My job is to help companies get better rankings on search engines via content. One of the ways that I do this is by writing and submitting search engine optimized press releases. Take a look at this image that shows how one SEO press release I wrote for a client took over 5 of the first 10 results in Google (half the page) for one of their top keywords. Best of all, it cost me a total of $2.99 in press release submission fees and about an hour and half worth of time to get this result. In comparison, take a look at the 7 companies that are paying for PPC ads on this same page!

(I’m also giving away a free SEO press release and submission to one reader – so be sure to get down to the bottom of this post!)

Gettin’ Real

This is an extreme example of results – not all press releases get this kind of exposure on the front page of Google!

Taking over half of the Google’s first page for your keywords doesn’t happen every time you submit an SEO press release. Sometimes a search engine optimized press release will appear once or twice on the first page of Google. Sometimes it won’t appear on the first page at all! Sometimes it will show on the homepage for few weeks and disappear. Sometimes it will take months for it to get a first page ranking. Sometimes, it will never appear in the search results.

After writing tons of press releases for various client’s over the past 2 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the positioning depends on the competitiveness of the keyword and the SEO strength of the other sites that are ranking for that keyword. However, there are many other reasons to publish press releases that are well-optimized for search engines.

The Many Benefits of SEO Press Releases

There are plenty of benefits that come with submitting SEO press releases aside from Google search results if you do them correctly:

• Backlinks from news sites
• Ranking in Google News and Yahoo News for your keywords
• Tens of thousands of headline impressions across hundreds of blogs, websites, and news sites that run RSS headlines (with some PR publishers)
• Increases the ranking of your website or blog for your keywords
• Can help your new website escape from the “Google Sandbox” quickly

SEO press releases are just one part of a well-balanced online marketing strategy. With the low cost and high benefit associated with producing optimized press releases, it just makes sense to incorporate press releases into your marketing strategy.

How to Write SEO Press Releases

I started to write this “how to” as a post, but it became so huge (15 pages) that I decided to turn it into a download. This download is completely free. All I ask for in exchange is that you subscribe to my RSS feed – not because you have to in order to get it, but because you think the information here is valuable. (I thought about using Michael Martine’s great idea about offering this e-book as a link only visible in the RSS reader, but then I realized that it wouldn’t be available until I posted next. Because I only post once a week, I didn’t want to make you wait for it.)

Get Your Free Copy

Update! In addition to the e-book download, I’ve published the content of the majority of ebook – plus more on HubPages. You can read the whole thing online plus watch how to videos about press release writing on my HubPages article: SEO Press Releases: How to Write them and Where to Submit Them.

If you still have questions, I encourage you to bring them to the discussion here on the blog or send me an email so that I can give you as much info as I can to help you fill in the blanks.

In this free e-book, I’ll explain:

• How and why to write optimized titles and summaries
• How to optimize the body of the press release for your target keywords
• Where to position links
• Acceptable writing styles of press releases
• The 5 critical elements of a press release
• How to “sell” while being objective

I’ve also included lots of screenshots and visuals to help illustrate the points.

You’ll also find a few of these icons:

This is where you get to avoid making some of the dumb mistakes that I made when writing press releases. I’ve spent years writing  optimized press releases, making mistakes, and pushing the limits to find the balance between self-promotion and news. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and hope to show you how to avoid them while getting the most out of your press releases.

Distributing Press Releases for Maximum SEO Effectiveness at the Minimum Cost

There are two critical parts to getting results with press releases:

• Writing the Press Release
• Submitting the Press Release

This e-book covers the first part – writing an optimized press release. I’ll be creating another entire download just about submitting them that will be filled with lots more dumb mistakes and valuable lessons learned – because this is where you can really screw things up! Every press release submission service has its own little quirks and oddities that you’ll want to be aware of before submitting.

Update! The second part of this tutorial “How and Where to Submit SEO Press Releases” is now available on Slideshare.

Who Can Benefit from SEO Press Releases?

Whether you’re a blogger, run a business, or have a product or service to offer, you can use press releases for self promotion. If you’re a writer, you can use this information to begin offering SEO press release writing services. If you’re an SEO, you can use this information to add more link building and promotional tools to your suite of services. If you run a business or are a blogger, you can use this info to promote your own company.

A Free PR Optimization and Submission For One Reader

Just for fun, I’m going to randomly select one commenter next Sunday to receive a free press release optimization and submission to the 9 sources that I use to submit press releases. You write the release, I’ll give it an optimization once-over and send it out for you! This is something that I normally charge for, but am always looking for ways to give back to the wonderful people that visit here

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