Undercover SEO: Your Campaign Can Be Promotional

Utilising Press Releases As Part Of An SEO Campaign

As an SEO copywriter, one thing that I have noticed is that a lot of the techniques used as part of an online marketing campaign require copy to be non-promotional. Of course one of the residing comments that I often hear from clients is, how can this possibly benefit my company?

I often answer by explaining that the article includes a link in the main body that directs to their website, which benefits their SEO. I also let them know that whilst many article distribution sites do not allow promotional posts on their site, they often allow the company name to be added into a box below.

Still, many clients use their marketing budget to pay for their SEO and as a result, expect that they should receive promotional exposure online. One of the best ways that I think that this can be achieved is through the writing and distribution of press releases online.

Online press releases are much the same as those that are sent to print publications; they should be based upon relevant news related to a company.

The main advantage of offering press releases as part of a campaign is that they can be promotional, they can include the company name as many times as you like and as long as they are written well, PR distribution sites will almost always accept them.

However, they can be adjusted slightly so that they benefit a company’s search engine optimisation too. Just like an article they can include valuable back-links that direct to their website, this can strengthen the authority of a website for the key words that they have chosen to optimise for.

As an example, if your client is optimising for ‘Swimming Pool Covers’, links from articles, press releases and other websites will improve the chances of their website appearing one page one for this key phrase.

So what should you look for in a press release distribution site, to ensure that it offers positive results as part of the SEO campaign?

High Page Rank – Sites with high page ranks are often regarded more highly in the eyes of search engines such as, Google, Yahoo and Bing. Consequently, the content on the website is considered to be more authoritative, improving the authority of the links to the website and in turn boosting the company’s rankings.

Link Building – As mentioned earlier, in order for a press release to be of any worth for the online marketing campaign, the distribution site should allow the release to include links. Many sites will detail whether this is allowed in the submission guidelines. If you are not able to add links, there is little point in distributing for SEO purposes.

Relevant Categories – As well as the backwards links, the primary benefit of a press release for the client is the added exposure that it receives. In order for relevant audiences to read the release and discover the client’s company, it must be placed on a site with relevant categories. In some cases, it may be possible to place a PR on an industry specific site, which would be extremely advantageous as long as it adheres to the previous two points.

So, next time your client asks why the copy that you are writing for their SEO campaign doesn’t include their company name, suggest writing a newsworthy press release that could get their company exposure and benefit their campaign.