SEO Content Solutions

Would gaining media visibility improve your sales? The answer is most likely a resounding yes! In this post I’ll show you 4 simple things that people I know are using to gain more media visibility. The best part is that each of these things could easily be tackled over the weekend, yet the results could bring you the exposure you need to grow your business for years to come.

Create a Video Reel

Television and radio media reps want to know that you’ll look and sound great on the air - and that you know your industry. To showcase these, online reputation management specialist Kent Campbell created a video reel and published it on YouTube. The guy is well spoken, funny, sharp and has a great voice. But who would know if they only “read” his content online? Kent set up an interview where he answered some of the most commonly asked questions about online reputation management. The result - an offer to appear on television from a major network.

If video is your bag, you’ll want to learn all you can about video marketing from Gary Vaynerchuk - this guy’s a rockstar!

Show (Not Just Tell) Your Expertise Online

Chris Hanisco, founder of The Dippy Chick, has been approached by several media networks. How did they find her? Through her active participation in the Start Up Nation online forum. Chris wasn’t trying to bait the media - she was just doing what she loves to do - helping other entrepreneurs solve their problems. However, when a major network browsed around Start Up Nation in searh of mom entrepreneurs, Chris’s name, face, and obvious level of experitise was prevalent throughout the community. 

An About Page with a Human Interest Angle

Interviewers are always interested in tying in a personal interest story to their pieces - that’s what makes a story interesting! When the media scouts followed the links from Start Up Nation back to Chris’s ‘About’ page, they learned about the fascinating story behind her business. People want to interview people - not companies. Yet it’s amazing how many company’s ‘About’ pages don’t even include the names of the people behind the business, let alone photos or compelling stories. Your ‘About’ page isn’t just for the media - in my opinion, a compelling ‘About’ page can be one of your most persuasive sales pages.

Publish an Online Press Room

A journalist often knows what type of industry expert they need to interview to enhance a particular story. They will often search the ‘About’ pages of various websites in search of an expert to interivew. Why not take things a step further by creating an online press room with everything that a journalist would need? Your online newsroom might include things such as:

• Executive bios
• Headshots of key people
• A history of the company
• Quotes from the company founders
• News story angles
• Frequently asked questions (from the POV of the media)
• Your most recent press releases

For a daily dose of smart publicity ideas, check out Annie Jenkins. Her regular emails always get my brain turning with new publicity ideas.

I write and distributed scores of press releases for clients every week without problem. But one that I recently wrote for my own company SEO Content Solutions was rejected by almost half of my regular distribution points.

It appears that the press release titled SEO Copywriting Expert Reveals Secrets to First Page Results hit too close to the truth and didn’t sit well with many PR distributors.

Some made it to the news, but nearly as many as usual.

SEO’s are a group that people love to hate. PR distributors are just another group that can’t stand us – with good reason though.

When advertisers flood the submissions with keyword-spammy ads disguised as press releases, it devalues the integrity of news.

Further, these press release distributors have the privilege of their content appearing on Google News because they have been approved as newsworthy content providers. Start letting lots of advertising through, and they could lose that privilege.

This press release wasn’t spammy or full of advertising lingo. Instead, it was a little too true. In the hands of advertisers that care more about optimizing for search engines as opposed to optimizing for humans, this type of information could cause a nightmare for PR distributors.

As someone who values information more than advertising, I understand this. When writing press releases for SEO, follow the advice in my rejected PR:

“For a press release to truly be successful, it’s critical that it be focused around providing useful information for human readers. Distributing press releases that don’t offer a real value to your target audience is a waste money and effort.”

The people that get them absolutely love them. Even I was surprised at first at their impact on the SERP’s.

Press Releases

When optimized for search engines (and of course for humans as is my motto) press releases have a bold presence in the search results. Not only that, but they are a great way to build valuable backlinks.

I’ve spent the last 6 months analyzing scores of press release distribution points to find those with the most value. There are quite a few free press release distribution points that may not give you the wide exposure of a resource like PR Web with its extensive contact list, but that do offer live links, anchor text, images, first page visibility on Google News and sometimes first page exposure on the organic results.

One of my favorite free press release resources is Open PR. The use of images really makes the release stand out in the SERPs.

Here’s a press release that I wrote that took 5 of the top 10 slots on Google’s main search page.

So if you’ve been procrastinating on sending out press releases – stop! Most of the companies I work with publish anywhere from 1-4 press releases a month like clockwork and love the effect.