How Press Releases Can Help Drive Traffic to Your Website

How Press Releases Can Help Drive Traffic to Your Website

Have you been trying to promote your new blog or website but can't seem to get your foot into the first page of the search rankings? If so, perhaps you are performing SEO incorrectly. Find out how press release can help boost your search rankings and get you more traffic.

Many Internet marketers neglected press releases in their SEO campaigns simply because not many marketers have been talking about using press releases for SEO purposes.

This is mainly due to the fact that most people have the conception of press releases being some kind of news related article. This is true in the traditional sense. Traditional press releases are meant to announce some kind of time sensitive story.

For example, if you are just launched a new application online, you issue a press release. Or a new shipment has just arrived and you want to let the world know that you have a batch of new products to sell.

For whatever the reason, there is always the tendency to think about press releases only when there is something new to announce. This works very well on print medium.

However, the Internet is a very different medium. On the Internet, it's not just about the story. The Internet is also about links. Just think, when you are performing SEO, what exactly are you trying to achieve?

Being clear about SEO

Let's take a step back and be clear about SEO. If you are doing it right, you are always looking to build back links to your website. You don't want just any back links. You want links from well established sites - sites that have been recognized as authority sites by the search engines.

On top of that, you want proper anchor texts. If you are selling "baseball bats", then you want those keywords in your links. The search engines determine the overall theme of your website by looking at the keywords that you use as anchor texts.

The more relevant anchor texts you have that is pointing back to your website, the better your search rankings will be.

To put that in simple terms, you are trying to achieve:

1) Acquiring more back links from high authority sites.
2) Proper anchor texts pointing back to your website.

These are the two primary goals that you are trying to accomplish. Now let's take a look at how press releases can help you achieve those goals.

Link building with press releases

There are several types of press release services that you will come across.

1) Free releases with no links allowed - These are press release sites that allow you to submit press releases for free. But the drawback is that you can't have any active links in your release. If you are purely looking for some exposure with no SEO benefit whatsoever, you can still make use of these services.

2) Free releases with links allowed but no anchor texts - These are services that allow you to include 1 or 2 URLs in each press release. But these are URLs, and you cannot have your choice of anchor texts. So unless your URL contains your target keywords, you are out of luck.

3) Paid releases with links and anchor texts allowed - These are the kind of press release service that will have maximum SEO benefits. For an affordable fee, you get to publish a press release with at least 2 back links included. You are also allowed to choose your own anchor texts.

The reason why such services work so well is because they usually include many high page rank sites in their distribution list. Imagine having sites like CNET, EIN News, InboxRobot, AmericanChronicle, etc. linking back to you.

These are all well established sites that have been around for years. No wonder the search engines pay so much attention to these sites!

Press release traffic

Having all that link juice means nothing if you are not getting any traffic. When you publish a press release, traffic will come to you in four sources.

1) Direct traffic - Once your press release has been published, it will be syndicated across a wide network of news related sites. Readers who find your headline interesting will read your story and click through to visit your website.

2) News subscribers - A press release service will also submit your news story to news wire sites such as Google News, EIN News, Topix, NewsBlaze Daily News, and more. These wire sites already have an existing database of news subscribers. When you publish a press release, these subscribers will see your news article in their news reader. They will then visit your site to learn more about what you have to offer. By the way, these News wire sites combine to offer millions of visits each month.

3) Search engines - Of course, the most valuable source of traffic comes from the search engines. This is a long term traffic source because your news article remains online indefinitely. After the initial traffic surge from the news wire sites taper off (usually after 3 weeks), you will then be able to depend on the search engines for a consistent stream of long term traffic.

4) Your own search rankings - Because you are actually performing SEO as you issue press releases, your search rankings will improve. As a result, you get more organic search traffic. In time to become, because of all those quality back links pointing to your site, you will become the owner of an authority site as well.

Preparing a press release for publication

Publishing a press release on the Internet is easier than what most people thought. In other words, it's not difficult to get a press release approved and distributed to sites all over the Internet.

If you are planning to write your own press release, keep these tips in mind:

	Always write in third person.
	Come up with a compelling headline to attract eyeballs.
	Include one or two quotations from a person with authority in the industry.
	State facts, features and benefits clearly.
	Choose an interesting angle to write about to ensure that you publish an interesting story.
	Don't overstuff your news article with the same keywords. Use synonyms whenever possible to ensure that the content looks natural.
	Remember to include your contact information at the end of the press release.

One final tip - if you are writing your own press release, make sure that you write in a clear and concise manner. Don't beat about the bush. Usually, you should be able to include all key points in your press release in about 500 words.

On the Internet, a lengthy press release may not always be a good idea. That's because it's easier to lose a reader if your article is too long. Keep it short, interesting, and clear. Interested visitors can always click on your links and visit your website if they want to find out more.

About the Author: Darren Chow is a full time article marketer. He founded a successful press release distribution service, and has been offering high quality press release writing and submission services to hundreds of Internet Marketers worldwide.

Source: Entireweb Newsletter * August 4, 2009 * Issue #567

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