Press Release Writing 101

Press release writing can be a powerful means of acquiring free exposure for your business through news coverage. A press release serves as a link between your business and a meaningful news event. And if picked up by an editor, your content can be disseminated to thousands of readers. Press release writing is done in a standard format and needs to be compact, concise and to the point. While the main purpose of writing a press release is to provide exposure for your business by virtue of news coverage, it can also have some SEO benefits as well. So, your press release writing should, to some degree, incorporate some of the principles of keyword optimization. The press release format consists of the following elements: 1. The first element of you press release is: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. This is the first line of your article and needs to be in uppercase. It informs the editor that the story can be released immediately. The majority of press releases are submitted for immediate release; however, if yours is not to be released until a later date, the line should read: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL: DATE 2. Next comes the headline. This is arguably the most important piece of the press release. Your headline should be a brief description of the content of the story. It should also be written in such a way that it grabs the attention of the reader. Editors receive dozens of press releases a week. If the headline is not good enough to persuade them to continue reading, they will more than likely just move on. 3. After the headline, write: City, State – Date. List the location of the event(s) that your press release entails. The date should be the same as the expected release date of the article. 4. Time for the body. This is where you tell the reader what the news entails. The body should be broken down into paragraphs. If your story is more than one page long, make sure you write 'more' at the bottom of the page. 5. After you've written the body of your article, your boilerplate should follow. Write a short 4-5 sentence paragraph in which you inform the reader about your business. Include a link to your website. A boilerplate only needs to be written once, and can be used for all of your press releases unless your company information changes or you write press releases for different companies. 6. Provide your contact information. This is the information that a reader can use to contact you. It should include your name, title, company name and website, phone number, and email address. 7. Lastly, end your press release with '###' to indicate the end. Once the press release is complete, it'll need to be distributed. But before you proceed with any distribution, ensure that you thoroughly proofread your article. Your credibility is on the line. Your press release writing should be free of any errors; otherwise, editors will simply not take you seriously. Savvy internet marketers understand the power of a well-crafted press release. And if done correctly, press release writing can provide your business with tremendous exposure through media coverage, as well as high placement on search engine result pages.

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