Writing SEO Press Releases, Part 2: Additional Guidelines for SEO Press Releases

Last week, I laid out some general guidelines for writing any press release. This week, I’d like to discuss the extra things you have to consider when the press release you’re writing is primarily for SEO purposes.

As far as possible, follow all the general rules described in my previous entry. After all, an SEO press release is still a press release! For SEO purposes, add the following considerations:

• Know your keyword phrases and focus on them.
• Use your keyword phrases at least twice per 100 words. The actual frequency will depend on the length and “awkwardness” of the keyword phrases you need to incorporate.
• Keywords are given extra weight in certain places, so try to incorporate your key phrases in these places whenever possible:

1. In anchor text*
2. The headline
3. The deck
4. The opening sentence
5. In emphasized text (where available some newswires don’t allow formatting)

• Incorporate at least one keyphrase-anchored link for each of your most important key phrases.
• Ensure there is at least one link to your home page.
• Incorporate keyword-anchored links deeper into your website.

*Keywords in “anchor text” are critical: there is little point in issuing an SEO press release that doesn’t link to your website, preferably with keywords in the anchor text.

Coming next week: what to do when the general guidelines (discussed last week) conflict with the SEO guidelines (above).