Tips for Writing an SEO Optimized Press Release

Press releases are an important tool for news communication. A SEO optimized PR is imperative if you want your content to feature significantly on search engine rankings. Studies indicate that journalists as well as consumers keep looking for such releases on their specific areas of interest.

Moreover, an SEO optimized PR helps in increasing the traffic to your site. Here are a few tips you can use when applying SEO techniques to your release.

Understand your audience

Before you sit down to write, first establish what your audience expects from your PR. This is essential because press releases are meant to increase visibility and expand your company's horizons.

You need to consider aspects like whether the audience is expecting information about a new development in the field or a new perspective on trouble shooting certain issues.

Once you ascertain what your audience demands are, it becomes easier to draft your press release. Make sure you are on the same page as your contemporaries and well-versed with recent trends to deliver quality content.

Choose the right length for your press release

You might have the best headlines and the perfect keywords in your release, but all this effort goes waste if your press release is too long. Not only will your audience be bored, internet search engines too will not index it and exclude it from search results.

Consequently, this will lead to a dip in your site's search engine rankings. Prepare a concise yet informative copy that will keep your audience absorbed.

Use keywords effectively

You need to select words that are common in search engine queries. Place these words strategically in your press release. With the right placement of keywords, you can ensure that search engines list your site when there is a relevant query.

Search engines mainly focus on headlines and the first two paragraphs. So, as far as possible, have a good keyword density in these places.

Use links and anchor text

Hyperlinks and anchor text are the most important tools of SEO optimization. With the help of links and anchor text, you can lead your readers to your site for additional information. Do not use direct phrases to guide your consumers; rather, use keywords to embed links.

However, avoid going overboard; ensure your PR does not provide too many links. Two links for 500-600 words is generally sufficient.

Keep content relevant

Your copy should be well-written to ensure a strong connect with your audience. You need not have a high-level of vocabulary in your press release; simple language works best.

Use multimedia tools like images and videos for a good impact and make sure your image is appropriately titled with the keyword included in it. Do not forget to include your company logo in the press release.

Raj Bokdia is a serial entrepreneur. He enjoys sharing his expert knowledge to help others leverage the internet to grow their business. If you are looking to hire press release writing services to buy press releases, visit QuickContent.net today!

Starbucks Spirited PR Gamble

A Big Mac along with a glass of chardonnay? Who knows? That could be on the way. Starbucks is heading in that direction. The chain will soon be selling beer and wine in select locations. Four to six stores in the Southern California area will offer alcoholic beverages by the end of this year, as will some stores in Atlanta and Chicago

The chain began testing its new spirited approach in Seattle in 2010. Starbucks now offers beers for $5 and wines by the glass for $7 to $9 in five locations in that city and one in Portland, Oregon.

The questions are: what will this move do to the Starbucks brand? And how will customers have to change their habits in order for it to pay off? Currently the chain makes most of its daily sales by 2 p.m., which explains the foray into the spirit business. On the other hand around 75% of Starbucks customers are there for take out. That won't work in the beer and wine business. These customers will have to say and enjoy their beverages in-house. And what about the kids and teens that have made Starbucks one of their staples. Will mom and dad be happy sending their kids to a beer and wine establishment?

If this were Europe, there would be no issue. There families are used to going to pubs or cafes where coffee, food and spirits are sold. But, the U.S. isn't France or England and we generally have a different take on where liquor should and shouldn't be served. And what happens when a Starbucks barista has to 86 someone? What will be the protocol for that?

Starbucks has built an amazing worldwide brand. It has regularly changed its menu offering different types of drinks and food items, but a jump into the world of beer and wine is a big one. Adding a new pastry, sandwich or fruit drink does not risk compromising the chain's brand, but offering a happy hour where sprits flow freely will challenge the way many of its customers view the company.

Only time will tell if this gamble will pay off. Because it directly impacts their brand recognition, it could either turn out to be a PR miscue or a public relations homerun. Chances are it will land somewhere in the middle. Since they are only experimenting with a handful of stores, if the publicity effect is extremely negative, they can quickly shut the program down. But if the reaction is simply lukewarm, or only somewhat negative, they will most likely give the news stores a fair shot and launch a media relations campaign extolling the virtues of this new approach. If it works, it could become a one stop shop for buying one's stimulants in the morning and depressants in the evening. The next big question could be, how are they going to get people to leave?

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

I'm Anthony Mora, President and CEO of Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. and author of Spin to Win. We specialize in public relations, image development, media training and Transformational Marketing, http://anthonymora.com

PR `nd Marketing Brainstorming Tips

Before you launch a PR, social media or marketing campaign, you want to make sure that you've outlined your objectives, reviewed your marketing approaches and thoroughly mined your PR stories. One of the best ways to do this is to set up a marketing brainstorming session. To start, sit down and make a list of objectives that you want to achieve before starting the process. You don't want to limit your ideas, but you do want to define the objectives you're setting out to accomplish. When it comes to brainstorming your PR and marketing strategies, your goal is to come up with a list of the ideas and approaches that will best serve you, including new business concepts, the unique value you offer, important information you offer your clients, and anecdotal stories that illustrate how you work. I also suggest spending some time focusing on how and why you can be presented as an expert in your overall field.

This type of brainstorming is generally best done as a group process. I know that if you're working on a start up, chances are you're wearing several hats, but if you have others on your team, bring them in. For example, set up a marketing- brainstorming session with your PR consultant, or, if you're doing this in-house, meet with members of your staff. If you're a one man, or one woman show, bring together some friends or associates who understand your business. You want people you can bounce ideas off. You want feedback, plus you want*shared enthusiasm and energy. Make it fun; make it a game, but one with a purpose.

When you do set up a brainstorming session, allow everyone involved to speak freely. Set up an agenda but let the information flow. Think out of the box. Be creative. Remember you don't have to use all of these ideas but the deeper you drill down, the better the chances of mining some real marketing gold, so let the ideas fly. Let yourself banter about marketing, social media and PR ideas. Even if these are ideas you might never use. You never know, those might actually turn out to lead you to some golden PR nuggets.

Make a marketing list and break it down into marketing, public relations and social media. Now see how many ideas you can place in each list. For example, when it comes to social media, what are some unique Twitter, Facebook or Google+ approaches that you can take? How can you present yourself and most successfully engage with others? In the PR realm what are some different stories that you could pitch to the media? These ideas can be about your product or service, but they also might be about your journey as an entrepreneur, or they might be stories about how you've impacted others. Each one of those stories can speak to a different target audience.

In the second part of the brainstorming tips I'll be focusing primarily on social media and traditional media relations, but the brainstorming basics remain the same, step out of the box, let go of any preconceived ideas and let your creativity soar.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

I'm Anthony Mora, President and CEO of Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. and author of Spin to Win. We specialize in Public Relations, Image Development, Media Training, Branding and Marketing. http://anthonymora.com

Promoting Your Art Utilizing PR

If you're a sculptor, painter, photographer, craftsperson, musician, author, cartoonirt and/or performance artist creating your art is step one when it comes to launching a successful career. Once you've created your art, you next need to build the bridge between your art and the public. From my perspective, once you've given your time and care, blood, sweat and tears to your artwork, you owe it to your art to get it seen and experienced.

There are a number of ways to promote your art including advertising, direct marketing, guerrilla marketing, social media and publicity. For artists, PR can generally be the best route. Public relations and being featured in the media offers the validation and credibility of being featured as a news story. Often the most effective approach is a combination of medial relations and social media. The two complement each other. You can amplify and magnify your media placements via social media and a creative social media campaign can result in coverage in TV, magazines and newspapers. The most important element when launching a PR campaign is coming up with compelling stories that meet the media's needs. Below is a quick overview of approaches you can use when pitching the media:

1) Pitch An Event: Do you have a show or a gallery opening coming up? Here you have something concrete to point to. You can offer the media somewhere to go something to see. But keep in mind that journalists, editors and producers are inundated with offers to come to shows and events. So find a way to make your story different, compelling

2) Something New: Give the media something new to cover. Have you begun working in a new medium? Have you changed your subject matter? Is there a new approach or style you're utilizing?

3) Tell Your Journey: Your art is a story, but so is your journey to becoming an artist. Offer the media human interest stories about how you became an artist, how you followed your dream. Outline the obstacles you overcame, or the uniqueness of your journey.

4) Defining A Trend: Are you a part of, or are you helping to define, a new trend? You might not initially think so, but give it some thought. Don't just think of art-oriented trends, keep in mind demographic, cultural commercial, and aesthetic trends as well. Think of how you can position yourself as someone how illustrates that trend.

These are just some approaches that artists can use to help promote their work. Keep in mind that, like it or not, this is a part of your job. Have fun with it. Don't just keep your creativity for your art; use it in your marketing. You owe it to yourself, your work and the public.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

I'm Anthony Mora, President and CEO of Anthony Mora Communications, Inc. and author of Spin to Win. We specialize in public relations, image development, media training and Transformational Marketing, http://anthonymora.com