Stop press: attracting attention with press releases

Among the hundreds of options you have for your off-page search engine optimisation, a press release might not occur to you. These humble little forms of communication are rather old-school, at least in most people’s minds. Done well, however, an online press release can get you places that other off-page options cannot.

Most businesses don’t think about online press releases as a way to get links. This is mostly due to the traditional form of a press release. In the traditional way, you have an event happen, you write up a press release, and you distribute it. On the internet, this process is all mixed up: you locate potential distribution points, you work out the form for your press release, and you match an event to it.

Not only are the processes for formulating a press release all mixed up on the net, the form of the press release itself needs to be different as well. After press release sites, the social media networks will be your main target for online press releases. This should give you a strong hint of how different your press release needs to be in comparison to the traditional form. Traditional press releases just don’t work for online forums.

Online press releases shift the focus

As pointed out above, traditional press releases begin with the business. The business gives rise to an event which then prompts the press release. This means that traditional press releases are prone to have a business focus. This is never very interesting for the reader.

An online press release cannot afford to have this focus. Internet users are interested in things that are of value to them, always needing to be convinced that the content they’re reading will be of benefit to them in some way. This doesn’t mean that your business message cannot come across. It just means that it has to take a back seat to pleasing the reader. It can help to discuss your press releases with your SEO consultant, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult.

Lose the marketing language

Internet users are highly marketing-literate. This means that they can spot marketing speak from a mile away. Generally, they distrust it. Marketing language is likely to put users off a press release because it brings the purpose of the press release back to the business and makes users suspicious of your motives. The language you use in your online press release, therefore, needs to be natural and friendly if you want to engage your audience. An amiable tone can be quite seductive and prevent any barriers forming between the content and the reader’s mind.

Find your target market and focus

Any writer will tell you that audience is an important factor in writing. Traditional press releases usually have a very broad audience. In contrast, your online press release needs to be tailored carefully to attract the attention of your target market. The difference is like standing on a building shouting at people compared to engaging someone in a conversation at a party. Which one do you think will be more effective?

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