Press Releases
A press release, also known as a news release, is simply a written statement to the media. Writing an effective PR web press release is the best way to get seen on the internet and gain more customers for a business. The traditional press release is a good way to build a company's credibility online. They can announce a range of news items such as scheduled events, personnel promotions, sales accomplishments, awards, new products and services etc. They can also be used in generating a feature story. Reporters are more likely to consider a story idea if they first receive a release. It is a fundamental tool of PR work that we here at SEO Digital Marketing use with what we feel is the correct format for when undertaking any kind of PR or press release work.
We have found our general strategy for press releases is very effective.
Firstly, we write the headline. We use various methods of writing headlines i.e. they should be to the point, clear and brief, basically the press release’s key point condensed down. A “grabber” to attract readers should be in the headline, just as in a newspaper has in it’s headline to grab readers. Headlines are written in bold and are typically larger than the press release text. The first word in the press release headline should be capitalized, as should all proper nouns.
After the headline we write the press release body copy. The press release should be written as you want it to appear in a news story i.e. we start with the date and city in which the press release is originated, occasionally omitting the city. In the first paragraph the first sentence grabs the reader, describes concisely what is happening and is expanded on in the following couple of sentences. Next is the press release body copy which again will be compact.
It will consist of concrete facts i.e. events, products, services, people, targets, goals, plans, projects. Also who, what, when, where why and how, in the pr industry these are known as, “The 5 W’s and the H.”3
We will construct paragraphs and assemble them sequentially. The headline > the summary or introduction of the news > event or achievements > product > people > again the concluding summary > the company.
The length of a press release is no more than three pages. Information about the company is included.
After the title, a paragraph or two to describe your company with 5/6 lines each are written. The text describes the company, its main business.
We provide extra information links that support our press releases.
If a client is comfortable with the idea of letting key people be contacted directly by media, We can provide contact details on the press release page itself. E.g. we can provide the contact information of an engineering or research team for the media. Otherwise, we can provide the details of a media/PR department in a "Contact" section. We also attach backlinks to the press releases from companies that have relevant subjects on their sites.
