Articles in The 'Press-Releases' Tag

Keep Your Visitors On Your Site!

by Marni Weinberg

With the Online Marketing Arena growing every single day, it had become increasingly important to not only market your website efficiently and effectively, but also to keep your visitors as engaged as possible once they have reached your site. Amidst a tough economic climate, every dollar counts and competition is fierce. This is true for all types of sites: Lead Generation, E-Commerce, etc. Whether you are doing SEM in the main search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, and/or SEO, where you have spent the time, money and energy to garner a coveted organic piece of real estate, you ought to do everything in your power to keep your visitor long enough to see what you’re about. Even better, to complete an action item (i.e. request a brochure, fill out a form, make a purchase, etc).
 
You might be asking yourself the question, “Well, how do I get them to stay on my site???” Here are a few helpful tips:
 
Offer clear action items at no cost or commitment: Newsletter Signups, Whitepaper Downloads, Brochure Requests, Online Forms to receive coupons, discounts, special offers, etc.
 
Have fresh and unique content. Visitors will be more likely to remain on your site if they are reading verbiage they have never read before. A blog is a great tool to deliver updated, relevant content on your website. Press Releases are extremely beneficial, as well.
 
SEO, SEO and yes, more SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a critical piece of the puzzle for any website. If you optimize your site correctly for the keywords and phrases you are seeking positions on, you have a much better chance of generating organic traction in the engines. It will not happen overnight, but the sooner you get started, the sooner you will reap the benefits.
 
KISS. Keep it simple stupid. 🙂 Make it seamless for your visitors to navigate and enjoy their experience. I cannot tell you how many sites take forever to load, have broken images, it’s virtually impossible to request a brochure; the phone number might as well be invisible, etc.

Get Social! By this, I am referring to Social Media. If you are not utilizing Social Media, you should be. Organically, the internet is a social platform, which is just one of the many reasons why online marketing is so effective. Encouraging participation on your site will allow your visitors to stay longer and also help boost your organic results.

Having Site Analytics is not an option; it is a must. Implementing analytics will afford you the ability to see what your visitors are doing once they reach your site. Are they staying long enough to download a whitepaper or request more information? Or, are they bouncing off the site without even seeing more than one page?

Being seen is not enough. Your website must “speak” to your audience; give them a reason to stay AND more importantly, COME BACK.

Creating a Press Section for your Website

by Michael Buczek

Press or news sections of a website should have a very specific goal.   The main purpose is to give journalists and bloggers quick information about your company or website.   If they can’t find what they are looking for they will leave.   These people are typically very busy and have little time to waste searching your website for information.   Make it simple for them, give them.  

Your news section should feature information at a glance that can be taken and digested easily.   Some of the most important aspects to include are the following:

– Recent News — Make sure you are saving your web clippings and posting your press releases.   If you haven’t done this in a while, it is time to update.   If the current information is months old, there is no reason for someone to inquire about what you are doing because it looks like you are doing nothing.   Now might be the best time to start creating press releases.

– Leadership Bios — A short paragraph about each leader will suffice.   Include some background information, schools attended, previous positions and years with the company.   These people are at the forefront of your company, so people may want to contact them directly.   If the leadership does not prefer to be contacted directly, provide information on the main contact person regarding interviews, statements etc.

– Downloadable Press Kit — This will make it super simple for the time constrained writer.   In the press kit you should include, a current copy of your company newsletter, recent press releases, product/service information and anything else you might think would be beneficial.   This is not something that is set in stone so; you can vary what goes in this.

– Links to your company blogs — Aside from press releases and news clippings, this should be the most current information regarding your company.   If you make it easy for people to find and subscribe, they will continue to visit your blog and news section for more ideas to write about later on.

Tips for an Optimized Press Release

by Michael Buczek

One of the best ways to generate some buzz for your website is to submit online press releases.   Aside from the obvious benefit of media attention, press releases can also be a way to build links to your website. Online press releases have become very popular and have proved to be good for SEO efforts.   When you create your press release for online distribution, there are a few items you should take into consideration.

Pick something newsworthy to write about. – Releasing a new product, service or new website design can be events worth telling your devoted customers and potential customers about.   The more interesting the item, the more likely it will be linked to by interested parties.

Optimize the release as you would a page on your site. – When writing a release, do keyword research to target keywords people are searching for in relation to the information in your release.   The idea is to have the release support content within your site and have it be displayed for important keywords in news feeds and aggregators.   Once your release is syndicated, journalists can search these news feeds by keywords to find items that they are interested in writing about.   If you can put your release in front of the right people, you can greatly increase exposure and linking opportunities for your website.   Targeting the right keywords can help you achieve this goal.

Utilizing interior links with anchor text. – Press release submission sites may allow you to use anchor text pointing to interior pages of your website.   Building links to your interior pages can help boost their rankings in the SERPS.   You can target 4 or 5 interior pages per release.   Pages to target should include your homepage, main service or products page, featured products pages, an about us page and a contact page.   It is important to use keywords in the anchor text pointing to these pages in the release.   The anchor text can help give these pages more weight in the eyes of the search engines.   By including interior links you also give the reader multiple channels to explore your website, pointing them in the direction you want them to go.  

Choosing the right media channels. – Many press release submission sites give you the opportunity to choose which outlets your release will be submitted to.   It is important to explore all the channels within these press release submission sites.   Choosing the right channels can give your release the proper exposure to the right people in your industry.

Utilize additional features. — Some submission sites allow you to upload files, logos, podcasts and video along with your release.   Adding these files can make your release stand out from the masses.   If releasing a new product, it could prove beneficial to have a video demonstration showing why this product is better than the rest.   When people see this in the release, it could prove to be a great viral marketing tool.