PR writing

How to write links for news releases

How to write anchor links, nofollow links

Now that Google has cracked down on link schemes, link networks and unnatural linking, PR pros have to work to avoid SEO penalties for linking.… Read the full article

Optimize for Google and humans

Because your headline gets a header (<h1>) tag on the portal, it can deliver huge SEO benefits. To take advantage of this opportunity, use a keyword in your headline.… Read the full article

How to do SEO for voice search

Optimize for Alexa, Siri

“Siri, what time is sunset today?” “Alexa, how do I get red wine out of the carpet?” “OK, Google …”

A whopping 50% of all searches will be voice search by 2020, according to comScore.… Read the full article

Add search terms to page titles, more

Have you ever wondered where to add SEO keywords? Whether you’re writing a webpage, post or other online piece, put SEO keywords in the page title, metatags and above the fold.… Read the full article

Long-tail keywords lift SEO results

Help visitors find precisely what they want

These days, web visitors don’t search for simple terms like “LAX flight delays.” Instead, they’re more likely to ask a longer, more conversational, more precise question: “Will Flight 457 on XYZ Airlines be delayed out of LAX?”

Indeed, most searchers use three or more keywords in their searches, according to a study of 10 million U.S.… Read the full article

What would Google do?

Steal 4 SEO tips from the search giant’s own releases

Google issues few press releases: 13 in 2013, 17 in 2014 and just 10 in the first eight months of 2015.… Read the full article

PR leads: 25 words or less

Get to the point faster

“‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ The creation of the universe has a 10-word lead!” writes John McIntyre, copy desk chief of the Baltimore Sun.… Read the full article

Use the magic word in releases

‘You’ gets the story started in PR pieces

It’s counterintuitive, but true: The product is never the topic. The program is never the topic. The plan is never the topic.… Read the full article

The big squeeze

Try compression of details for PR leads

Embeddable tooth implants. Batman’s tax bill. Zombie slayers.

Like squeezing together a lump of coal to make a diamond, compression of details condenses fascinating facts into a passage that’s more than the sum of its parts.… Read the full article

Announcement leads delay the story

Don’t announce you’re announcing

When I was editor of an executive magazine, I received dozens of press releases every day.

This was back in the day when releases moved on paper, so I read them over the trash can, giving myself just a few seconds from the time I picked the release up off the stack to the time it hit the circular file.… Read the full article