SEO | Content for Biz Inc.

SEO: Its Not Just for Websites

B2B public relations professionals who are strictly focused on maximizing opportunities with traditional journalists are missing an opportunity to drive traffic to their websites with press releases.

Online press releases can be optimized for search, just like your website. Carefully craft your release utilizing those keywords you want to rank for. Include keywords in anchor text and you will drive traffic to your site. Consider linking back to relevant content rather than simply your home page. Place the link as close as you can to the beginning of the release. Remember to include your keyword in your headline.

Distributing press releases online allows you to expand your influence beyond B2B trade journalists, to a growing audience of industry bloggers, investors, and potential employees through search engines and other online news sources. Make your press releases shareable by including social network sharing buttons and posting press releases on blogs and other B2B online communities.

Many PR distribution services have a limit on keywords, so avoid keyword stuffing. Remember to include at least one complete hyperlink back to your website because some news sites do strip out active links. Hubspot offers a useful Press Release Grader to help you optimize the release for search. The Grader will test the readability of the press release, identify overused words, provide an analysis of links and more.

We’ve found success generating inbound links using press releases both for ourselves and our clients. A press release Content for Biz distributed earlier this year increased website traffic by 220 percent over the prior week.

If you are in a larger organization, work with your marketing team to be sure you have the right keyword terms for your business. Share your success with us.

What Writers Can Do to Make Online Content Findable

In print, writers use headlines and subheads to help readers quickly decipher what a page is about. Online, hierarchical XHTML tags serve the same purpose, only with an added twist. They let search engines know what a web page is about. As a content writer you can help your website content get found, by ensuring it is coded with the right hierarchical XHTML tags: <title> <h1> <h2> starting with the most important <title> tag and working down.

<Title> Tags Are Most Important to Search Engines

Title tags are the most important element on the web page for search engines. Search engine robots pull the contents of your <title> tag from your page and identify it as the most important information in the search result. Since many potential visitors won’t know your company name, it is important to include a keyword FIRST, in the title tag, not your business or blog name.

Use <h1> Tags for Headlines and Blog Post Titles

The <h1> tag is another important tag that helps tell the search engine what the page is about. For the greatest effect, a content writers should include specific information about your web page in <h1> tags. Consider putting a tagline in an <h1> tag on your home page, but lower down in the hierarchy on interior pages. Use an h1 tag for blog post titles.

Use <h2>Tags for Subheads

Content writers break up blocks of text with subheads to make the reading easier and more inviting. Placing subheads in an <h2> tag provides an opportunity for the search engines to learn more about what is on your page. When possible incorporate keywords.

In WordPress, sidebar headlines are typically given an <h2> tag, but depending on their relevance to search, you may want to move them down the hierarchy.

To maximize your website for search engines, write each web page with a clear focus and use the hierarchy of tags to guide the search engines to your content. To see how your page is currently coded view your source code (right click on the web page and click “view source”) and evaluate how you might better optimize your blog or website.

In this example below, Itasca Construction uses the “Commercial Builder|Chicago, Illinois”, as the <title> tag for the company’s home page instead of the company name. If you are providing copy to a webmaster, clearly label the text you want for the <title>, <h1> and <h2> headings.

The title tag is “Commercial Builders|Chicago, Illinois”

Did you find this information helpful?

Even Small Mistakes Can Cause Problems for Local Search Rankings

I recently completed a Google search on a client’s business name and noticed that several listings on sites such as Merchant Circle, Yellow Pages and MacCrae’s Business Directory included an incorrect address. Still other listings were incomplete, providing little if any information about the client’s commercial real estate business.

It’s important that content on external sites is both accurate, informative and consistent. Mismatched name, address and phone data can cause confusion for search engines as well as humans. The end result will be lower rankings in local searches.

You can identify outdated information on pages throughout the web by searching for the old address or phone number on Google. Check through the results and and note the pages that need to be updated. Keep a record of sites where you are listed, so that if you do have a change, you know what sites need to be updated. Input your address and phone the exact same way in every listing. For example, if you spell out Avenue on one listing, don’t list it as “Ave.” on another listing. Make sure that the information is communicated to anyone who may be involved in securing links or listings for your company.

To avoid confusing the search engines, avoid using the same phone number with two Google places. A local phone number will help connect the business to a local market better than an 800 number. And finally, be sure to include a physical address somewhere on your website.

Local search is of increasing importance to many B2B marketers, but most companies have a lot of questions. We’re here to help you find the answers and increase your success in Internet marketing.