TheSecretsofSearchEngineOp3miza3on

GregJarboePresidentofSEO‐PRPRSATeleseminarNovember17,2009

IvyLeeinventedpressreleaseforThePennsylvaniaRailroadin1906

•Followinganaccident,Leeconvincedtherailroad“tosupplythepressandpublicoftheUnitedStatespromptandaccurateinforma3on”•TheNewYorkTimespublishedthepressreleaseverba3masa“StatementfromtheRoad”

SEO‐PRinventedop3mizedpressreleaseforSEMPOin2003

Source:GoogleNews,Sept.15,2003

I’llsharethesixsecretstoop3mizingpressreleasesfornewssearchengines• Whousesnewssearchengines?• Whatsearchtermsaretheylikelytouse?• Wheredoyouputthesetermsinyourpressreleases?

• Whendoyouaddlinks?• Whyshouldyouop3mizeyourpressreleases?• Howdoyoumeasuretheresultsofpressreleaseop3miza3on?

MillionsofAmericansuseYahoo!

Source:NielsenOnline,March2009

Moreknowledgeworkersreadpressreleasesthantradejournals

Source:Informa2onWeek,June6,2006

73.8%ofjournalistsandbloggersuseGoogleand/orblogsearch

Source:PRWeek/PRNewswireMediaSurvey,March31,2008

Inmanyindustries,onlinepublica3onsandblogsarethenewtradepress

Source:SearchEngineWatch,Dec.18,2007

Conductkeywordresearchtofindthetermspeoplearelikelytouse

•Thinkaboutthewordsuserswouldtypetofindyourpages

•Brainstormkeywordcategoriesthataddressyourcustomer’swants

•Compilethebrainstormedkeywordsforfurtherreviewoftrafficpoten3al,compe33on,andotherfactors

Source:Elliance,SearchEngineLand,Oct.23,2007

Conductkeywordresearchusingoneormoreofthesefreetools

• GoogleAdWordsKeywordTool• hips://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

• GoogleInsightsforSearch– hip://www.google.com/insights/search/#

• GoogleSuggestforGoogleNews– hip://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/suggest‐on‐google‐

news.html

• MicrosokadCenterLabskeywordresearchtechnologies– hip://adlab.microsok.com/Keyword‐Research.aspx

• WordStream’sfreekeywordtool*– hip://www.wordstream.com/keywords/

*Disclosure:WordStreamisaclient

Morenewssearchinterestworldwideinpressreleasethannewsrelease

Source:GoogleInsightsforSearch,Nov.7,2009

Keywordresearchinvolvesmorethanlookingupsearchfrequencies

• Op3mizeeachpagearoundthetop2or3phrasesthatyouwouldlikeittobefoundfor

• Averagesearchtermisnow3wordslong,souselongerphrases• Use“Russiannes3ngdolls”vs.“nes3ngdolls”

Source:Elliance,SearchEngineLand,Nov.6,2007

Incorporatesearchtermsintoyourheadlineandleadparagraph

•Newssearchenginesscantheheadlineandatleastthefirst100wordsofnewsar3cles

•So,makesureyourpressreleaseactuallyincludesyourtargetterms–par3cularlyintheheadlineandfirstfewsentences

Source:TheNewYorkTimes,April9,2006

HerbKelleherwentnutswhenhesawcheapinhispressrelease

Source:SouthwestAirlines,Jan.30,2004

Parentsmagazineeditorofferedpicturetaking3psinsteadofnews

Source:PRWeb,May28,2008

WehadtoviolateAPStyleinordertoop3mizeMonitor’spressrelease

Source:TheChris2anScienceMonitor,August11,2006

Addlinksintendedtohelppeoplefindinteres3ng,relatedcontent

•TheuniquetrackinglinkinthisSouthwestAirlinespressreleaseofferedacompletelistoffares•Ittookpeopletoauniquelandingpage,enablingSouthwesttotrackover$80,000in3cketsalesbacktothisop3mizedrelease

Source:TheMeasurementStandard,April6,2004

Secondlinkinsomepressreleasesgotmoreclicksthantheotherlinks

1st link 2nd link 3rd link4th link

Source:ConsumerReports.orglogfiles

HeadofGoogle’sWebspamteamsaysmainbenefitislinksinar3cles

•“I’mnotagainstdoingpressreleases;pressreleasescanbeausefulpartofgesngtrafficandbuildingabrand.•“ForrankinginGoogle,however,themainbenefitofapressreleaseisnotdirectlinksorPageRankfromthepressreleasedirectly;it’sprimarilythepeoplewhodecidetowriteanar3cleandlinkbecauseofthat.”

Source:MaiCuis:Gadgets,GoogleandSEO,Dec.11,2005

Buzzingbloggercommunitycanbeexcellentplacetogenerateinterest

•Bestwaytogetothersitestocreaterelevantlinkstoyoursistocreateunique,usefulcontent

•Crea3nggoodcontentpaysoff:Linksareusuallyeditorialvotesgivenbychoice,andthebuzzingbloggercommunitycanbeanexcellentplacetogenerateinterest

Sources:Technora3:StateoftheBlogosphere2008,andGoogleWebmasterHelpCenter

Whyshouldyouop3mizeyourreleasesfornewssearchengines?

•Tradi3onally,readersfirstpickedapublica3onandthenlookforheadlinesthatinterestedthem

•Newssearchenginesofferlinkstoseveralar3clesoneverystory,soreadersfirstdecidewhatsubjectintereststhemandthenselectwhichpublishers’accountsofeachstorytheywillread

HaroldLasswellcreatedclassicmodelofcommunica3onsin1948

Whosayswhatinwhichchanneltowhomwithwhateffect?

Ifthingsarebleakinjournalism,thenaretheyevenbleakerinPR?• America’snewspapersaregesngsmaller– 5,900full‐3menewsroomjobs,11%,cutin2008

– Byendof2009,newsroomsofAmericandailynewspapersmayemploy25%fewerpeoplethanin2001

• AdAgees3matesthatjustunder150,000peopleworkedinmagazinesin2008,downfromabout170,000in2000

• Inlocaltelevision,newsstaffs,alreadytoosmalltoadequatelycovertheircommuni3es,arebeingcutatunprecedentedrates

Source:TheStateoftheNewsMedia2009

Newssearchenginesreverseclassicmodelofcommunica3ons

Whoseekswhatinwhichchannelfromwhomwithwhateffect?

Howdoyoumeasuretheresultsofpressreleaseop3miza3on?

4op3mizedpressreleaseslinkedto$2.5millioninSouthwestsales

Source:SouthwestAirlines,July15,2004

Publicitydrove450,000visitorstoChris2anScienceMonitorwebsite

•Withinfirst24hours,morethan450,000uniquevisitorsfloodedCSMonitor.com,seven3mesitsdailyaverageinJuly•Pageviewsforthefirstdaybrokethroughthe1millionmark,amassiveincreasefromthesite’sJulyaverageof121,247pageviewsperday•TheHuffingtonPostgenerated3.43mesmorevisitorsthanABCNews

Source:WebSideStory,Aug.13‐28,2006

Queriesforpromotedbrandsup38.9%,otherbrandsup5.1%

20072008

Source:Meredith,Dec.5,2008

I’vesharedsixsecretsofop3mizingpressreleasesfornewssearchengines• Whousesnewssearchengines?• Whatsearchtermsaretheylikelytouse?• Wheredoyouputthesetermsinyourpressreleases?

• Whendoyouaddlinks?• Whyshouldyouop3mizeyourpressreleases?• Howdoyoumeasuretheresultsofpressreleaseop3miza3on?

Pressreleaseop3miza3onreflectsparadigmshikinPRandjournalism

•AsColumbusdiscovered,trainingthecrewsoftheNina,Pinta,andSantaMariahowtosailwestwasarela3velystraighvorwardtask

•TherealchallengewasconvincingQueenIsabellaandKingFerdinandthattheywouldn’tfalloftheedgeoftheworld

Source:WebProNews,Jan.7,2004

Twoweeksago,TheNewYorkTimespublishedapressreleaseverba3m

Source:TheNewYorkTimes,Nov.4,2009

Theplay‐backfortoday’sPRSAeventrunsthroughJanuary17,2010