Press releases are a vital tool for any business, but one that many small businesses don’t often use. Whether you want to promote a new product or service, an upcoming event, or a reminder of how your services are important for consumers – a press release is an under-utilized but highly effective digital marketing tool.
The History of Press Releases
The first known press release was created in October 1906 by Ivy Lee. It was to notify of a railroad accident involving the Pennsylvania Railroad which caused the death of fifty people in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The press release detailed the incident and was given to fellow reporters. The press release was so well written an honest that the New York Times published Lee’s words exactly as written. Press releases have evolved from the original format and used by many companies to disclose key details of events and announcements to the public.
Since their inception in 1906, press releases took on new importance in the digital age. Press releases live solely in the digital arena creating another unique place to promote your company and services. When written correctly, a press release provides another place on your website to boost your SEO presence.
Are Press Releases Still Relevant?
Press releases are more important than ever in successfully promoting you companies and services. A company’s website and social media pages provide a platform for press releases to be a permanent fixture of a company’s public digital record. They are searchable and downloadable and are a direct communication tool that can deliver unfiltered messages to the public.
How Do Press Releases Affect SEO Today?
Press releases can boost SEO rankings in a few different ways:
- If a news outlet finds your press release newsworthy and creates a valuable redirect link and valuable searchable content related to your business name. This could create a flood of traffic to your site and if your website is built to retain people’s interest, your click through rate will rise from all the new traffic.
- If you have created shareable content, website visitors are likely to share it on social media which continues to grow your online presence and could lead to quality and unique redirect links.
Writing an Effective Press Release
A press release should have a clear purpose and message. Some good topics include:
- Announcing a new product or service. If you want to announce a new product or service, you can draft a press release and immediately get your news found online by using a press release distribution service.
- Announce an event. This not only has the potential of attracting more people to your event, it gets your company’s name out.
- Improving brand image. It has become so easy to publish and distribute a press release, companies can easily send out as many press releases as they want. Publishing more press releases more often is a good way to improve your brand’s image – but make sure your press release actually has a message and isn’t just released for volume.
- Expanding public knowledge. By adding links to other Web pages within a press release, companies can direct readers to even more information about what they do.
- Search engine optimization. By using specific keywords relating to your business, you can optimize your press release so people can easily access your company information through search engine use.
Webster Digital Marketing can take the Guesswork out of SEO
Webster Digital Marketing can take the burden of understanding the constant changing rules of SEO to boost your online presence and rank on search engines. We would love to work with you to improve your online presence!Contact us today to learn more.
