Articles
Don’t overlook SEO when getting the word
out online…
Since its inception, the
Internet has played an increasingly important role in a PR professional’s
communication strategies. Over time, it has developed into a mainstream form
of communication. As a result, you now have an interactive, instantaneous
tool to convey your message to your key publics.
Of course, to generate online
publicity for your organization, you need to get your message in front of
your key publics. The first step is posting the information to your
organization’s Web site. If investors, reporters, and other important publics
visit your site, they will be able to read it.
The second step, however, is
one that is commonly overlooked: ensuring that your news releases and other
PR documents can be found in search engines. The search engines provide a
natural outlet to connect with your target audience. Reporters and other
stakeholders use them to find company and industry news - in fact, they are
actively looking for it!
Unfortunately, if your news
releases are not included in search results, you will miss the opportunity to
communicate with them. You may even frustrate users if they are specifically
searching for your organization’s information.
Are your news
releases being found?
Finding out if your news
releases are included in the search engines is an easy task. Simply copy a
sentence or two from a release, and paste it (inside quotation marks) into
the search box at your favorite search engine, such as Google. If it is
indexed, you will get a result similar to this:
If you don’t see your news
release listed, or if the listing directs you to a site other than your own,
you will want to investigate further to find out what is actually happening.
However, if you follow these tips, chances are you will have success getting
your news releases included in search engine results.
Tips to make sure your new
releases are included in search engine results:
• Post your news in HTML
format. Include a link to a PDF version as a courtesy to people that may wish
to download it. To avoid trapping users inside the PDF file, include active
hyperlinks back to your Web site (and contact information) on every page of
your PDF document.
• Check that links to your
news releases point to a page in your domain (www.yourcompany.com). If you
use a third party to post your information, the links will probably point to
their domain. While it doesn’t necessarily mean that your news won’t be indexed,
it is better to direct visitors to your own site. This way, you have control
over how your message is presented, as well as the opportunity to introduce
them to additional information about your company. In addition, if the third
party site is not search engine friendly, you will not be able to make the
necessary changes to get the releases indexed.
• Make sure your news
releases are not deep inside your site. This means checking to see how many
parameters are in the URL. Search engines have trouble digging more than
three to four parameters deep into a site.
If you have followed all of
these guidelines and your news releases are still not getting indexed by the
search engines, it is time to contact a Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Specialist. There are several factors that can stop your news from reaching
its intended audience: Web site architecture, code and format. A SEO
professional will be able to better determine which of these is causing the
problem, as well as provide you with additional tips on how to make sure your
key publics find your news releases in the search engines.
By Melanie Broemsen,
Broemsen Web Marketing
Melanie Broemsen is CEO of Broemsen Web Marketing and a former chair person
on the IABC Heritage Region Board. This article was first printed and
distributed by Jill Whalen, www.highrankings.com.
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