a "grabber" as well as whether or not there are photos available. After the body of the release there should be full contact information so that the publisher can ask questions, verify facts or request a photo.

Web-Kare offers services to create a press area at your Web site, create an RSS news feed, submit your site to the proper newswires, optimize and/or create your press release content. To learn more about this service, contact Web-Kare.