What you’ll learn

You may already be utilizing standard press releases, but you may not be generating the results you want or expect from a press release marketing campaign. As Senior Editor of Ping! Zine Web Hosting Magazine, I recently published an article detailing the major differences between standard and optimized press releases.

Why you should read the article

Take a few minutes to read the article. You’ll learn cost vs return on investment, ranking high in search engines, longevity vs quick traffic, how to track results, and much more. As a professional writer, I have written dozens of successful optimized press releases for clients. And all have achieved remarkable results: generating leads, traffic, and increasing revenue. You too can take advantage of press release marketing to boost your revenues. It’s worth the investment and you’ll be able to see results immediately. But you need to read the article to find out how you can achieve more traffic and revenue for your business.

How to get the article

There are three ways you can read the article.

1. Download the PDF version of Standard Press Releases vs Optimized Press Releases.

2. Read the full HTML version in the Young Copy Resource Center on the Press Releases – Standard or Optimized? page.

3. Visit Ping! Zine Web Hosting Magazine, download issue 33, and turn to page 49.

What is an optimized press release?

An optimized press release is just like a standard press release, but written and formatted for search engines. The average press release is about 400-500 words, depending on what you have to say for that particular release. For approximately every 100 words, you include a text link back to your website using a variety of keywords and phrases that your customers use when searching through their favorite search engine. Remember, Google counts for the majority of your traffic. (If you disagree with me on that, talk to me.)

Do optimized press releases work?

You bet they do. I’ve seen clients move to the top of search engine rankings by utilizing our optimized press release writing services. We distributed them too. You’ll get an instant boost in traffic (if they are done right). And you’ll see some of your lower ranking keywords and phrases move up quickly in the search engines. When you distribute an optimized press release, Google picks up your content because it’s fresh, newsworthy, and … it’s filled with keywords that attract your audience.

The Upside

You get links back to your site instantly. Initially you’ll get a surge in traffic with each release. However, the links stay out there in cyberspace for a long time. Thus you get the benefits of link building. Trust me. It works.

Build momentum

In order maintain your marketing momentum with optimized press releases, you need to distribute often. How often you ask?

How often should you send a press release?

People often ask me, “How often should I send a press release?” I tell them, “As often as you can as long as it’s newsworthy.” You can see results by sending at least one a month. But if you have newsworthy topics that require more than one release per month, send no more than one a week. That said, anywhere from 1-4 releases per month will really help your branding, traffic, and SEO results.

What not to do

Some companies (not that I’m going to mention any names) will send a press release every other day. Yes, it helps with branding, but guess what? They are not listed at the top of the search engine rankings, especially in Google. Want to know specific examples? Send me an email, call, or post in the comments section to find out.

Tell me what you think

Have you utilized optimized press releases for your company? Did they work? Did they meet your expectations? How often did you send a release? Agree/disagree with me on anything I’ve written in this post or any other post?

I want to hear from you. I’ll write a featured post on your company and your campaign. You can send me an email, call, or post in the comments below to get started.

I talk to people in the software and hosting industry daily. And since one of my most popular services is press release writing and distribution, Parallels always comes up in the conversation. Either my client mentions the name first or I ask them to give me their 30 second history on the company. To date, everyone I talk to in the industry accurately describes the company’s history. So how does a software company develop a new brand, launch the new brand, and become a well known name in the industry – and do it in less than three months?

Parallels® (formerly SWsoft) is a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses, and service providers across all major hardware, operating system, and virtualization platforms. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

I personally think Parallels has an impressive marketing strategy, dating back to Plesk, their hosting control panel company. The marketing team at Parallels knows exactly what it takes to build a brand and gain recognition in the industry. Based on what I see everyday in hosting news related sites, Parallels takes advantage of press releases. From mid January 2008 to today, Parallels has released at least 15-20 press releases. That’s an average of five a month. I recommend to my clients they should release at least 1-2 times a month and if budget allows, distribute press releases four times a month.

Imagine what Parallels (or your company) could achieve if they utilized optimized press release writing services.

In the future I hope to interview the brilliant minds around the new Parallels brand. Hopefully I can chat with Kurt Daniels to learn more about the new Parallels initiative. I am most curious to see how well their press release marketing strategies help increase sales for their flagship products:

Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels Virtuozzo Containers
Parallels Plesk Control Panel

Meanwhile, please sign up for the Young Copy feed by clicking on the “Subscribe to RSS Feed” graphic to your right. If you have questions regarding how a well planned, well written, and well executed press release marketing strategy can help you achieve better branding and more revenue, please send your questions via the Contact form.

As someone who practices professional writing daily, I have first-hand experience with how powerful a press release marketing strategy can be for companies. When you combine the 10 rules I listed in the article with optimized press release writing and optimized press release services, you can generate more traffic and more exposure to your potential customers, partners, and anyone interested in your products and services.

In the coming weeks and months I plan on writing posts and developing case studies on how well optimized press release writing works for my clients. The companies interviewed will be sharing the top benefits they receive from our regular press release writing, optimization techniques, and press release distribution methods.

First, not just any press release writing service will do. You need to utilize the advantages of optimized press release writing services. Optimized means your press releases are ready for search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN to pick up. Optimized utilizes keywords and key phrases related to your website. And optimized releases help you get links back to your website. All of the things I just mentioned ultimately help your website rank higher in the search engines.

Optimized press releases combined with the right distribution plan can go a long way to boost your search engine rankings quickly. In order to achieve maximum results, hire a professional writer who has the experience and credentials to write an optimized campaign for your organization. Otherwise, you may be missing out on some of the most important marketing strategies used to boost your competitors’ websites.