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.