How to write effective copy for search engines

The most effective news releases today are written specifically for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - a marketing strategy that focuses on the content and positioning of web copy so that it is identified and picked up by search engines such as Google, Yahoo! or Altavista.

Optimized releases help you reach your targeted audiences, drive potential clients to your web site, and help build brand awareness among your customers and the media.

To continually build online market exposure for your company and your products and services, here are several basic SEO strategies for news releases.

Understanding the search engines. Search engines pick up deliberate key words and phrases you strategically place throughout your copy. These key phrases should best describe the nature of your business, products, and services, including your geographic area(s). The current rule of thumb is to come up with about three slightly differing phrases that provide relevant information about you and/or your company.

For example, if you own an accounting firm in Boston, you may want to include such phrases as "Boston accounting firm," or "Boston CPA services." If your accounting firm specializes in financial services for hospitals, you would include more specific information such as, "Boston accounting firm for hospitals," or "accounting services for hospitals in Boston."

Experimenting with different phrases gives the search engines various keyword options to make sure your firm gets picked up and ranked among your competitors. Keep in mind your company name is not an effective key word or phrase for SEO purposes, that is, unless your business is well known. Potential clients will do a search to find reputable firms in a given profession but will mostly likely not know the names of the companies.

Choosing the best keywords. It may sound easier than you think, but choosing the best keyword phrases for your news release and/or web site copy requires some testing and research. Many SEO experts say the best keywords are two- to four-word phrases that accurately describe what your company offers. The phrases should use everyday language that searchers are mostly like to use - but shouldn't be so common that the keywords can't compete among thousands of other similar businesses. However, if your key words are too specific, it might be more difficult for visitors to search for your terms.

The good news is you can continually test your keywords to see what works best. Search engines pick up pages in a web site, not the site itself. So in addition to your news releases, you can use different keywords on various pages of your website to determine what phrases rank higher than others.

You can also use free or subscription SEO programs/tools that help you determine the best keywords and keyword combinations to use. To help maximize your SEO potential, it's worth looking into such programs as www.wordpot.com , www.overture.com, and www.wordtracker.c om.

Location and volume are key. Once you've identified what words and key phrases to use, it's important to place the copy in strategic locations throughout the news release. Many successfully optimized news releases include keywords at the beginning of the headline, in subheads, the first paragraph, and sprinkled throughout the copy. Placing keywords at the beginning of the document is important since search engines identify words from top to bottom, giving your keywords more prominence. Experts also recommend placing keywords at the bottom of the release so the search engines may be able to identify an overall theme to the page.

So how many keywords phrases should you include in a news release? Many experts recommend that you aim for a keyword density of 2 to 8 percent. This gets a little trickier to determine, so such sites as www.live-keyword-analysis.com andwww. webcopyplus.com will help. The programs automatically calculate your keyword density ratio, helping you add or delete keywords until the ratio falls within the recommended guidelines. Again, you can also spend time conducting your own searches to see how your news release gets picked up, by whom, and how often.

Online press release services. Finally, you may want to use an online press release distribution service (some of which are free) that can help you optimize your release, send it over the wire, and track the results for you. Search engines "spider" online services frequently, so this added capability may give you the exposure you're looking for.

To review a list of press release distribution services, visit our website at www.shockpr.com and click on resources.

An optimized press release is an effective marketing strategy that can help you significantly improve your company's overall visibility. A release that is written specifically for search engines will generate increased traffic from potential clients, interest from editors, and higher overall rankings in search results.

Shunra announced strong growth at mid-year, adding a significant number of new and repeat customers, securing top industry awards, welcoming new executives, and being recognized as the leader in its space by a well-known analyst firm. It also announced 3PAR, a leader in utility storage, as a customer. www.shunra.com

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