Saturday, March 31, 2012

Press Releases and SEO

Press Releases need to be optimized for SEO - no matter how good your writing is, it's imperitive that people FIND your press release! Additionally, in order to get your PR content to be indexed in Google and Yahoo, and to generate Google Alerts, you have to submit your press release to one of the recognized press release distribution services. That is how you can gain online coverage from mainstream media and bloggers as well as gain back-links for your search engine optimization campaign. Integraphix, a Chicago SEO company, uses press releases to inform the public of our new clients and website launches.



Where to Submit?
There are paid press release services littering the Internet and though people don't have the extra $200 per release to spare. There are free services you can use and I highly encourage it. Press releases are a company's lifeblood and we use article writing and press releases for our SEO clients all the time. While we encourage you to experiment with them, make sure you know what you are getting with them.

That One Critical Memory
Including links with relevant anchor text in your press releases is critical. Make sure you hyperlink relevant words that take you to targeted pages. This is essential for search engine optimization.
Dont Forget to Syndicate!
In addition to sending the press release to reputable distributions services, you should also publish it on your own website. Put it up on the Media page, on your blog or wherever you think is appropriate. The content of the press release doesn’t have to be much different from what you already put together for the PR services.

Have more questions bout optimizing your press releases? Contact Integraphix for a FREE Internet Marketing analysis and we can talk to you about website and search engine optimization for your business.

Chicago Web Marketing

Friday, March 23, 2012

7 Reasons Why Business Blogs are Valuable!

I am a huge fan of blogging (obviously so, seeing as how I have been writing for this one for the last two years) for numerous reasons. Content marketing is one of the most critical components of any web marketing campaign because it can be leveraged across all mediums. A blog post isn’t limited to existing solely on that blog. It can be shared on social networking sites, submitted to social bookmarking sites, used to develop your company newsletter and more.

Still not convinced? Here are 7 reasons a company blog can be valuable:

1. Establish yourself as an industry authority
Customers want to purchase from/work with the best in the business. Routinely updating a company blog can help you build brand’s reputation as an industry expert and valuable resource.

2. Help educate your consumers
Having an educated target audience can make it much easier for you to promote your products/services. If potential customers have a firm understanding of your industry, it is easier to position your brand as the solution to their problem. You don’t have to explain as much general information in your messaging and can focus on more important topics.

3. Build your online brand presence
Individual blog posts can rank in the search engines like any page on your website. When optimized to include the most appropriate keywords, your blog can help your increase your brand presence in the SERP for the related long-tail keywords searches.

4. Humanize your brand
People like to do business with other people, not faceless corporations. When you attach an actual name to your blog (whether it be your CEO, VP of Marketing, etc), you are giving your company an actual persona. Having content written by a person and not “Company Name” means you can afford to throw a little style and personality into your posts.

5. Promote your products/services
A business blog should mainly be used to inform and educate, but a little self-promoting post every now and again is perfectly acceptable. Your business blog is the perfect place to announce new product launches or let your readers know about an upcoming tradeshow or conference you’ll be appearing at. Someone who reads your blog has already self-identified themselves as your target audience.

6. Respond to a crisis
When bad news breaks, companies don’t have the luxury of hiding out until it blows over or holding a press conference next week. The public expects a response and they expect it now. Silence is almost never the best option. A company blog is a good place to issue public statements and updates as a situation develops. You want to keep the lines of communication open and transparent.

7. Build links
A company blog can become part of your internal linking structure. Not only should you link relevant posts to each other, but you can also link different blog posts to pages of your website and vice-versa. This kind of horizontal linking can help spread link juice and increase the trust factor of some of your internal pages.

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