Anatomy of an Online Press Release - An Old Trick Made New
February 7th, 2010 |
I was a publicist in the 80s and made a living writing press releases and �flacking the hacks.� For more than a decade now, my business is promoting client sites in the organic results of search engines. Until now, on site optimization and creative link trades have been the main staple of my SEO. I had read about press releases being used as part of an overall search engine campaign, but I hadn’t really had a good reason to do one. But now I find myself with a client who has an item that’s truly newsworthy
– Realtor Rudy Molinet has developed an iPhone app for Key West Real Estate. So, I am about to learn an old trick in a new way. I’ve written the release (my experience with public relations and my current SEO copywriting came in handy) and the next step was to research the platform to use for the release and when to time the release. I�ve learned:
Some press release sites are free and some are paid. Some are actually read by reporters � business to business, so to speak. Others are not really targeting journalists. From what I�ve read, PR Newswire and Business Wire are the most likely to reach the reporters.
Timing is important. If you are looking for publicity and not just links, you want your release to be in front of the writers in the morning when they are perusing for ideas. But there are other factors that come into play. I called BusinessWire, a likely vehicle for our release, and asked about timing. Yes, I would be able to control it, they said. I can opt to release it now or at a time in the future. I could even have them hold it indefinitely.
BusinessWire�s Claudia advised me to choose my timing carefully right now since there are a lot of financial earnings releases right now. Stay clear of the times right before the market opens and closes she said.
Here�s another tip, she said. Time your release for a few minutes after the hour. 7:10 to 7:15 tomorrow would be just about right, we decided.
Businesswire does seem to be the right platform for this release, as the package that looks right for us will include a push to a large number of mobile applications. In addition to the paid sites there are �press release� sites that have free distribution options. Here are a few for your reference.
1888pressrelease.com
24-7pressrelease.com
free-press-release.com
pressabout.com
pressreleasecentre.com
pr.com
When the press release for the iPhone app for Key West Real Estate. Results have been tabulated, I will report on its SEO success.
