Invariably, an online press release strategy is overlooked in most online campaigns, yet a successful and sustained digital PR campaign can compliment traditional SEO activities. In fact, an online press release can actually help to deliver better rankings and increase brand awareness.

As any marketing professional will know, a press release is an excellent vehicle for generating product and brand buzz. An easy way to reach a wide audience provided distribution is executed correctly, a press release delivers an instant hit of recognition. An online PR also promises:

1. Quality Content

Often with search engine optimisation campaigns, it can be hard to think of fresh, relevant, and really interesting content to upload onto a business website. One of the problems with search engines is their constant hunger for new pages, new data, and new information. Satisfying that desire becomes tougher and tougher the more content you create, as there are fewer and fewer original ideas remaining. A press release will help to lessen the load as a tried and tested format for communicating relevant information. Topics such as new product launches, special offers, company accolades, and business developments will go from being internal news to an external content creator.

2. Branding

Branding is becoming an integral part of search engine optimisation. A recognisable brand delivers some of the same kudos and traffic as a page-one search engine placement. An online PR campaign will help to develop brand identity at the same time as suggesting professionalism and aiding in the construction of a corporate image. Large corporations like Coca-Cola and Sony use both on and offline press releases to consolidate their brand – this regular flow of information helps to combat industry competitors and ensures customers retain their brand loyalty.

3. Ease of Distribution

A genuinely newsworthy press release, or series of press releases, can be distributed to thousands of journalists, commentators, and opinion leaders within seconds online. Each of these recipients is able to quickly and easily forward on the release to a colleague or other interested party, adding to the distribution network. One of the primary aims of search engine optimisation is to increase website visibility and traffic – something equally likely to occur through online PR distribution, making it the perfect SEO partner for proactive websites and organizations.

4. Authoritative Links

Building good quality inbound links is a constant trial for online marketers – an online PR can help to ease this burden. Once distributed, the PR can be picked up by any number of outlets including magazines and newspapers. Provided links have been planted in the original press release, a new link is created each time an outlet picks up on the PR’s story. If the distribution has been done correctly, these links should all be from very relevant sources – known to be of benefit to the off-page optimisation calculations employed by the search engines and likely to direct targeted traffic to the website.

5. User Data

Keeping a close eye on the online press release’s pick-up rate can provide useful data for the distributor. Monitoring which news items are picked up gives a clear insight into the types of subjects and messages most likely to be of interest to the target audience – this knowledge can be transferred to website copy, future releases, and optimised content.

To learn more about online press release strategy, email sales@marcommedia.ie or call our Dublin office on 01 456 9934.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 4:13 am by admin and is filed under Internet Marketing Ireland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.