COMMENTS
This is just the approach we adopted shortly after I joined Capula - adding regular news not only helps with SEO, but makes your site dynamic. There is nothing worse than finding a website on the 'net that hasn't been updated for the last three years - it does nothing to inspire confidence in the company itself!
I think it makes sense to have a regular news update. It would be much nicer if you have a sub-domain that is specific to news pointing to main site. It builds more link juice and good for SEO.
Greg, we couldn't agree more that press releases are a great tool for SEO! Press releases have vastly expanded their role from media relations. For more on that, you may want to check out our recent white paper on the State of the Press Release.
http://bizwire.pr/stateofpr
Also, a PR Peeps Poll we conducted in June of 2009 showed 56% of 370 polled preferred "press release" while 44% chose "news release." Old habits die hard. ;-)
Monika
Disclosure: I am the SEM and Social Media Specialist @Marketwire.
Greg, nice article and thanks for the hyperlinks to the other pieces of info. I'll have to check those out as well.
To delve a bit more about why a news release boosts SEO is the deeplinking factor. Most of the time, you are linking a particular page on your website as opposed to the home page. The anchor text used should match the title tag of the destination page, which helps boost SEO.
I personally use "news release" and "press release" interchangeably because there is a big difference in search engine rankings. I agree that the term press release has a bit of an old school feel to it, but you have to keep in mind SEO and SERPs.
HubSpot is the champion of inbound marketing. For an example of what TO DO when sending a news release, HubSpot has got it down pat. Deep link structure, mixture of full URL and anchor texts, calls to action. It's a model of reference for sending a news release to help boost SEO.
Recent example: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Social-Media-Deadheads-Launch-New-Book-Marketing-Lessons-From-the-Grateful-Dead-1291269.htm
Great job on the article!
Nick @shinng
http://www.facebook.com/marketwire
http://www.twitter.com/marketwire
http://www.marketwireblog.com
Great tips. Like for all inbound links, I'm sure it's important to use keywords in the links you put in your news release, instead of just including your URL or linking your company name. Is that right, in terms of getting maximum SEO value?
hmm... I like the tips, wouldnt of thought of using new releases to boost SEO. Thanks a bunch
Good tips. Especially the third one:
"There's no longer a dependency on press reporters, journalists or editors to pick up your news and publish it."
I completely agree with you!
@Steve - Great point on benefit of publishing news releases on your site to keep it fresh and updated for users.
@Kumar - It might depend on your goals, for most I think a newsroom off main domain (mysite.com/newsroom) is simple and effective for SEO to root domain.
@Monika - Thanks for link to whitepaper, and sharing your poll - not surprised by poll results. We may see this shift over time?
@Nick - Thanks for sharing your insights and adding to the discussion. I strategically use, for SEO purposes, "news release" vs. "press release" in my content. Reason being is it's easier to rank for news vs. press and there's sufficient searches to drive traffic if I can get on first page. Tip for newer sites trying to build traffic, links, SEO authority is to go for less competitive terms - and longer tail terms (3-4 words).
@Mel Yes! Use keyword terms as hyperlink anchor text in the body of your news release that links to an interior page on your site. That linked-to page should have content relative to the keyword. In example from my guest post on HubSpot, the term, "improve search engine ranking" is an example of this. If you're also going to distribute the release through a service like PRWeb, BusinesWire or MarketWire, also be sure to put the full URL in the "About us" section. Some media outlets that pick up the release via syndication will strip out the links associated with anchor text.
Thanks all for your great comments and ideas!
Greg Elwell
B2B Inbound
Excellent post. I've been using "News Releases" or "Press Releases" for a couple of years. A great free service is found at
www.prlog.org. Its totally free, although they will ad advertisement spots to your press releases.
Thanks Greg good information for us to use and to pass on to our University PR office. We send out a lot of press releases as part of our work with small businesses through our University with varying degrees of success I like being able to take more control and to not be dependent upon local media to decide if we are "newsworthy" Thanks again
I think it is a beriliant idea and i would defently use it in our website and it will give a much more exposuer for our website and all the think which would be in the pipline for our user to know
Thanks Pete for the insight those that wished it happened....those that watched it happen....and those that made it happen!! Understanding internet marketing today is one of your Golden keys to successes for your business and your clients businesses...See You @ the Top of Page #1....
Brent Mann
V.P. of Sales & Marketing
http://www.golocaltampabay.com
http://www.kissmarketing.com
727-421-2656 Diect
Thanks to everyone for their great input on this topic. I haven't included a news release section to my site yet but your blog and the resulting comments makes it look like it's about time.
I completely agree that optimized press releases are a great tool to add fresh new content to your site, and when syndicated drive traffic, increase brand awareness and improve search engine ranking. Good post!