Online Press Release Distribution
All companies seek to get their name out into the market to advertise their products and services and attract customers. Getting the right exposure can be a very expensive exercise, so companies are always looking for ways to reach the widest possible audience in the shortest possible time and with the lowest possible outlay. Online press releases offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising.
A well-crafted press release can result in massive media hype for your company. Done correctly, your press release will help you get to the top of the search engine rankings and will be seen everywhere people search online, driving more traffic to your website.
However, there are some simple guidelines to follow if your online press release is to achieve the results you want:
• Must have a succinct and compelling title (search engines will truncate titles that are too long, resulting in poor appearance).
• There should be an introductory paragraph that outlines the basics of the story and encourages readers to keep reading.
• The body of your online press release should expand on the introductory paragraph and fill out the story.
• The last paragraph should tell readers a bit about your company and should include contact details.
• Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital. All of this effectively means that keywords and phrases that people would use to search for you or your product should be included naturally at intervals throughout the piece.
• Audience attention can be better held if your release has a multimedia aspect. Embedded videos, photos and graphics will make you stand out and will also help with search engine rankings.
• Ideally, your communications should be kept to around 500 words. This length is enough to give readers the information you want to convey without intimidating them with a big block of script that will take forever to read.
To get published, you’ll need to use an online press release distribution service. The rise in popularity of this medium means there are a plethora of distribution services to choose from; some are free, while most charge a fee.
Most reputable syndication services will guide you through the entire process of preparing and publishing your news item. They offer advice on writing style and content and will edit your material to ensure it meets their criteria and has the best chance of success. Many will even write your online press release for you.
These services have an extensive online distribution network and should see their launch on sites like Google News, Yahoo! News, MSN News and Excite News not long after its distribution. After that, all you have to do is sit back and wait for the queries to start coming in. There are no guarantees, of course, but online press releases are proving critical to generating business. They are the way of the future and they are already upon us today.