Do you think press releases are only for corporate news? Is your business big enough to send out a press release?
If, for some reason you think your business is too small or too unimportant to send out a press release, I disagree. All businesses, even consultants and solo-entrepreneurs need to be regularly sending out search engine optimized online press releases.
Here's why ...
While you've been working on your business and in your business, a quiet revolution in PR has been transforming the traditional press release. The lowly press release has been reinvented and is being used online to increase website traffic and directly reach out to a company's target audience. Let me explain how this all works.
Millions of Websites
The common thinking is that if you have a business, you should have a website. Sounds reasonable until you look at how many websites are on the Internet. In February 2007, the Netcraft Web Server Survey found over 108 million distinct web sites. You are a very small fish in a very big pond. How can you possibly have a website that is found by your target audience? This is the question all businesses face.
Even though the Internet has leveled the playing field for small businesses, the issue of how to get top ranking with the search engines has always been an online business's biggest concern. The companies with the biggest marketing budgets hire SEO (search engine optimization) companies to optimize their websites and create pay-per-click campaigns to drive traffic to the website. They spend thousands of dollars every month to try to guarantee a high ranking with the search engines.
So, where does this leave the small business owner? Do you have thousands of dollars to spend on SEO? I doubt it. Now what?
With millions of websites competing with each other it's often a frustrating experience to try to get a high ranking for your website. Hiring a search engine optimization expert is expensive and a tremendous amount of work.
Search Engine Optimized Press Releases
A fast and easy way to attract targeted traffic to a website is by using a search engine optimized press release. Not only does it get the attention of the media, but it gives you the opportunity to directly reach out to your customer.
Nearly 100% of journalists go online looking for interesting stories to report on. A press release distributed through the Internet will quickly get your message to media professionals, onto the desks of journalists and top news sites.
You can submit press releases to an online news service that uses RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mail, photo podcast and video to distribute press releases all over the Internet. More than 60,000 journalists and media outlets worldwide receive the press release in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. In addition, the press release is posted on a news service site that receives 50 million page views each month.
Levels the Playing Field
It's possible that you or your business could be easily found as a result of an online press release. Within 24 hours of submitting a press release it is possible to get top rankings with search engines and directories like Google, MSN, or Yahoo. This makes it more likely that traffic will come to your website.
Another benefit to using online press releases is that they link back to your website when they are picked up by other websites. This causes permanent links back to your website, which causes your site to get a higher search engine ranking with Google.
The more press releases you submit, the more links you can get back to your site and your ranking continues to grow (without spending thousands of dollars).
Reach Buyers Directly
Because of the Internet, an online press release is no longer just a release to the press. It is a release that anyone can read because it is being distributed through the Internet.
This is an incredible opportunity to reach your target audience. Never in history have we had such an opportunity to reach millions of people with the push of a button.
One of my clients used an online press release to help him sell a $7 million home. Since an SEO press release has worldwide exposure, he was able to reach potential buyers globally. As it turned out, within days of the distribution of his press release, he was contacted by a couple 3,000 miles away who bought the home shortly after visiting the property.
Customers Are Looking for You
For an affordable, one-time cost, a search engine optimized, online press release gives you immediate and long term search engine ranking. Because an online press release never goes away, years from now someone could do a Google search and bring up your press release. In addition, an online press release is an opportunity to directly reach out to your target market. Customers are looking for you; make it easy for them and send out a press release.
Makes good sense even to one _preparing_ to make the plunge into a website. You clarified a number of issues that were murky to me. Thank you.
Suggestion: please define SEO (for types of businesses) in the second paragraph. I had to read ahead to surmise it means "search engine optimized" as you use it in the rest of the article.
Doesn't it?
Suzanne
Posted by: Suzanne | June 02, 2007 at 04:53 PM