What is Press Release?
A written communication (short article, mostly) targetted the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. In the internet context, press release is simply an announcement to gain public attention and search engine benefits thru press release site. An example of press release site is PRWeb.
The Benefits of Press Release
Only if done correctly, it can help you:
1) Attract interested visitors immediately
2) Gain permanent backlinks to improve your SERPS
3) Getting the same industry outlets to talk about it
4) Improve brand consciousness.
When to write one?
Nowadays, people write and distribute press release whenever they want. But it is important to know there is a time to write a release, and there is a time not to. David Meerman Scott put it best in his free e-book: The New Rules Of PR.
Big news is great, but don’t wait. Write about just about anything that your organization is doing:
CEO speaking at a conference? Write a release.
Win an award? Write a release.
Have a new take on an old problem? Write a release.
Add a product feature? Write a release.
Win a new customer? Write a release.
Publish a white paper? Write a release.
Get out of bed this morning? Okay, maybe not…but you are thinking the right way now!
Writing a better press release
There are hundreds of tips on the internet to teach you how to write a press release. Advice from Matthew Stibbe stands out best:
1. Write descriptive headlines that explain why the story is interesting. If you can’t, it isn’t. So don’t put out a press release.
2. Keep them short and factual. 250 words should be the upper limit. By all means link to a website that contains more detailed information.
3. Make the first sentence and the first paragraph work for their living.
4. Always include contact details. Many don’t. What’s the point of that?
5. If you quote anyone, do a real interview and pick a good quote. Customers and independent experts are more interesting that company notables.
6. One writer, one subeditor, one proofreader, one lawyer. Everyone else has an opinion but not a veto.
7. Try writing a letter to your grandmother explaining why the news in the press release is important. Bingo, there’s your opening paragraph.
8. Alternatively try telling a story. What, who, where, when, how and why.
After you finished writing the release. Time to revise it: Top 50 Mistakes Made In a Press Release.
Distributing Your Press Release
PRWeb Direct service costs $119, with inclusion in Google and Yahoo News, which is big. But hey, this is the internet, shouldn’t everything be free?
Sure, cowboy. Here’s the free press release list (excel format | txt format) which I compiled from vavrious source.
And that’s all, not so hard isn’t it? Go and get your press release out today!
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David Meerman Scott 07.22.06 at 10:37 am
Many thanks for linking to my e-book. Today, smart organizations are sending press releases as a quick and easy way to get their SEO words and phrases into the search engines.
David Meerman Scott
Business Consultants 07.22.06 at 6:32 pm
Very interesting article and just at the right time for me. We are a fledgling business and we are looking at ways we can get our message out there and I have been lucky enough to come across this blog entry.
We will have a look at the e-book, no guarantees we’ll buy a copy okay.
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http://www.stty.co.uk
Jennifer Mattern 09.07.06 at 6:02 pm
I’m not sure where you pulled the 250 words as an upper limit from. But as a PR professional I can tell you that’s inaccurate. Most of the best come in between 300-600 words, and 500 words is generally the most cited length for a release. Other than that, decent resource.
Lim CS 09.07.06 at 8:26 pm
Hi Jeniffer,
Thank you for your comment. The 250-words-as-best-form advice comes from Matthew Stibbe (badlanguage.net) whom I enjoy reading his blog very much (he runs a large copywriting company, so I guess he could not be wrong). Anyway, thank you for sharing your input.
vin kash 09.28.06 at 4:38 pm
In my experience its worth paying the $$ for PRWeb. Especially for a mid-sized business the returns on investment are well worth it.
Any good experiences with any of the free PR sites?
Thanks,
Vin Kash
Fachrudin Fasyah 01.04.07 at 2:18 am
Many thanks for linking to my Web. Today, smart organizations are sending press releases as a quick and easy way to get their SEO words and phrases into the search engines.
banon 08.15.07 at 3:38 pm
thanks alot