Developing a digital marketing strategy is a novel way of approaching search engine optimisation but can be an extremely effective approach that pulls its weight on several levels. Using the Web as a PR and marketing tool means crafting interesting, newsworthy items that you would want your client base to be aware of and then reaping the benefits of extra exposure, original content and relevant inbound links.

With each of the major search engines featuring a news portal – think Google News and the much-visited Yahoo News – press releases are ranking right up there with stories penned by old school style reporters. That means the pressure is on to produce a press release that not only sells your services but also subtly weaves in those all important SEO considerations.

How Do You Write An SEO Friendly Press Release?

If writing doesn’t come naturally to you, having to operate on a second level and make the PR work from an optimisation viewpoint is sure to take a few re-writes. The first thing to consider when optimising a press release for search is to ask yourself which phrases consumers are typing into the search engine when they go online for your product or service. Only with this understanding will you be able to produce an optimised piece.

There’s no point using clever headlines and specific model names if the majority of search traffic focuses on a generic term. For example, if you sell competitively priced theatre tickets, it may be that your demographic keys in ‘cheap theatre tickets’ when they go online rather than ‘tickets for Mamma Mia’. In that case, doing your keyword research beforehand means you’ll know to prioritise the search string ‘cheap theatre tickets’ rather than ‘tickets for Mamma Mia’ in the headline. Not only will this help with better search engine placement, your readers will also know immediately that this is a piece they want to read.

In order to produce an optimised piece, you’ll need to do more than placing keywords in the PR title. You’ll probably also want to include synonyms, core product names and important phrases in the body of the text without resorting to keyword stuffing. Relevant sections of the sentence structure should also be deep linked if you’re looking for optimal anchor text.

Clarity is crucial when you’re optimising a press release, making a strong lead paragraph an absolute must. You can also include cross-headers throughout the release. If you’re planning on posting the PR on your web site thereafter, there’s cross-headers are H2 tags that will help with on-page SEO considerations.