A press release is the document sent to the newsrooms of newspapers by the press office of companies or organizations, to make them publish articles about the initiatives or relevant corporate information.
With declining sales of print newspapers and the rapid growth of a myriad of online news outlets and bloggers, the press release is also changing shape. Very often, if the news is not really captivating, the editorial staff simply copy and paste the text as it is or with a few changes. For companies, this is a great opportunity to improve organic visibility and stand out among competitors, but it requires refined work by the press office, in synergy with the SEO strategy.
Having worked in both newsrooms and companies, I have gathered useful insights from both sides. In this article, we will see the steps that lead us to write a press release in a professional way, to get good exposure and visibility on Google.
Keyword research
In the past, press releases were addressed almost exclusively to print newspapers; Today, the web is dominant, thanks to digital-only magazines or both online and offline publications. The newsrooms thus become allies and the task of a press office is to push the news to the maximum.
The starting point of a job from an SEO perspective is therefore keyword research. As an online publisher would do, the press office must look for keywords and entities related to the topic to be pushed and, in general, to the SEO and brand management strategy. In fact, each article contributes to adding information about a brand and building its image online, for better or worse.
Choice of sources
Each press office has a contact list built up over time. The best organized ones have multiple lists, or they divide contacts into segments based on topics and other relevant characteristics. A previously done keyword research helps us to better define the target audience and thus choose the most consistent recipients or find new ones.
Professional SEO tools, such as Semrush or SEOZoom, can help you put together the online image of newspapers and blogs, in order to scientifically assess the affinity with the brand and the news to be published. They also allow us to rank these websites based on their size, derived from parameters such as domain authority, inbound links, traffic estimation, and ranked keywords.
Structure of the press release
Rules for writing an article online also apply to the press release. After all, the goal is the same: to get a good ranking on Google and increase exposure. Specifically, previously analyzed keywords must be included and the structure of titles and paragraphs must be taken care of, sending journalists a file that is easy to copy and paste (in light pdf or doc format) and with the correct markup.
Previously, press releases had a headline, subheading, and body text. This scheme followed the structure of an old press article, now obsolete in the age of online information. It is not wrong to include these elements, but the message must be clear and complete even without them. The structure of a web press release must have:
- informative and catchy main title (on the web it corresponds to the H1 title);
- introductory text that contextualizes and summarizes the content (the 5 Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where, why);
- body of the text, splitted into paragraphs and possibly subparagraphs (each with the appropriate H2 or H3 headings);
- links to additional resources and insights;
- References and contacts of the press office.
Photos and media for the press release
For print media, you need high-definition images; for the web, you need light images. Of course, the journalist can use a lot of free softwares to compress images, but the press office should facilitate his work to increase the chances of the news being published. For this reason, it is advisable to send a folder of both high-definition and compressed and lighter photos. For the web, it is also important to use compressed images, with a 16:9 landscape aspect ratio and a minimum width of 1200px (the recommended size for Google Discover).
Let’s not limit ourselves to a poor file, but insert both explanatory and impact images and, if possible, infographics and videos. All materials should then be collected in a zip file that can be sent via WeTransfer (“create link” option), or can be downloaded from the press area on the website.
The digital press release
The press release is no longer a Word file sent indiscriminately to the entire list of journalists and editorial staff. Today, it becomes an important element of communication and digital PR that can have a strong impact on online exposure and brand perception. It becomes even more important to think about media and distribution channels that, in the current digital ecosystem, are many more and merge with each other in the flow of communication.
Audience segmentation, planning, web writing skills, and SEO skills are crucial for professional press release writing.