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Secrets to Writing Powerful Press Releases
Copyright 2005 Ted Kushner
Using press releases for marketing purposes has become
increasingly popular lately.
There has been an increase of firms springing up online
offering optimized press release services for individuals
or firms wanting to get the word out about their web sites,
newsletters, products or services.
Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool
if constructed properly. Learning to write a powerful
optimized press release can often drive tons of targeted
traffic to your web site.
The real secret behind writing any effective press release
is to plan your release out carefully before publishing it.
A poorly constructed or planned press release is just a
waste of your time and resources. You want to target the
message of your press release for the purpose it was meant
for.
So, the first thing you must do before writing your press
release is to figure out just what do you want to
accomplish with it?
-- Do you want to create some brand awareness for your site
or products?
-- Do you want to add additional subscribers to your
newsletter or ezine?
-- Or are you trying to promote a new product or service
you have developed or are marketing?
Once you've decided what the most compelling reason is for
your press release, you can then get down to the business
of writing it.
The first thing you may want to do is sketch out a rough
draft of your press release to see how it flows. Does it
provide the needed information to get the word out and has
it been properly formatted?
Most press releases have a certain format that they follow.
If you're unsure of how to format your press release
correctly you can view a sample press release template here
at http://www.prweb.com/pressreleasetips.php#template .
The number one most important aspect of your press release
is your headline.
Get it wrong and you will limit the effectiveness of your
release.
Your headline is what the search engines are going to pick
up on first. So make sure you use it advantageously. List
any key points here, using your keywords or a catchy
headline so that it will grab your reader's attention.
Again planning is essential. If promoting a new site
include the URL in the headline. If promoting a product or
service then include some keywords in the headline.
Some press release services use a summary box. I normally
write a catchy one-paragraph recap of my press release
using some of my targeted keywords.
Without being spammy, I will normally optimize my press
release by using some of my targeted keywords in the first
and last paragraph. I will also include some of them
throughout the release for a keyword exposure of
approximately 2-3% saturation.
Tip: if you're promoting a web site, I will normally
mention my URL around three times within the release for
the maximum benefit.
One of the first questions I had when I first started
writing press releases was what was considered a great
release? What did it consist of and how was it constructed?
Being curious, I emailed my contact at
http://www.prweb.com/ and asked them if they could show me
a few press releases that they considered as excellent
examples.
These releases have received their editorial scores of 5 on
their scale of 1 to 5; with five being the highest.
They sent me three of them for review and you can see each
one of them here:
http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb136748.htm
http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb149213.htm
http://prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb203448.htm
Study each one of these against the press release template
to see what is required for an effective release.
Note: to get additional exposure for your press release via
www.emediawire.com you have to have an editorial score of 4
or higher. So it is to your benefit to write the best
release you can the first time around.
Once you have studied the examples and want to try
submitting you own press release you need to know which
ones are the most popular ones being used.
Here are some of the press release services I have used and
found to be effective:
http://prweb.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/index.html
http://www.webwire.com/default.asp
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/
With most of press release services you can submit your
press release for free or via paid inclusion. Paying for
inclusion gives you the benefit of faster indexing into the
search engine news services and natural search engine
result pages.
Normally your release will be picked up by Google news
within a few hours after its release. From there it will
normally show up in the natural search results within a few
days or a week.
I have used both of these services in the past but have
found that paying them at least the minimum amount allows
me to view my stats online. It also allows me to choose
different categories for my press release to be displayed
in, giving my release a chance for wider coverage.
So using press releases can and is a very effective
marketing tool that you can use for promoting your web site
or affiliate products if done correctly.
By using press releases, I have been able to create a
steady flow of targeted visitors to my web site and
affiliate programs while generating dozens of back links to
my web site.
Even though the effects of each individual press release
may be short lived, they still have provided me with both
free and inexpensive ways for getting hundreds of new
visitors to my site and quite a few top ten positions in
Google for my targeted keywords.
So get to it and write a few press releases your self and
see what they can do for you!
------------------------------
Ted Kushner of AffiliateRevenueSources.com can show you the
powerful benefits of writing press releases for promoting
any product, service or affiliate program. Learn how you
too can get multiple top ten positions in Google using
press releases at:
http://www.affiliaterevenuesources.com/powerful-press-releas
es.htm
More articles by Ted Kushner - http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Ted-Kushner-265/
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