Let the media know, they’ll do the rest.
It’s been a busy month for me. On the other hand, while I couldn’t get enough time to start a new article, I was instead searching for some marketing tactics to promote my blog and spread the name. Guest posting- ah, I know it; blog commenting- have been doing; social media- you can always find me online and what else? Somewhere on a random blog, I remember reading a little paragraph about the press release for blogs.
Press release is something that brings us more business, audience and search engine exposure; I have had experience of writing a press release about a college event for newspapers. Besides, I am a media student, obviously I have some knowledge of such things. I rewound and started analyzing the press releases of blogs. After some serious restless nights, I was finally successful in writing my own and submitting it, for FREE. So, how to write a killer press release for your blog?
Keep It Concise
@ Dirty S
Let your writing and storytelling skills be not shown, while writing a press release.
Press releases, generally are limited to a single page, with not more than 400 words. There are sites which allow you to publish your press release for free, even they charge you if your PR contains more than 400 words.
Give all the information; just useful information and nothing else. Write clear words with the best choice of words. Because, writing a press release can be a little different from writing for direct readers.
Optimize
Press releases can really bring you a lot of search engine exposure. So, never forget to optimize it for best results. Follow the same stereotyping process- do a keyword research, target a keyword, maintain a good keyword density. Let those words explain your area/field or expertise.
Killer Headline
The headline is the most important thing for a perfect press release. Unlike the blog headlines, do not try to create a suspense through the headline. Give a brief information about the succeeding paragraphs.
Write an attractive yet a strong headline which can hook readers. It is recommended to avoid Jargons as they confuse the readers. And, as we know, cleverly place your keyword in the headline and try moving it to the beginning.
You might not always keep it too short. The maximum number of characters for
- Google – 70 characters
- Bing – 65 characters
- Yahoo – 72 characters
And before the headline begins, put “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” at the top.
Format
Whether you’re writing for print or new media, you should never miss the standard format of a press release. Once you’re done with the headline, start with the intro.
Intro Paragraph
The first paragraph of the press release should provide the details of the subject or the event. The blog, in this case. Write a strong intro paragraph to attract readers. You should provide all the information regarding the event in the very lines. All the 5 Ws and one H should be answered.
Succeeding Paragraphs
Put the supporting information about the release here. Instead of carrying the whole writing in a single paragraph, you can split and break it into multiple paragraphs. Include quotes, testimonials or such, in these paragraphs to make it stronger.
Always Be The Third Person
While writing a standard press release, the report must be produced as a third person. Even if you are the only back-end of your blog and you are only writing the press release, make it look like someone other has written it for you. For example, “My blog Koundeenya.com now allows guest bloggers to post content” is wrong and the correct one should be “Koundeenya, the owner of Koundeenya.com said that guest bloggers can now post on the site.”
Make It Easy To Contact
Usually when the press requires few clarifications regarding the press release, they might want to contact you. So, it is a must to add your contact details (your name, company, address, phone, email, website) at the very end of the page.
And once the entire thing is over, wrap it up with “###” without quotes, below the contact details.
Takeaway
I am planning to write a post-series of online press releases. Let me know what you’d like to have next.
About Koundeenya
This is an area I’ve never gone Koundeenya!
Writing something like this still to this day makes me nervous. I think in order to really grab people’s attention they definitely need to be professionally written and as you know by now I never considered myself a writer and definitely not good enough to crank one of these babies out.
I know, I know, I’m doubting myself in this area but I guess it’s just not something I’m comfortable in writing. Your tips are great though, I’ll give you that so thanks for sharing these.
~Adrienne
Hello, Adrienne.
I don’t know what made you say that. But, you’re one of my favorite writers ever. You have your own unique voice that no one else has.
I actually had to write a press release for one of the organizations I’m working, so that is when I thought of writing those tips here on my blog and I guess, that did work.
Thank you
Koundeenya recently posted..8 Things To Do After Writing A Blog Post
Informative indeed!
Just like Adrienne, this isn’t an area I’ve ventured into as well as yet. But yes, being a freelance writer, I have written press release for various clients (funny!). I guess one does that because one’s paid, but when it comes to ourselves, we slacken up.
Loved the points you shared, most of which I’ve followed because the clients were good enough to let me know their requirements, depending on where the press release was going to show up. However, I never gave keywords a thought in press release, which is interesting indeed.
Nice to know about the coming up series, which would be something for all of us to learn from. I wonder if you could also let us know in one of your posts about where and how do we put up these press releases, or is it that anyone and everyone accepts them, which I doubt because a few people I know of have had problems in this area.
Thanks for sharing.
Harleena Singh recently posted..Will You Stop Overeating
Hello Harleena!
Well, there are few cases with me too. One is where I wrote about the benefits of having an iPhone and why I love it but ironically, I have never used an iPhone. Even I did that because the payment was good, for me.
So glad to hear your suggestion for the next post in this area. I’ll definitely work on it and as of now, I know few sites which can publish our PR (free ones are also available). I’ll soon come up with a post and I’ll surely mention those sites there.
Thank you for stopping by.
Koundeenya recently posted..How To Write Faster Yet Better Blog Posts
Hi Koundeenya,
Nice article mate.I think press release is great sources for lot many things.First grabbing audience ,promoting blog or static site or online business or product.As blogger you get back links to your blog if you submit in High PR sites.Third is Branding you can best use this platform to brand your business or service.
Your points are great for the structure of Press release and is professional.
Thank You
Shorya Bist
From Youthofest
Shorya Bist recently posted..How to concentrate on studies?
Great post!
I have written hundreds of press releases for various clients, but the idea of suing one to promote my own blog never came to my mind.
Not that I cannot write one, but the usefulness of writing one just did not occur to me. Thanks, Koundeenya, for drilling that into my silly head!
Wonderful suggestion.
Ambika Choudhary Mahajan recently posted..Are You Addicted to Facebook?
Hi Koundeenya
This is an excellent post, as someone who does a lot of writing in my work, and have written press releases myself for various different things, you make some very valid points about the “how” of writing.
I’d be very interested to see what else you have to say on this matter, so look forward to more posts.
Clair
Thanks a lot Clair!
I will soon start writing a few more posts on this topic.
Have a great day
Koundeenya recently posted..How To Create A Writing Style That Matters
Question goes to both you and Clair in comments above, I have not yet done a press release and I want to. Where did you submit them to? And Koundeenya you said you did it for free? I would definitely like to learn more about this all.
So I look forward to the following posts.
Andi Leeman recently posted..We Told You Outsourcing Can Work!
Great post Koundeenya!
Press releases can be a good way to promote products/services on your own blog. I always find that the best press releases (that I have read on other sites) not only focus on what they are promoting, but they also engage with their readers in some way.
Keep up the great work!
Matt Smith recently posted..Evergreen Content 101: Writing Articles That Last
Hi, it is an informative post, no doubt.
I had a question – What is the purpose of writing a press release for a blog? Is it only for back links or could we expect any financial benefit?
It brings us more exposure, Chitraparna. Of course, backlinks can be an added benefit. I’m not sure if we can earn something but, sometimes we may have to spend some bucks to get the PR published.
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