Write press releases for spiders, not just for humans

When you write a press release, who is your target audience?

a. Journalists

b. Search engine spiders that crawl the Internet looking for copy that includes the keywords people are using to search for certain kinds of information

c. Consumers and end-users who can find the release online, visit your website and download a free ebook, or maybe even buy from you

d. All of the above.

Too many Publicity Hounds mistakenly think they are writing only for journalists. So the correct answer to the question should be “all of the above.”

Writing for search engine spiders means stuffing keywords into your press release headline, subhead, first paragraph, and other places within the release so the spiders can find the release and deliver it to people looking for the kind of information you’re writing about.

But the release still has to include good writing so that humans, who are also consumers, can understand the release. And in many cases, some of those humans might also be journalists who find the release online.

Writing one press release for spiders, journalists and consumers can be difficult, but it’s possible.

Check out these tips on how to write your press releases for the search engines, courtesy of the EON, the online service recently launched by Business Wire.     

In my free email tutorial “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases,” I spend an entire week on search engine optimization. So far, more than 5,000 Publicity Hounds have opted into the course.