The press release is not dead. If you’re using a press release to blast the media in hopes of securing coverage, yes, that’s bad. Stop doing it now.

But an optimized press release submitted to search engines brings your news directly to the masses, bypassing the media gatekeepers via search. A user enters his keywords and his news is found. That’s online PR in action in relation to press releases. Online PR makes your news findable through search, that’s the easiest way to say it.

Typically, when you optimize a release for search, you put your keyword in the release title, spread your keywords throughout your release, and also use anchor text to link to your keywords and post content on the search site. your customer. This connection you create tells Google to match your search engine keywords to your online content and therefore drives traffic to your site/news.

Here’s an inside secret to aid your online PR efforts and help make your news findable through search:

Google recognizes certain synonyms as valid equivalents to the keywords you are optimizing for. What do I mean?

Let’s say I’m writing a press release for a client interested in cultivating relationships with investors and entrepreneurs. I choose to optimize my release for “intellectual property”. I can write an uncomfortable press release about the use of the term intellectual property.

That can lead to bad copy and put you at risk of spamming that particular keyword. No one wants to read a release using “intellectual property” 20 times, including Google spiders along with readers.

here is the trick: Put a tilde (~) in front of your keyword (no space) and then search for that term. So in this case I would google ~intellectual property.

All the results you see in bold are Google-approved keyword synonyms. Copyright, legal, etc. Those synonyms are, in the eyes of Google, the same as your main keyword in terms of gaining SEO traction.

So let’s rewrite your statement. You now know that Google endorses copyright and legal rights as legitimate substitutes for intellectual property. Instead of emphasizing your main keyword, you can make your copy much smoother by incorporating its synonyms.

Now write your press release with these synonyms in mind. He doesn’t get hung up on trying to force his main keyword into his copy over and over again, but allow his copy to flow a little more naturally, as he incorporates copyright and legal rights into his writing.

Yes, include intellectual property in your title, but be sure to naturally mention copyright and legality in your copy. This opens the doors for more conversational copy; but copy that is optimized nonetheless.

Example 1:

Intellectual property protection is important for entrepreneurs

Cleveland, OH – Protecting your intellectual property is crucial to the success of your business, with the loss of intellectual property costing American businesses several billion dollars a year. Follow these simple steps to protect your intellectual property.

Example 2 using synonyms:

Cleveland, OH – Protecting your intellectual property is crucial to the success of your business, with the loss of intellectual property costing American businesses several billion dollars a year. Follow these simple steps to protect copyrighted information and ensure proper legal protection.

In Example 2, we’re optimizing for the same keyword, but using all three Google-approved variations. The copy flows a little more naturally, while you still get the crucial SEO traction an optimized version is designed for.

Bottom line: Google recognizes your synonyms as valid substitutes for your keyword and sees your release in the same context. And Google loves context.

So consider using approved synonyms to optimize your pitch for smoother copy, while still gaining ground in SEO.

As always email me or comment for more details.