Preparing Your Press Release

Joseph ComoShameless Self Promotion, Website Traffic

Press releases are used to share something newsworthy about your business with the public.  But there is a secret use for them as well!  You can use press releases to advertise your business, create more links to your site,  and have another page to show up in search engine results.  Here are some aspects of press releases that every new press release author should know.

To start off, there are two things to keep in mind when writing a press release: short paragraphs and your audience.  Use language and words that the average person will know the meanings of, and keep your paragraphs short so they are easy to read or scan.

First, let’s tackle the news aspect of the release.  You can literally turn anything about your business into news.  For example: a new website, new location, new desks, bigger parking lot, fancy name tags, etc.  Take your topic and turn it into a great headline – “More Customers at the Scissor Store Allows for Parking Lot Expansion.” See how easy that is?  It’s instant news!

Now it’s time to sneak in your advertising.  You can easily do this by quoting someone such as a co-worker, yourself, a customer, and so on.  As long as you have their permission, anyone’s words are fair game.  “Scissor Store started out small, only serving local art supply stores.  Now we are reaching out to schools, businesses, and more craft stores throughout the city and surrounding areas.”  The quote gives your news story a nice edge.  Plus, it shows just how much your scissor store has recently grown.

It’s important to have fun when writing an online press release.  They don’t have to be as serious and structured as a print press release, so enjoy writing!  Make your news story fun, and find some creative ways to sneak in some company advertising.  Your possibilities are endless!  It also never hurts to add in a couple keywords and a link or two.

Once you release your story, don’t expect to get waves of people coming to you for business.  Things like this take time.  The more press releases you write, the more will show up in search engine results, and the more links there will be that lead to your site.  You will build up a large amount of credibility, and people will start to see that your business is the place to go.

Enjoy writing your press release!