Press Releases for SEO: Do They Work?

We find the question is often ask whether press releases work for SEO? In short, yes, they can. The long answer is what we will explore in this piece.

Over the last few years, there have been dramatic changes in how press release SEO works. If you previously had experience with press release SEO, we will be covering essential information that you will need to make information PR decisions from hereon.

A press release is important information written about an organisation posted online for journalists to write their piece. It’s an effective way to get out information about a product launch, your company brand, or get the attention your company or product may need. It’s also a way for your website to gain increased visibility, referral traffic and brand awareness.

While we mentioned previously that indeed press release SEO does work, it is complicated and is continually discussed in the community of SEO and Digital PR specialists. There is an abundance of press release websites where linking back to the companies website is achieved. However, while this is an excellent idea, in theory, these platforms are inferior more often than not.

It should be noted that SEO does work for a press release when appropriately executed. This means getting the information right and then on how it is then used. Read ahead to find out more.

Press Releases: What are they?

A press release is a short official compelling statement written by business owners, marketing professionals, or marketers. Targeted towards providing media – journalists, publications and news sources with information that will pique their interest. Usually, the information is geared toward a new release, an event, research, a launch or something exciting that is about to happen. The goal is for the announcement, whatever it may be, to be picked up by news sources.

The usual press release format is written, video or audio format, and distributed to any interested agencies and publishes.

SEO and Press Release

The primary reason a press release is considered beneficial for SEO is that it’s good for visibility. They are a place for brand mentions in content that promotes business. When done effectively, it can be powerful for the SEO of a website.

The most effective part of a press release is that a relevant, authoritative and effective backlink is provided to gain many referrals from those who read or share the release (click here to know more about backlink in SEO). Thus, what is taking place is that each press release is pointing consumers to the original website.

High-quality backlinks need to be natural and a publication that positively mentions the brand. However, too much of something is never great, such as when a release is low=quality and spammy purely for getting traffic and not to have an accompanying story written by a journalist.

Spammy Content

If nobody sees your press release, then it’s not an effective tool. It is poor practice to expect that creating press releases and linking them back to your website is enough. An abundance of them is considered spammy and is not achieving the end goal: you want it picked up by a journalist.

What this requires is forthcoming, newsworthy press releases for the aim of them to be distributed genuinely. If your content is being posted to low-quality PR websites, then SEO is not going to work. It isn’t a sustainable or ethical way to work; using press release platforms for the sole purpose of linking back to your website will only see Google giving you penalties, and you will gain a reputation of being spammy.

Is Press Release SEO Worth it?

The answer is simple if your goal is simply to acquire a backlink from a press release platform, it’s not worth the effort. Sadly, with so many people using it as a tactic and are abusing the format, press release SEO is often regarded as spammy link behaviour.

Alternatively, if you are willing to create genuinely newsworthy pieces for distribution, then it is entirely worth your time. When it grabs the attentional of news sources and journalists, your brand will gain excellent visibility and many SEO benefits.

An overall answer as to whether SEO works for a press release, the best answer to give is that it depends. Providing content for journalists to talk about your business and providing them with interesting and compelling information, they will want to write about it.

How is an Effective Press Release Created?

1. Interesting or not at all– There is no reason to create a press release just for the sake of it. Be sure to have something innovative, interesting or provides value to the reader or don’t to it at all.
2. Make the headline POP– A great headline will reel the media outlets in. They are sent massive amounts each day, so to make yours stand out from the rest, it needs a headline that will pop.
3. Short and concise– The last thing you want is to make your press release too long and tedious; people just won’t read it all. So keep it short and to the point; the journalist will pad it out for their publications.
4. Get it to the right people– It’s essential to realise only the most relevant sources to avoid spamming. So make sure you choose the most relevant to your locations, audience and who is likely to pick up your story.
5. Don’t spam publications

Fostering great relationships with media outlets will help you moving forward. So don’t continue to email them if you haven’t heard back; if it interests them, they will be in touch.

Concluding Thoughts

As long as you have something relevant, interesting and exciting to say, then yes, press releases are an effective SEO tool. Their value is when they are picked up by journalists and mainstream news sources.

A press release should not be purely created for SEO purposes; its aim should be to increase brand awareness, make announcements, and increase traffic. Talk to our Sydney based SEO team about how to do Press Release SEO further.