A press release is a document directed at the news media for the purpose of announcing something newsworthy and providing reporters with information to develop a story. Press releases can announce a range of items, such as scheduled events, personal promotions, awards, news products and services, sales and other financial data, accomplishments, etc.
In addition to your blogs, submitting a press release is a great way to gain exposure and improve search engine rankings. We have found three sources that are free, or almost free, that display your release in Google news and other outlets:
- PR Log (free) at http://www.prlog.org
- Free-Press-Release.com (Premier Press Release $1) at http://www.free-press-release.com
- OnlinePRmedia.com ($22 SEO Press Release) http://www.onlineprnews.com
Use this checklist to help write your press release:
- Does the press release clearly state the news angle in the title?
- Does the summary elaborate on the news angle stated in the title?
- Is the title written in title case and less than 100 characters?
- Is the summary 300 characters or less?
- Have you double-checked the press release to ensure that the reader is not addressed as “you” or that the company is not addressed as “we”? This type of language is too informal for a press release unless it is in a quote.
- Are claims that could be viewed as subjective attributed to a person, such as in a quote?
- Does the press release title contain your primary keyword?
- Does the summary contain your secondary keyword(s)?
- Does the press release body contain the three target keywords?
- Have you included at least one full URL in your press release (in case it is republished without anchor text?)
Also checkout Online PR Media’ Guidelines at http://www.onlineprnews.com/content/press-release-tips for more tips.