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4 Easy Ways to Get PR Like a Pro

September 26th, 2011 ::

Press Release

Just because you are not a public relations expert does not mean you should avoid writing and distributing press releases.  Take full advantage of getting your company’s news into the hands of bloggers, journalists and potential customers by thinking and acting like a PR pro.

Much has been written about what to include in your press release – strong headline, keywords, powerful quotes, detailed descriptions that explain the benefits of the product or service to your target market.  But what what do you do with the release once it’s written?  Distribute it, of course–just make sure you cover all your bases.

Here’s how:

1. Submit your press release to distribution services.

Google News and Yahoo! News should be considered different search engines. Get your content indexed in these places by submitting your press release to one of the recognized press release distribution services (see #2 below).

2. Submit your press release to important news stations.

PRWeb, PR Newswire, Business Wire, Marketwire and PrimeNewswire are the five big news stations to hit, but don’t forget about other, less popular services and free services you may be able to use. Just be sure that you have access to the main search engines and the capability to hyperlink from the press release to your site.

3. Include hyperlinks in your press releases.

Free marketing! Hyperlink relevant words that will direct users toward targeted pages. For example, if your press release is about a new product launch, hyperlink important phrases and send people to your website page that corresponds to it, reaping the rewards of search engine optimization.

4. Publish the release on your site.

Sure, you’re sending the press release to reputable distribution services, but so often companies forget to publish a press release on their own website! Stick that baby on your media page, in your blog, news feed, anything! That’s the best way to make sure it is indexed by the main part of Google.

Image by Flickr user Maurina Rara (Creative Commons)

The views expressed here are the author's alone and not those of Network Solutions or its partners.

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Posted in Marketing | 4 Comments »

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 9:00 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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  • Brock Brereton

    Great post!  Perfect timing too, I was just about ten minutes away from issuing a Press Release.  Aside from a strong “keyword rich” header and opening summary paragraph, it’s also a good practice to include a quote as well.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.minisprout.com/ Alex

    I’m not sure mass distributing press releases across wires is the most effective way to generate press, especially for small businesses. Focus on the pubs and blogs within your industry; build relationships with them. Then, whenever you have an announcement, you can reach out to them directly to communicate urgency. The press release becomes the leave behind following your conversation.

  • http://www.adapia.tumblr.com AdaPia

    It’s true that mass distribution of a press release will have only a little impact but those five major press release distribution sites all have services that allow you to target the release geographically, by industry sector, and some even in more detail. 

    My question to the author about those five sites is whether you are suggesting to submit to all 5 plus the free ones, or to choose one of the majors? The reason being budget and redundancy. Is there added value to spending a few thousand dollars to submit to all 5 services?  Thank you.

  • http://www.scn.org/~abt Keith Gormezano

    Why didn’t you include the links to the various sites cited in the article?