Press releases are great for getting numerous backlinks and traffic to your website fast. It’s a technique I have used numerous times to great effect – yet not many people in the internet marketing world are doing it!
Just be sure to pick a good keyword for your press release and make sure that your press release is actually NEWSWORTHY – which in my opinion is the most important thing. Ask yourself why somebody would be interested in your press release. If it’s all about your product or your company then chances are that people won’t be.
The advice offered here can help you get onto the first page of Google News with ease, but first, let’s look at the benefits of getting onto Google News:
- A press release on Google News will send you a lot of traffic, and there is also the potential that a journalist could pick up your news story and help you spread it internet wide.
- Your press release will be indexed all over the place. This is not only Google, but Yahoo, Ask and a whole selection of other search engine bots.
- Google News has a Page Rank of 9, so you’ll get great link juice from submitting your press release to them. There are also lots of websites that syndicate Google News, so the potential for great backlinks and traffic is huge!
To get the best results from your press release bear the following in mind:
- Make sure your story is interesting and newsworthy
If you want your press release to spread around the internet then make sure your story is something people will be interested in – don’t make it a blatant advertising ploy.
- Include the key information in the opening paragraph
If you don’t grab the readers attention in the opening paragraph then the chances are they won’t bother reading any further. Include as much information about the story – who, what, when, where, why – in the opening paragraph.
- Only use one keyword per press release
This will mean that your press release is focussed and targeted to a specific keyword that people will type in to search and find out about you. If you want to target a number of keywords, then write one press release for each keyword.
- Your keyword must appear in the title
This rule must always be followed as it is a vital part of SEO. If your keyword does not appear in the title then it will be difficult for people to find your release. When your keyword appears in the title, it stands a good chance of getting ranked on other search engines as well.
- Put your keyword in the first and last paragraphs
This is another SEO tip, as search engines put a lot of weight on a keyword if it’s mentioned in the extract, introduction and last paragraph. Also try to make sure that there is a keyword density of about 3 to 5%. You can use the free software found at http://www.dupefreepro.com to check your density.
- Always have a call to action in your press release
Make sure that you have a call to action in your press release, as this is part of the dual purpose of a press release – to get backlinks and just as importantly visitors.
The following are some press release submission sites which should get you indexed fast and onto Google News within 24 hours:
Good luck! 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This is a good basic guide, with some good resources too. (I particularly like PRLog.org). I’ve explored these a bit more on my website with the How to write a press release guide and then, how to pitch it. These go into quite a bit more detail and should be helpful, I think. The site also offers free release submission too.