Putting Money in Your PR Piggy Bank

[Mandy Boyle]

As public relations shifts into a more prominent internet role, companies around the globe are looking to update their PR tactics in order to transition smoothly. At the Public Relations Society of America's 2008 International Conference, the professional organization looks to educate both businesses and practitioners on the value of a press release in the internet world, as well as how it can effect your SEO. The session, will be presented by Greg Jarboe, the president and co-founder of SEO-PR and Laura Sturaitis, senior vice president of media and product services of Business Wire. For more info on the event, visit the PRSA website.


Taking a page from the presentation, here are the five ways that the PRSA will look to educate PR professionals on increasing a press release's ROI.

1.Keyword Research
Conducting keyword research is the first step in increasing the ROI of any press release. Writers should use resources like SEOBook.com's Keyword Tool or Keyword Discovery to track down a few relevant news search terms that will target your audience.

2.Keyword Density
This isn't about how many keywords you can squeeze into one article. This is about including RELEVANT keywords into RELEVANT content. Make it interesting. Make it work in smoothly. There are far too many articles out there that abuse this rule.


3.Link Building
Links are a great way to raise traffic to a site. Including a few links in your press release can not only drive customers to your site, but can also give them expounded results on their query. When you see something interesting, don't you want to see more? Give your readers more by including resources that you feel are applicable. This also raises your credibility as a company.

4.Distribution
Placement is one of the four P's of marketing (Product, Price, Placement, Promotion). Make sure that your press release gets out there by distributing it through a service that is frequently crawled by Yahoo! News, AOL News, Google News or any other relevant trade publication/news feed.

5.Evaluation
Evaluating any implemented tactic is crucial for a PR practitioner. You have to know if your strategy is yielding results. Measure the results of your campaign based upon your original goals – whether you want to build brand awareness, increase traffic, generate leads, or even sell products.

Finally, I have one to add in myself.

6. Ethics
Ethical practices are what make PR successful. Far too often PR practitioners (and businesses) get a bad rap because of the unethical practices of some PR professionals. Don't be another P.T. Barnum. Start building on your brand by using industry best practices and by putting relevant, factual information out there! From press releases to product descriptions, the best tactic is to be truthful and genuine.

You don't have to attend the national conference to get the results! Use these tactics and do your research on how they should be conducted properly. One of the best ways to learn is to frequently consult SEO resources such as blogs (like this one), news feeds, forums, or trade publications.