We’ve always extolled (…and still do) the value of generating a steady flow of press releases announcing news at your company – a new product, new hire or a professional award or recognition – are just a few newsworthy topics you can announce through a press release.

Considering the fact that 92% of journalists use search engine feeds like Google News or Yahoo! News to find newsworthy topics (…daily for 81% of journalists according to research firm Marketing Sherpa), not developing a steady schedule of press releases can put you at extreme disadvantage.

And recent research from TEKGroup International analyzing journalists on media relations practices found over 70% journalists read one or more blogs daily…just under 30% regularly use social media in their jobs and approximately 37% subscribe to RSS feeds…50% regularly visit Google News.

We can even glean more information from the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from the Social Media Examiner. Over 80% of respondents in this survey say they plan to either increase press release frequency or keep it the same.  Of those respondents who say they will increase their frequency of press releases (43%), approximately 52% were small business owners while only 24% were larger companies.

Another interesting fact from the report – when asked to rank all types of marketing they were using or planning to implement, respondents ranked press releases at #4 at 57%, just below event marketing.

Despite the fact Google’s Panda update somewhat diminished the value of links from distribution sites, we can see still see the inherent value of developing newsworthy press releases.

Remember one important point – write press releases with both the search engines and social media networks in mind.

Doing so will ensure you reach both your target audience and hungry journalists looking for a great news topic.

Proper press release optimization and targeting not only helps you rank high in Google News and other outlets, they help you engage both your audience and journalists. Eventhough the link value has diminished somewhat, be sure you still include press releases in your online marketing strategy.

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Well written press releases can be an invaluable tool in generating attention for your company, if they’re done right.

If not, your press release will be relegated to the trash bin of any editors you send it to. Not only that, you won’t see much online impact either…in short, relegating what’s important news to the dust bins of irrelevance.

Continue reading for 5 common mistakes that stop press releases cold along with ways you can avoid these mistakes.

1.         Not doing the proper research – Taking a look at how others in your industry and business in general prepare their press releases helps you find what works and what doesn’t. Just slapping something together will ensure your press release doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

2.         Making assumptions – In order for your press release to be successful, you need to put yourself in the readers’ shoes. Don’t assume they know about your products and services. Detail any specifics so the reader can effectively relay your company news to their readers.

3.         Belittling or talking down to someone – While we say in point 2 that you should provide as much detail as possible, be sure it’s done in a courteous tone. In other words, don’t treat the reader like they’re an idiot.

4.         Overselling products & services – Press releases are meant to inform people who write for your potential buyers. Think of the people reading your press release as your “re-sellers”, not your buyers.

5.         Over-writing or ‘bloating’ the release – Many press release writers are guilty of over-hyping their products/services. Keep fluff to a minimum and focus on details pertaining to what you’re announcing. In fact, it’s best you only include any flowery language when you’re quoting someone for the press release. Including any in the body may result in rejection by online outlets.

If you’re sending your press release to any editors directly through email, you will want to come up with a clever subject line to draw their interest. Think of how many emails you’ve deleted. We all get a lot of emails on a daily basis so be sure your subject line stands out above the rest.

Copywriters at SEO Advantage can help you announce your company’s news through our expert press release optimization services. Press releases are only one part of the larger content creation puzzle. They make your company look active as well as giving you great content to serve up to the search engines.

But to make sure your company news in more than just great fodder for the search engine spiders, consider the 5 points mentioned above when preparing your press release.

Some techniques are more SEO related and “behind the scenes” (coding, tags, etc.) but other techniques are more in the layout of a page, its tone and how we communicate important things to know…our new press room page is an experiment to see how creating a more holistic press room can help site visitors – specifically editors, bloggers and journalists – find information more easily.

In fact, even if you never plan to issue any press releases, it’s important you have one place where people like this can learn more about your company and what you do…reaching out to journalists and bloggers is another way to help you get noticed by search engines and prospective customers.

In the past, most pressrooms simply listed a company’s news press releases. However, having a better understanding of what editors and bloggers are looking for in a pressroom allows you to build a more complete resource.

In fact, a main pressroom page can simply serve as a hub where you can link out to not only your press releases but knowledge center resources, blogs, case studies, testimonials and more as shown by this handy flowchart.

Check out SEO Advantage’s new pressroom and our guest blog post on SEO Site Reference for more insights on turning your pressroom into a powerful online marketing resource.

Search engine marketers now have a handy resource they can use to maximize search engine rankings and online conversions. These easy and fun charts from ProspectMX provide an easy-to-use reference for creating great websites.

Their original chart, “Link Building 101,” has some great insights into how you can get other sites to link to you. Examples of link bait, how to find good sites to link to and the most beneficial social media/news sites are just a few of the things you will find here – all presented in a fun environment that’s sure to pique your interest.

Prospect’s newest chart, “Universal Search Optimization,” gives some great tips on mastering the web’s newest way of ranking web sites, etc. Learn about ‘local search’, image/video optimization, press releases and more. Going forward, search results will increasingly include photos, videos and news, not just individual websites.

Take a look at Prospect’s charts today…print one out and post it on your wall!

Quick and easy reference materials like these are great to have when you’re stuck trying to get your website to the top.

But you need to know how to optimize press releases to have the greatest positive impact for your company. Over 50,000 press releases go out each month, 1 every 12 seconds in fact. This fact drew me to really appreciate this informational video from HubSpot I recently saw. The tutorial lasts around 35 minutes or you can simply download the slides.

The tutorial video details two types of press release formats: traditional and social media. The basic premise I drew away from the tutorial was their suggestion that pulling factors from each is how you should optimize press releases.

For instance, a traditional release will not have any anchor text links, an important component to building search engine rankings. A social media press release generally has an embedded video, which was found to limit the distribution.

I won’t give it all away…watch the tutorial below or simply view the slides for tips on how you can get the most bang for your buck from your press releases.

This small business marketing article shortlists the best of the best when it comes to online marketing tools. We have already researched and used most of them ourselves, so we can point out the strengths and why we recommend them. You’ll find listed free marketing tools as well as those that require investment.

Here’s a sampling of the 39 recommended online marketing tools for small businesses:

Press Releases

Marketwire offers traditional wire service distribution and exceptional online benefits at cost savings over PRNewswire and BusinessWire. We recommend PRLog for free press release distribution due to the long-lasting, high visibility of releases and great site features like dedicated press rooms.

Social Networking
Create a page on Facebook and think about MySpace, even though it’s no longer the center of focus for the media (a large percentage of this crowd may still be in your target market). LinkedIn is essential, now allowing you to create a profile for your business in addition to your own professional page.

Email Marketing
AWeber lets you start building your email marketing list for under $20/month. You get unlimited autoresponders and email blasts, where most providers only offer one or the other.

Continue reading all 39 Essential Tools for Marketing Your
Small Business Online >>

Take for example our latest press release. It reached the top of Google for major search terms like “seo copywriting”, “seo company”, “florida seo”, “seo copywriting services”, and even “search engine optimization” – within 24 hours! It was picked up on MSNBC as well as several Google and Yahoo properties and business-related sites like smartmoney.com.

The SEO field is extremely competitive, as you can imagine, so it’s no small feat to wrangle a top spot in Google for terms like “seo copywriting”, even more so for broader terms like “search engine optimization”. Yet we consistently get results like this for our optimized releases and those of our clients. If you’re not seeing top rankings for your optimized press releases, here are two things to consider:

Press Release Optimization Issue #1 – Is your release content optimized by a professional SEO copywriter?

Besides balancing the tone of the release and writing to meet AP style guidelines, a professional SEO copywriter will know how and where to use keywords in your press release to make the most of search engine rankings.

Press Release Optimization Issue #2 – Are you using the right distribution outlets?

To gain real exposure online across the search engines, you must select a distribution outlet with maximum reach. Evaluate the press release distribution outlets you’re using. Do they:

• Allow you to use text anchor links?
• Let you specify keywords?
• Contain relevant industry targets?
• Optimize meta tags for the press release page?
• Feed press releases to news engines like Google News, Yahoo News, and MSNBC?

If you’re not seeing great results from your press release optimization, it’s likely one of these two issues. You could choose a distribution that lets you optimize to the hilt, but if the press release copy itself isn’t optimized well, the release won’t show up. Likewise, if you use a professional SEO copywriter but don’t submit your press release to the right distribution outlet, it’s going nowhere.

Online Press Release Distribution Overview

Online press release services generally function by allowing you to post your release on a page on their site. The pages of these sites are optimized structurally to rank high in search engines, so your release can show up for keywords it is targeting in the copy. Rankings may show quickly and last for 30 days or so. Sometimes, other news sites may syndicate your release posted on the service, resulting in your release showing up in other places, too. However, this is rare with unpaid services. Wire services are much better for this, as many industry news services draw all their feeds from wires (Businesswire, PR Newswire, MarketWire), so your release can end up everywhere and rank for much longer. However, the free distribution sites will allow you to gain a few spots in top rankings without the $200+ fee of wires. These sites usually offer optional increased exposure for paid posting, but I have yet to find one that is as effective as a wire service or PRWeb (which is now $80+).

Evaluating Free Press Release Distribution Services

Free press release distribution sites can play an important role in your press release optimization strategy, especially as a supplement to other ongoing efforts. Look for press release outlets that offer the following benefits, and keep in mind that you’ll need to constantly evaluate their offerings.

Are links supported?
Some services will activate http-format links included, others will support text links (even better). It’s a great value to have the backlinks, as it not only lets people follow them to your site, but it helps with overall search engine rankings for your site. Sites that allow you to post html are best for this, as all of your links will be activated automatically.

Presentation
How does your release look on the site? Are there any damaging factors like ads within the text? Some allow you to upload a logo image, but many charge for this. Some services may allow you to log in and edit releases even after submitted – great if you spot an error at the last minute or see that something is displaying funny.

Exposure
Does the service usually rank high in search results? Does it support standards that increase likelihood of inclusion in news engines like Google News? Are there options for targeting industries/geographic areas? Are stats available? Does it support social bookmarking/tagging? With many free services, these may be available as optional add-ons for a fee. However, with fees like $30/link to activate text links and $30 to select a geographical target on PR.com, the benefits of using a “free” service soon disappear. You’re better off using a wire service when you start paying for these add-ons.

Lead time
Many require a 2-day lead time, others publish immediately. Some may not even publish your release if the operator abandons the service – and you won’t receive notice.

Effort required
Posting can be very time consuming, as extensive web forms are required for each service. I usually prepare a file containing all the required information beforehand (headline, summary, body, contact information, keywords, links, html version), but each service may have different requirements, such as maximum headline length, that require modification of the release. Targeting 3 services should give a good balance of time cost versus benefit.

Ongoing evaluation
The services may change what they offer for free as they attempt to move toward a paid model or their operators abandon them. Each has its pros and cons, and sometimes new services are discovered that offer good value. Some of the press release distribution sites I had preferred until just recently have introduced new constraints, such as limiting number of words allowed for free. So this means that the 3 services you used for your last release will need to be evaluated the next time you go to use them for press release optimization, as well.

The Winter print copy of Search Marketing Standard magazine contained an article on press release optimization that provided some great tips for using your keywords, even showing a sample release. I couldn’t find the article on their site, but you may find it useful to subscribe to their publication to get their print issues in addition to reading posts on the site.

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When I first started working at a small advertising agency, I was handed a pretty menial task looking up newspapers, radio, and TV stations local to a town in the Midwest that was being overrun with wildfires. One of our clients made a fire retardant spray that could protect the homes there – if it were applied in time. The agency’s idea was to fax a press release about the spray to all the local media and hope the orders would roll in.

But faxes and postal mail are just too slow when it comes to news. Even back then, I suspect those journalists and editors were already looking for their story ideas and research sources online.

Now, everything’s changed. If we wanted to reach those same people, we would have various ways to place our product where they could find find it when they went online to search for something that would help protect their homes.

This impacts not only your delivery method, but also the content and topics that can pass for press releases.

The press release was originally aimed solely at editors, with hopes of finding our way into a story they were working on and getting coverage in their magazine or newspaper. Now, press releases are out there for everyone to see. You have the opportunity to reach your end customers directly online, whether it’s a housewife in Minnesota or a purchasing agent in Texas.

Visit David Meerman Scott’s blog to download his free report that shows you the new way to use PR to your advantage – The New Rules of PR