[ Ed: We are excited to feature Verse Communications, a Los Angeles based public relations firm, as our newest guest blogger. To learn more about Verse Communications, click here.]

SEO.  Google these three letters and you will find approximately 136 million results.  What does it mean, and more importantly, how does it translate to your business?  Simply put, search engine optimization means learn some basic algorithmic tips and you will generate more awareness for your business, increase search results and hopefully see an uptick in web traffic and lead generation.  When it comes to the public relations side of SEO, and related tactical initiatives such as issuing a press release, SEO can play a critical role.  There is a lot on the Web that delves into verbose detail regarding SEO and how it should be applied to your PR efforts, specifically press releases.  Unfortunately, too much information can sometimes be overwhelming, specifically to a small business owner who barely has enough time to execute their daily operations, let alone focus on the PR side of their business. 

Fear not, we have some basic search engine optimization tips to help make your company’s press release ‘pop’ a bit more, and it will only take you a few extra minutes.  Once you determine what the news is you are writing about (and make sure your press release is just that, newsworthy), here are key search engine optimization tips to embrace when fine tuning for that maximum impact.

Headers

For starters, your press release headline is the single most important piece when it comes to SEO.  Your Company name and the press release headline is the page title that search engines use to identify your release as an actual Web page, and in effect, rank you in search results. Make sure that header speaks directly to your news in a compelling, clear and concise manner (that is also what people will view when search results come up).  Use no more than 80 characters, with key words leading the way.

If you need another line to add more detail, write a sub-headline that also incorporates just a few key words (again, the most relevant words relating to the core of the release).  Also use keywords in the first sentence of the initial paragraph and throughout the body content of the release.  Note, do not repeat key words more than two or three times.  Otherwise, those slinky search engines will mark your release as dreaded spam.

Anchor texts

Provide readers with an easy way to get more information by using anchor text(aka hyperlinking a word to a specific URL). This achieves two critical objectives: 1) allows you to link out to more detailed information without making your release too verbose; and 2) has enormous potential to increase overall SEO for the site you are promoting (namely your own).Some additional things to keep in mind when playing that algorithmic game of SEO: Keep your overall press release compelling and focused.  Only write about the core news you want to convey, and do so in a clear and concise manner.  This is not a document to write narrative.  Review each and every word on the page and make sure it meaningfully adds something to your news.  If you are not sure how to accomplish this, consult a PR expert.

• Your overall press release should not exceed 500 words.  Search engines spider the first 300 – 500 words on a page.
• Write out full URL’s to important sites  
• Build important back links by linking relevant keywords that support your message to deep, specific pages of Web sites

Now that you know how to write a press release that can increase its visibility and improve the position of your site’s overall search engine ranking, it’s time to distribute it.  Remember, news writing should be short and to the point.