Everything But the Press Release: Press release SEO tips and checklist (longer than you'd think)
- SEO |
Press releases have the rich potential of being both highly credible (they are often considered to be editorial matter, not advertising, by readers) and catnip for SEO. Because there are a lot of high-ranked sites you can submit to, a complete checklist of digital assets you need is longer than you think and it's all too easy to forget any one of these crucial elements. Here's everything I need for efficient posting or outsourcing.
Press release itself
• Text-only version of press release with no HTML links in it because most press release sites are very careful about how they parcel out those precious links
• Version with HTML tags (shouldn't be the complete HTML document). Best subset is : <b>, <i>, <br>, <p>, <a href>, <ol>, <ul>, <li>. Worth the trouble because goarticles (PR3), squidoo (PR8), and Web Newswire (PR5) allow these tags
• PDF version for document sharing sites
• If you're not using WordPress, an HTML version of the press release with the <title> tag and both <keywords> and <description> metatags properly filled out.
Company info
• List of at least 3 categories, starting with the most general, since most sites allow only 1. Especially good for outsourcers, who won't know the categories.
• Company profile in 3 versions: 100 chars, 250 chars, 1000 chars. Always include call to action and link in text format at end (www.example.com/free-trial). Sometimes the URL gets autoformatted into a live link
Keywords
• Put keywords in a file called keywords. Have a small set for the site, then one or two for the press release itself, and a comprehensive set for the few places that allow them, such as YouTube tags and descriptions
• Almost no one knows this: Have a set with double quotes around the keywords, separated by spaces, for YouTube
Images
• At minimum put company logo in 3 different sizes on sharing sites such as flickr and/or Picasa, using keyword-rich image names and captions. Ridiculous SEO.
• Put same company logos in Media section
• 1-5 images hosted permanently in a publicly accessible directory, preferably media room on your site. Some sites like ideamarketers.com allow images but you must host them. Do not use image sharing sites like Flickr for this. They don't allow direct links to their sites for this purpose. They want you browsing their sites. If press release submission sites allow multiple images, after your logo try choosing relevant images unique to that press release.
• For each image, have the following ready: Descriptive filename, Alt text for when image is not available, Image title, displayed on mouseovers
Press release itself
• Text-only version of press release with no HTML links in it because most press release sites are very careful about how they parcel out those precious links
• Version with HTML tags (shouldn't be the complete HTML document). Best subset is : <b>, <i>, <br>, <p>, <a href>, <ol>, <ul>, <li>. Worth the trouble because goarticles (PR3), squidoo (PR8), and Web Newswire (PR5) allow these tags
• PDF version for document sharing sites
• If you're not using WordPress, an HTML version of the press release with the <title> tag and both <keywords> and <description> metatags properly filled out.
Company info
• List of at least 3 categories, starting with the most general, since most sites allow only 1. Especially good for outsourcers, who won't know the categories.
• Company profile in 3 versions: 100 chars, 250 chars, 1000 chars. Always include call to action and link in text format at end (www.example.com/free-trial). Sometimes the URL gets autoformatted into a live link
Keywords
• Put keywords in a file called keywords. Have a small set for the site, then one or two for the press release itself, and a comprehensive set for the few places that allow them, such as YouTube tags and descriptions
• Almost no one knows this: Have a set with double quotes around the keywords, separated by spaces, for YouTube
Images
• At minimum put company logo in 3 different sizes on sharing sites such as flickr and/or Picasa, using keyword-rich image names and captions. Ridiculous SEO.
• Put same company logos in Media section
• 1-5 images hosted permanently in a publicly accessible directory, preferably media room on your site. Some sites like ideamarketers.com allow images but you must host them. Do not use image sharing sites like Flickr for this. They don't allow direct links to their sites for this purpose. They want you browsing their sites. If press release submission sites allow multiple images, after your logo try choosing relevant images unique to that press release.
• For each image, have the following ready: Descriptive filename, Alt text for when image is not available, Image title, displayed on mouseovers
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