All companies seek to make their name known in 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 least 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 business. Done right, your press release will help you get to the top of search engine rankings and it 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 going to achieve the results you want:
• Have a concise and compelling title (search engines will truncate titles that are too long, resulting in poor appearance).
• There should be an introductory paragraph that describes the basics of the story and encourages readers to keep reading.
• The body of your online press release should extend the introductory paragraph and complete the story.
• The final 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 the key words and phrases that people would use to search for you or your product should be included naturally at intervals throughout the article.
• Audience attention can be better held if your pitch has a multimedia look. Embedded videos, photos, and graphics will make you stand out and also help with search engine rankings.
• Ideally, your releases should be around 500 words. This length is enough to give readers the information you want to convey without intimidating them with a large script block that will take forever to read.
To be published, you will need to use an online press release distribution service. The increasing popularity of this communication medium means that there are a large number of distribution services to choose from; some are free, while most charge a fee.
Most reputable distribution services will guide you through the entire process of preparing and publishing your news. They offer advice on writing style and content and will edit your material to make sure 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 shortly after distribution. After that, all you have to do is sit back and wait for the inquiries to start coming in. Of course, there are no guarantees, but online press releases are proving critical to generating business. They are the way of the future and they are already upon us today.