After battling some intense traffic this morning I finally made it to the Westin Hotel in Waltham- just in time to hear Derek Edmond’s lecture on SEO (although, too late to grab breakfast).
The presentation was very informative and he has an extensive knowledge of linking SEO to press releases. I was astounded to learn that in July 2008 there were over 1.5 billion search queries for news and media related results in Google. This got me thinking about how we can optimize visibility for our releases here at Topaz. Of course, Derek seemed to read my mind as he went on to address this issue. What I found really interesting was that it is not the quantity of keywords, but the quality. It’s better to have a few keywords that are extremely relevant than to have many keywords that don’t target your audience as well. It is also really important to have links in your press release. Derek explained that links help search engines understand what a site is about and why it is or isn’t important. Make sure your links are from a trusted source since this is an important part of the evaluation process for visibility on search engines.
There were many other tips that would simply take too long to write out, but I thought I would share that little bit of my informative morning. To end, let me say that simply putting your release out doesn’t guarantee coverage, you must outreach and communicate your message in order for people to take an interest in it. In fact, I’m about to go do so now!
In these dog days of August, Tim Allik and Rob Capra take a shot at being PR contrarians in this special edition of PRobecast, with the latest, greatest Top Ten (Socal Media) PR Myths:
1. Social media is new
2. The phone is worthless
3. Email is useless
4. Print outlets are dead and insignificant
5. The press release doesn’t matter
6. Live tweeting at conferences is worthwhile
7. Social media increases PR productivity
8. The ability to multi-task is key to any PR project
9. CEOs typically give great media interviews
10. Reporters hate PR flaks more than ever
This week on PRobecast, Tim Allik, Wendie Larkin, and Glen Zimmerman discuss:
How uncool is Cuil? The new search engine launched with the best buzz money could buy - but landed with a thud. The PR lesson learned? Terrific PR just isn't enough without a great product or service behind it.
Corporate blog relations. Friday's New York Times covers the trials and tribulations of blogger Brandon Dilbeck, who gripes about Comcast on his blog - and then complains when the company emails him to ask if they can do anything to work things out. Earth to Brandon, you can't have it both ways. If you want to keep your thoughts to yourself keep a personal diary. Otherwise, prepare to engage. And kudos to Comcast for reaching out.
Help a Reporter Out. At www.helpareporter.com, Peter Shankman's effort to distribute reporters' request for sources is taking the PR world by storm, with 20,000 subscribers to the service in just a few months. Are the folks at Profnet quaking in their boots? They probably should be, because HARO is free. D'oh! Our panelists float and consider a related idea: Could PR folks create a aggregated list of PR pitches (protecting embargoes and anonymity, of course) that could then be distributed on a regular basis to reporters? What do you think?
Is the press release dead? Before you start yawning in the face of the age-old question, consider our experience at Topaz with our client Language Weaver, a leader in statistical machine translation. We distributed a press release that linked to a podcast with one of the company's founders. The release itself was interesting enough for famed inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil to link to it from his website, www.kurzweilai.net. The one element missing from this equation? A reporter.
You can send your feedback to probecast@topazpartners.com. You can also call your feedback into 781-404-2409. Or leave a comment on our blog!
PRobecast’s opening music is “Junk In A” by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network. Our closing music is “Chase Me On A Bike” composed by our own Rob Capra.
