by Mike Banks Valentine copyright
© 2003
Search Engine Optimization requires strategizing as
well as optimizing for SEO firms seeking online visibility
for their clients. Last month a client of our firm sought
counsel on their web strategy for an already optimized
site. We had tightened up their keywords, focused their
content and appropriately titled each well crafted page.
The only thing lacking was a linking campaign and extra
keyword focused content beyond their product-centered,
but limited text. What more could we do for them?
The single line item NOT accepted from among a list
of recommendations made was a link campaign, early in
the SEO sales process. We had discovered later in the
beginning phase of optimization that the CEO believed
a linking campaign meant begging industry web sites
for a link. He had refused that concept without discussion
due to a preconcieved notion of link-building as panhandling.
Once discovered, the panhandling concern was easily
overcome with a simple request made of the CEO.
May we have a copy of your press kit?
Press releases very often contain important industry
buzz words, highly relevant, keyword-rich text and an
ideal word count for optimized web page content. Press
releases are tightly focused on single themes and can
be easily plugged into themed sections. Ideal for SEO.
We had discovered that the client had a media kit that
was widely distributed at trade shows. This kit offered
press releases which trumpeted a stellar Fortune 500
client list. Curiously, the slickly printed, beautiful
media kit listed an access URL for a password protected
area of their web site where members of the press could
download Word.doc and PDF files of this same press kit.
Essentially our client was hiding this content from
the public due to concerns that the in-house PR staff
would be inundated with emails and phone calls from
NON-media types and -[gasp!]-customers abusing published
contact information from press releases. Maybe, but
they were also hiding valuable content, customer testimonials,
and that stellar client list from everyone but very
determined media professionals willing to request site
access passwords to download hidden offline documents.
That press kit held the complete solution to our link
popularity conundrum. By posting those documents online
in HTML format and carefully structuring the page title
and headline of each page, then linking those press
releases to relevant sections of the company website,
we dramatically improved search engine visibility for
this client by putting it all in publicly accessible
pages. The search engines indexed it all quickly while
expanding the content and increasing site relevance.
Their Fortune 500 clients have now linked to a vendor
that they had no reason to link to before because the
releases were posted on those client sites with live
links back to their site. Links from well respected
and visible companies increases pagerank dramatically.
Press releases emphasizing business relationships with
product-centered events featuring small businesses and
larger corporations can focus on news hooks that will
attract search engine visitors. Visitors that would
not have otherwise known about the business relationship
or products offered may suddenly find themselves customers.
Small companies doing business with larger corporations
should widely distribute their press releases announcing
marketing partnerships and sales to those companies.
The big players will often find ways to make news with
public relations involving smaller partners and will
sometimes use those press releases on their own site
for publicity.
With innovative PR professionals working in concert
with small businesses, they may even get the corporate
client to use their much greater resources to distribute
those press releases through giant corporate distribution
channels (far beyond the miniscule reach of small businesses).
This will gain them press coverage and help establish
their brand while linking them to the image of larger
corporate clients in the mind of their customers.
A word to the wise though, make your press releases
professional and concise with complete contact info
and links to relevant data. Include short, single sentence
"About Us" company information and DON'T FORGET
A URL!
That web address included at the foot of all releases
is your key to link popularity. Link from your release
to the corporate client site you reference in partnership
announcements and choose headlines that contain keywords
relevant to your site and your business.
For an excellent tutorial on creating an online press
room and case studies on effective online PR strategies,
visit the newsletter of PR Diva, BL Ochman at:
http://www.whatsnextonline.com/wno/newsletter28.html
She recommends that companies replace that paper press
kit with a CD containing all those documents for that
trade show distribution, but the kit belongs online
too.
Search Engine Optimization professionals recognize the
value of online press rooms as exceptional opportunities
to present highly relevant, keyword focused content
that encourages linking from well known corporations
while exposing that existing content to the search engines.
If those press releases also gain media coverage for
your business as intended, your linking campaign has
struck gold.