Increase online traffic with a press release

Press releases done correctly, can be a very effective way to generate traffic to your website. Imagine a news article about your business and yourself in the local or a national newspaper, think of the interest it will create and you dont have to pay a cent for the exposure.

Before you start there are some basics you have to prepare

1. You must have some news to write about. If not, create something newsworthy and then write a press release. Now then, what is newsworthy?

• Charity event – raise funds for charity
• Contest to highlight an aspect of your field
• New product or service that can benefit others
• problem – and you came up with a solution.

2. A press release must be written in an informative manner, avoid writing a promotional like press release. Try to write your press release without any hype. Here are a couple of examples:

Wrong: “The solution to solve all of your problems!”

Right: “After dealing with her son’s chronic asthma for years, Miller wrote a book to help other moms who feel discouraged and frustrated…”

3. Your press release must be formatted correctly if you hope to have it read by an editor. The media receives thousands of press releases each day. If yours is formatted poorly or filled with typos, it will likely be tossed aside.

Benefits of a press release?

Not only does a press release give you the opportunity to have your business (and URL) mentioned in front of a large crowd, but, when it does work, it adds legitimacy to your business as well. You aren’t viewed by the readers as someone who paid to have their ad in the paper. You are considered valuable enough to be interviewed as a resource for their readers. That adds a lot of credibility.

Press Release Resources

Here a list of online resources where you can realease your news. This is just a short list of 15 sites, try the Search Engines for more media resources.

• http://www.prweb.com/
• http:///#%20www.prnewswire.com
• http://www.betanews.com/
• http://www.free-press-release.com/
• http://www.looselycoupled.com/
• http://www.bizeurope.com/
• http://www.pressreleasespider.com/
• http://www.npr.org/
• http://www.prfree.com/
• http://www.ap.org/
• http://www.greatpossibilities.com/
• http://www.dime-co.com/
• http://www.thehostingnews.com/
• http://www.prurgent.com/
• http://www.theopenpress.com/

Start a Media page

Once you have been interviewed or highlighted in any media (online or offline), start a “Media Page” on your website to showcase your exposure. This will prove to any interested press that you are worth looking into. Include links to any online interviews, pdf copies of print interviews, and audio clips of recorded interviews.
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Bjorn is an online Marketer and author. Visit Internet SEO Marketing for SEO input and resources or Website Article Content for article marketing and reprint articles.