This is the fourth post from a series of posts dealing with using press releases in your marketing efforts.

Let’s get started!

Using Keywords

When you are writing a press release, treat it just as if you were writing an article. Do your keyword research. Pick keywords that are frequently searched for, and relevant to your subject area.

Ideally you would like a keyword or keyword phrase that is searched for at least a few thousand times a month but doesn’t have too many competing sites which contain the same keywords.

Incorporate a keyword phrase in your headline, in your first paragraph, and a couple of times throughout the body of your press release, while making sure it does not interfere with the flow of your writing, of course. When people are searching for, say, dog training videos, or a book of cupcake recipes, or online businesses, they will go on the internet and type in keyword phrases like “dog training videos” or “cupcake recipes”, and if you have included the relevant keyword phrases in your headline and press release – that is how they will find you.

Compelling Headlines

The headline that you choose is very important. It should contain a good strong action verb and should succinctly describe your story. It should also contain a keyword phrase that you have come up with, which gets a lot of searches – at least a few thousand a month – and doesn’t have millions of competing sites which have the same keyword phrase in the title.

For instance, if you are creating videos about flattening your abs, a headline could be “Flat Abs Now: Personal Trainer Releases New Series Of Ab-Flattening Videos For Back Pain Sufferers”. Flat Abs and Ab Flattening would both be keyword phrases – although again, do your keyword research first to make sure that you are using highly searched keywords with ideally little competition.

Here is a list of commonly used action verbs in press release headlines:

Announces, Appoints, Unveils, Reveals, Presents, Launches, Promotes, Hosts, Upgrades, Expands, Provides, Introduces, Debuts, Offers, Improves, Selects, Reports, Supports, Joins Forces With, is Recognized For, Invited To, Prevents (illness, disaster), Recognizes, Awards, Is Presented With, Opens, Features, Reports, Honors, Visits.

In our next post we’ll discuss How to Write and Format a Press Release. Until then.