CLIMBING UP THE RANKS WITH OPTIMIZED PRESS RELEASES

CLIMBING UP THE RANKS WITH OPTIMIZED PRESS RELEASES

Before looking for help in writing and distributing the release, define the intended goal and determine how to measure success.
Developing a public relations strategy will depend on the quality of content and your dedication to PR efforts.

Want publicity? 

Submit an optimized press release, say today's leading online PR experts. Whether you're targeting journalists, consumers or all of the above, an optimized press release can create endless possibilities for your business.


Unlike traditional press releases that for years were limited to providing news for the media, general business announcements have gained acceptance in the world in which we can reach millions of Internet
Online press releases are appropriate for almost any occasion, says Joan Stewart, president of The Publicity Hound, and can be powerful tools for growing a company or establishing a brand.
Executed properly, the optimized press release can open doors that no business owner can afford to ignore.

The Big Picture 

While press releases are written to be ranked by search engines, people must be able to understand them, warns Mickie Kennedy president and founder eReleases.com and SEOPressRelease.com.
Thus, respect your audience and always present your business professionally if you get 10,000 search engine visitors to view an optimized press release that reads like a search engine tactic, you will damage your business credibility.

Creating an effective optimized release requires an understanding of public relations writing and the ability to enhance it with SEO-specific keywords. online PR professional can provide these services well as managing the distribution and any other facets your campaign, or you may choose to try parts the process yourself.

Be advised, though, that poorly managed publicity is not necessarily bet than no publicity at all. optimization techniques include adding technical elements to your website and seasoning the copy with keywords. Including photos and other graphical elements not only creates interest but also grows traffic when using captions and naming pictures in a keyword-friendly convention. In addition, adding keywords to anchor text links,along with embedding audio or video features in releases is helpful.

Understand that the optimized release doubles as a Web page. "In fact," adds Sharon Dotson, president of Bayou City PR, "companies with no budget for a website can still get top search engine placement with an optimized online press release.

Make the Commitment 

Before looking for help in writing and distributing the release, define the intended and determine how to measure success. Developing a public relations strategy will depend on the quality content and your dedication to PR efforts.

 An effective pub- relations campaign requires the schedule for press release distribution, an evaluation process and then adjusting the messages accordingly. According to Kennedy, a company will generally see return when submitting quality content and committing four or more releases annually.
Services such as ours," says Michael Schwartz, CEO of WebWire, "offer low pricing to encourage multiple submissions of similar press releases containing consistent messages that are packaged differently. For example, many customers participate in the Haiti relief efforts by submitting releases. It was an effective coat-tail technique to get into readers consciousness.

To achieve the best results, adds Schwartz, press releases should be submitted before Wednesday of the traditional business week. When distributing releases later in the week, WebWire offers a "sponsored link" product called WebRelease that provides ranking with Google and/or Yahoo! search early the following week.


Ask the Right Questions 

When sho g for a marketing or p film to create optimized press releases for your business, experts agree that writing samples are the best way to judge prospects. Every PR or marketing firm want results and testimonials," explains Ke 500 clients and 20 get real results, your firm has the problem that anecdotal results and will provide.

The perception created is that the pan does a great job while the reality is that96 per. cent of its clients don't achieve great results Read sample releases created for actual clients ensure a balance of keyword optimization and readability Stewart also suggests asking the following questions:

• Does your price include keyword research? 
• What the fee for writing, and is their separate fee for online distribution?
• Is there an additional fee for sending the release to targeted media outlets and bloggers? 
• How many revisions does the price include? What's your turnaround time? 
• What clients have hired you to write press leases and what are their phone numbers? 
• Can you tell me about success stories those clients have had as a result of releases you wrote for them?

If they tell you to call those clients yourself and ask for a reference. Were they satisfied with the release? If not why not? yes, what happened as a result of the release?) What is the fee? (Most reliable services charge $150 and higher for writing a press release.)

 Reap the Rewards 

Well-written releases offer many advantages, from attracting a wider variety of audiences to improving search rankings writing informational copy rather than promotional content, for instance, will attract both journalists and consumers In addition, optimized press releases will stay online continuously forever, pulling traffic and providing leads when employing the right keywords to attract the right target audience. "An optimized release goes directly to the target audience," says Dotson. "End users obtain relevant information without the filter of traditional print and electronic media.
 In addition, the optimized release will help build a websites page rank and relevance. Search engine ranking improves since these optimized press releases link back to a company's website due to relevant keywords strategically embedded in the copy." Therefore, Stewart adds, it is wise to create variations of the same release by altering the keywords to attract multiple audiences.

 Each release, then, will achieve better rankings for each search phrase rather than using a single release that targets everyone. "And to achieve maximum return on investment," she says, "remember to add a clear call to action telling readers what to do next visit a website, call a telephone number, send an E-mail to look at a catalog, go to a sales page or request a free sample.


What to Watch Out For 

There used to be a vetting process by the media, says Kennedy, but today the decision-makers are the users who have access to and can scrutinize an overabundance of information. Hence, than ever to make your information available, but more competitive than ever to win over an audience.

Very little distinguishes your information from everything else available online. Distorted traffic statistics can pose another obstacle. Many free services heavily stream RSS feeds that automatically create "hits" when RSS readers update their feeds.

Therefore, the number of hits from people perusing releases is generally lower than the value reported. Another challenge includes the anecdotal or temporary impact on search engine rankings resulting from backlinks to your website from the press release provider's website. Kennedy advises that most SEO firms find these results only last about two weeks.

Another hurdle can be avoided using specific, long-tail keyword phrases such as black patent-leather pumps when trying to achieve page one search engine rankings, instead of using highly competitive, short-tail phrases such women's shoes. When optimized press releases are well-written and provide quality content, they can be a very powerful vehicle any company even a sole proprietorship can look like a big business by leveraging optimized press releases correctly.
Although there no guarantees, writing and submitting an optimized press release can create new long-lasting opportunities for your business.



Holistic Web Site Development and Promotion

Holistic
Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.

Times have changed. TheInternetisincredibly competitive, and the environment in which businesses compete online is changing at a rapid pace. Yet many business website development processes remain unchanged from the turn of the century.
To achieve Web visibility the current environment, the website development and promotion life cycle must evolve and begin using a more holistic approach

Why a Holistic Approach is Necessary 

Consider the following list of disciplines and respective professionals required to develop and promote a website in competitive landscape: today's

Web Design Development 

• Graphic Designers to create a visually appealing website. 
• Programmers to ensure that various design and process elements work together. 
• Web usability experts to ensure site visitors are able to complete tasks intuitively. 
• Conversion optimization specialists to ensure maximum conversion potential by website visitors. 

Content Developers 

• Writers and copywriters to develop content. 
• Photographers and graphic designers to create appealing visual content. 
• Audio and video content developers due to the increasing popularity of podcasts and online videos. 

Website Marketing 

• Search Engine Optimization professionals to improve the visibility of the website in organic search results. 
• Search Engine Marketers to implement and manage pay-per-click and other online advertising channels. 
• Social Media Professionals to leverage the power of social networks, community sites, and other social media tools.

And, of course, we cannot leave out the primary stakeholders of the project the business owners and management team, including the marketing department and public relations professionals. It this collection of various professionals and d different skill sets they possess that calls for a holistic approach website development and promotion.

But there's more. Each and every one of these stakeholders have specific needs and requirements that must be supported the website. Absolutely none of these requirements are individual entities that do not in some way require the support of other website design or development elements, or impact these design and development elements themselves.

This is where the transition to a holistic approach becomes so important. The integration of all these various needs and requirements into the website requires the individual elements to support each other, for the common good of the entire business

Implementing the Holistic Approach 

The implementation of a holistic Web development and promotion project is no different than any other business initiative. A clear understanding of objectives is the primary prerequisite. Once objectives have been determined, establishing the budget for the new or redesigned website is the next priority.

 In many cases, due to budgeting constraints, it is at this stage of the process that prioritization of business objectives becomes necessary. By this stage, your business should have a clear understanding of why the project is to be implemented, what is to be achieved and how much the company can afford to make the project a reality.

Effective Project Management is the Key 

The holistic approach requires strong project management skills due to the extensive number of professional disciplines required to complete the project. The first task the project manager will be required to complete is the identification of the development and promotion team members.

Team development must be prioritized. The primary principle of a holistic approach is the identification of what website elements are required to support the needs the various promotional efforts to ensure the site is both highly visible on the Web and able to fulfill the business' and website visitors' needs. This may appear to be common sense. However, my experience, this is often not the process that is taking place. All too often, the website goes live prematurely.Only then is the question is asked, "How are we going to promote this website?"

This scenario often creates the need for website revisions following the perceived completion of the project a waste of both time and resources.

Determining Team Requirements 

Once the development and promotion teams have been determined, team members must identify the strategies they plan on implementing within their areas of expertise. Team members must effectively communicate these plans and outline their future requirements to ensure that allowances are made for the inclusion of their proposed strategies the development of the website stage.

The communication of future strategies is critical, and one of the most overlooked steps in the websites development life cycle. This is the primary reason websites often need revisions after they have gone live. It not only creates additional costs to the project but is also likely to have a detrimental effect on the performance of the website. When businesses are faced with a website that underperforms, the situation often snowballs out of control by this stage having spent the budgeted sum and received little or no ROI.

This usually creates the situation where business managers are resistant to spending additional resources on a website that has failed to perform to expectations. Yet, if the additional resources are not found to complete the necessary revisions, the site will never be able to achieve the business' goals and objectives.


A Holistic Philosophy Summary 

The holistic approach to the website development and promotion cycle is really nothing more than common sense. The reason why a holistic methodology has become so important is the increasingly complex nature of the business website.

Gone are the days of the simple brochure website. Businesses and site visitors have high expectations of what every online presence should deliver. Ensuring that a website is capable of meeting these expectations requires the implementation of a holistic approach to managing the multitude of website development and promotional requirements.


Online Collaboration Tools 

Holistic website development requires that everybody be on the same page. Below five tools to help your businesses collaborate.

Google Apps Marketplace: Recently released Google Apps features tools for accounting and finance calendar and scheduling productivity and project management, to name just a few Along with Google Buzz, these apps could make for easy collaboration.Developers are working hard so expect many more apps in the near future.

37signals: One of the early entries into the collaboration market, 37signals has a suite of tools designed to help businesses be more productive and efficient. Their popular Basecamp offering helps manage projects between coworkers and clients. Highrise tracks contacts and leads Campfire offers real-time chat and file sharing, and there's even an API for ultimate customization.

MindMeister: Brainstorming is the focus here on creating collaborative online mind maps. In addition to the online offering, mind maps can be updated and viewed through an iPhone app E-mail and SMS and even offline. MindMeister has won several awards for their service.

Dimdim: Host and attend live meetings where users can give presentations, share Web pages and desktops, chat with webcams, and more, Meetings can also be recorded for later reference. Dimdim is in competition with standards like GoToMeeting and Webex but happens to be free for small meetings and very reasonable for larger ones.

Get Satisfaction: A client-facing tool, Get Satisfaction lets businesses build communities around customer service. Solicit feedback. support customers and help them support each other. A solution like getting Satisfaction is a good way to control the conversation around your brand-which can be difficult in a social media world.