5 Ways to Make Your Press Release Searchable

Can you find the needle in this haystack?   
A lost or unsearchable press release would be a total bubble-burster after putting so much effort into it, wouldn't it?  Press releases are still considered a powerful marketing tool...if it's written and distributed correctly.  Ask yourself these five things when writing and submitting your release to ensure yours get found on the web.

1. Did you include Links? 
If your release is well written, it should encourage people to click through links.  Be sure to link your press release to your website so that people can learn more about your company, product or service.  Look for ways to create relevant backlinks (links from to your site from other sources).  These also promote search engine optimization and greater web visibility.  Turn target words into anchor text links (links embedded in words).  Search engines will be better able to show your site when searchers browse for key target words.

2. Did you use quotes?
Quotes are the perfect place to insert an opinion in your release.  While it may not be appropriate for the body of the release to editorialize, a quote from your CEO saying how great the company is.

3. Do you have a newsworthy angle?  Press releases inform people about something that is timely, new and current, such as a new product or service, new business partnership, award, event, etc.  Surely if you don't have something to share, be creative and look for ways to generate news.

4. Did you promote your release after it was submitted?   After you publish your release online, make sure you do your part to let everyone know what you just did.  Bookmark it on your favorite social networking sites, like StumbleUpon,  send a tweet on Twitter, send an email to specific editors, and add it to your news section on your website.

5.  Did you use keywords in your title and summary?  Achieving online visibility depends heavily on using keywords. Think of words that someone would type into the search field.   In a well-optimized online release, the title of your release usually becomes the title tag of the page on which your release is published.  Title tags tell search engines about the context of the page and usually becomes the bold link on the search engine results page.

Practice Good Social Media Responsibility

A story broke today about breaking news and the use of social media.  A Facebook user posted information about a player making the NBA draft, except the information was not official and the posting has since been taken down.  Questions arise about the best uses of social media, its benefits and potential backfires.  http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/social-media-changing-the-way-sports-news-breaks-722849.html.

Social media has become a platform for so many individuals to shout out their thoughts, share information, give themselves a pat on the back, share inspiration, ask for feedback, and the list goes on.  But, when it comes to sensitive news topics, let's leave it up to credible sources. You'll still get great mileage out of practicing responsible social media skills.

Get Your CEO to Join Twitter

If your CEO can text a message saying he's late for a meeting, then CEO man or woman has passed the test.  He or she should be able to update on Twitter on a regular basis. 

Though CEOs may think that Twitter is nothing more than following someone who is having a bad day, or in line to see a documentary, or eating fish tacos on a sandy beach in Mexico, you know that it's more than that.  What CEOs can actually discover is likes/dislikes of their followers or people who they are following and use that information to their advantage.  Furthermore, Twitter is the place to have conversations with their market, learn about impressions people have on certain products or services, provide live updates from events and conferences, announce special deals, keep in touch with media, monitor their brand, and manage connections with bloggers, prospective customers and other people who influence.

Now what's a better use of a CEO's time?

Identify Your Customers' Buyer Personas

So now that I've explained how a writer might use social media to access information, then it makes perfect sense to develop content that will reach your buyers - plural (as there are many more than you think.)  This doesn't mean that you can't give your website a general message or impression.  Brand identity and continuity is vitally important.

What we're talking about here is the fact that for any product or service, there are several groups of potential customers with particular profiles, or buyer personas.  Take for example a vitamin drink.  It's claim is to help with weight loss, increase energy, and promote well-being with natural ingredients.  Now think of the different buyer personas.  Mary, who's  struggling to lose the last 25 pounds after her baby.  John, a fitness enthusiast on a lookout for a health supplement,  Mallory, a single mother who feels drained and overworked.  Phil, a health nut who always does a thorough ingredient scan and research before buying anything that he ingests.  Once you've discovered all of them, then take it a step further and "create" more buyer personas - create a demand.

What to consider once you've explored all the possible buyer personalities, is an editorial plan for each.  Yes, it's time to start thinking like a publisher by reaching  buyers with targeted content.  It could be as simple as adding pages to your website, each with customized information for a particular buyer type.    Develop a series of direct-to-customer news releases.  Each one can focus on issues that you know your buyer might be interested in.  Go further with a blog or online video channel to engage them even further.

Just like you don't ever see a magazine talking about itself, it's more important to provide your audience with what they are interested in - in the media that they prefer.

How a Magazine Writer Uses Social Media

As a freelance magazine writer, I've come to rely on obtaining information and even inspiration from the Web.  Having loads of great PR contacts and receiving their steady stream of press releases and emails is always appreciated.  But, I don't I rely on them entirely when sitting down to write the story.  I let my fingers do the research.

Like a spiders crawling websites, I, too, search and search and search for pertinent, relative and authentic information to help build the story.  I may go to Linkedin to find out more about a person's business expertise, to Twitter to gather daily thoughts and ramblings, to YouTube to catch someone in action, to Four Square to see where people are in the day, to Facebook, to keep in touch with businesses and people in general, and so on.  Then, of course there are blogs written about a certain topics, or published articles to compare the content, tone, or to discover new angles.

As a freelance writer, I also have to know who I am writing for by understanding the publication thoroughly and being aware of their readers' interests.  Through social media, I can easily keep up by following their tweets, visiting their online magazine (although content for print is usually distinctively different than online versions), and reading back issues of publications that I am interested in submitting queries to.

The information is all there.  Best of all, it's not a one-way street.  There's plenty of opportunity for interaction to take anything, from writing a story, to building relationships to the next level.