Not to long ago, press releases were written to entice journalists to write a story about the subject of the release. If you didn’t effectively pitch the story, that was the end of it. The story wasn’t published. But in our modern technology-driven world, press releases are no longer written solely for editors. Now they are often submitted online and made available for search engines and the general public. That being said, are press releases still useful?

Yes, of course. The primary difference in the online press release market is competition for exposure. There are so many ways to different ways to get press releases published. Some publish it on their own site, hoping for the best. Others submit it to press release directories. Some distribute it via feeds online. And others have it distributed to the many reporters, editors, and bloggers in their particular nitch. With so many ways to publish your press release and that much competition, you need to be certain to write highly focused and targeted copy. Because if your press release is poorly written then nobody is ever going to read it. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

If you want people to link to your press release, to blog about it, to publish stories about it, then you’d better be sure your press release doesn’t suck. Now you’re probably wondering…what makes a press release suck? The short answer: Selling something. If you are selling something—anything—nobody is going to read your press release. Why not? Because, nobody wants to be told to buy something. People don’t like being begged or manipulated. Save the selling for your paid advertisements. News editors and readers don’t want whatever it is you’re selling. They just want news.

How to you send a press release out about your new product to get people to buy your product? Well, you don’t. What you should be doing instead is looking for another angle to market your product less directly. Sometimes you have to create these ways. You can write around the product by talking about something related, without directly selling your product.

Let me give you an example, if you run a donut shop you shouldn’t talk about your new double chocolate glazed donut. You could write a better story about how you gave away 1000 donuts to your local school in during reading week, to celebrate the importance of literacy. In this release, you could of course mention the product and the business. Of course you’d actually have to give away those donuts.

Now, lets get back to the actual goal of press releases in search engine marketing, which is increasing organic exposure. Traditionally, the goal of press releases was to get them published and read. The goal of press releases in SEO marketing, however, is to have them found in search engines, get them read, and build back links for your business.

To accomplish these tasks, you have to write something that people want to read, using terms that people are searching for and present it in such a way that people want to link to it, which makes your job even harder now. So how is it done?

1. First focus on creating a compelling headline—preferably using a target keyword if possible.

2. Write a well-formed release—with proper grammar. Be sure to use quotes and establish the who, what, where, when, and why.

3. Focus on your keywords and links. Just writing a compelling and interesting release, isn’t enough, you need to mention your target keywords for search engine purposes.

4. Get the release out there. There are many press release distribution services out there—so use them. Publish them all over and hope they get picked up and republished.