Optimizing Articles and Press Releases
 by: Mary Ann Porsuelo


Articles and press releases are two very helpful search engine marketing strategies that a lot of marketers still use today. But unlike in the past wherein the articles and press release can easily be found by the online community, the massive amount of articles and press releases today have made it more difficult for one to be singled out from the rest. It is now close to impossible that a press release about your new product or an article would be read by everyone.

Nevertheless, many companies still send out press releases and articles. Fact of the matter is, there are some articles and some press releases that are read by customers. Despite the heavy competition, there is still a way to reach your customers through the articles and press releases. The key is to create something that will capture their attention and will intrigue them enough to investigate and go to your website, user profile, or information center.

Here are some tips on how to make an article or press release that would stand among the thousands of other articles and press releases:

1. Get to Know Your Target Audience

Press releases and articles also have target audiences. We know that. We don't write and publish something just for ourselves; we do it for the benefit of others, too. When marketing, press release and articles are meant to be read by your target audience and you keep them in mind when creating that press release or article.

Knowing your target audience will enable you to write in a way as if you're “speaking in their language.” you would know ho to communicate to your target market and in the process capture their attention. You'll be able to include facts and information that you know would be beneficial for them and therefore will appeal to them. You will also be able to optimize your press release or article by defining the best keywords, knowing what keywords your target audience would be looking for.

2. Optimize Through Keywords

In knowing who your target audience is, you can research on what keywords to focus on to optimize your article or press release. Once you've found the best keyword for the article or press release, make it as a basis when writing. Optimizing through the keywords will help with your rankings in the search engines as the crawlers can read the press releases and articles. If your article or press release is about a certain subject, and you've honed on it very well, it can rank very high on the search engines.

3. Be Creative And Stand Out!

Stand out. You know there's a very fierce competition out there. Thousands of pres releases and articles are sent across the Web through the sites, emails, directories, and feeds. You need to do more than just write correctly... you need to write creatively! You need to think on how your article or press release can be of better help to the customers than the other articles or press releases. You need to give the audience a reason why they should pick your article or press release among the many thousand others.

4. Optimize On the Title

The title of the article or press release, not just the keywords, also count in optimization. Each article or press release should have a title that revolves around the keywords you chose. This will help in the search engine rankings and for more visibility when the keywords are being searched.

Of course, you should not forget to make the title interesting to hook the readers to read your article or press release. It will help to communicate easily with your customers and can drive traffic to your website.

5. Add an Image To Go With the Article or Press Release

An article or press release with an image or picture is much more enjoyable o read and look at than a plain one. Many readers usually don't read much at their first glance at an article or press release. Adding an image could lead them to read your article when it captures their attention. It's another way for your article or press release to stand out!

You can also offer links to the readers who want to download the image. It will not only help promote your press release or article, it will also help obtain image optimization and traffic.

6. Choosing the Distribution Channels

Submitting your press release or article on big PR distribution sites and article directories may NOT always be the best course to take. While the services will work just fine, you might want to take a course wherein you know you'll get more exposure and quality coverage in your own market.

With the great number of competition among articles and press releases in the press release sites and article directories, it might be hard to get through to your target audience. It is better to focus on exposing yourself in your own market.


Learning how to optimize articles and directories is a little challenging considering how vast the Web is. But with a little push here and there and some creativity and effort, one can find a way to stand out and reach out to his or her target audience.



About The Author
The author is a webmaster from Agents of Value Webmaster Staffing, located at http://www.agentsofvalue.com/. Read more on online businesses and internet marketing at http://www.myagentofvalue.com/