The Six Secrets of News Search Engine Optimization · Buzzing blogger community can be ...
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The Secrets of Search Engine Op3miza3on Greg Jarboe President of SEO‐PR PRSA Teleseminar November 17, 2009
Transcript of The Six Secrets of News Search Engine Optimization · Buzzing blogger community can be ...
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
