When it comes to SEO, the fastest and best way to climb the search engine rankings is with lots of back links from relevant sites. Of course that may not exactly be breaking news for many of you.
What many people don’t realize however is that an ages old offline marketing tactic may be one of the best ways to get lots of the highest quality back links.
You see, Google and Yahoo both “weight” the strength of the link to you based on a wide variety of factors. Links from authority and news sites count for more than links from a “commercial” site. It is therefore better if you can get your site into the news … and linked to from a news article, than it is to simply buy links.
Further, and one thing that many people don’t realize is that google also tracks the click through of links. In other words, google considers a link that gets clicked on to be more “real” … and weights such a link heavier … than a link which is not clicked through. So, a link from a PR5 news site that people click through (because the article is flattering), is “worth more” in terms of aiding your google ranking than a link from a PR7 site that people largely ignore.
Therefore, using the “offline” technique of getting publicity about your site will be one of the single most valuable activities in your link building campaign.
Even better, links from news sites will drive your site up the rankings farther … and faster … than almost any other single thing.
Now, here’s the best thing about getting into the news … If you do get mentioned in a newspaper, you can count on a flood of visitors coming to your site and buying … and the numbers will be far greater than anything delivered by a search engine.
You’ll quickly discover that simply the mention of your site in a decent sized newspaper will bring you more sales than almost any other activity there is. This is why I find it so amazing that given the benefits to the search engines, and the benefits in terms of nearly instant sales, that so few webmasters and self-proclaimed SEO “experts” bother to perm any publicity gaining activities at all.
With that said, the first and most important thing to not do is to send out some dull, boring “press release” via PR Newswire or broadcast fax to every reporter in the nation. These things are almost never read, nor do they (except on a basis that makes playing the lottery look like good odds) result in a news reporter actually doing a story on you.
The reason for this is simple. People don’t care about you, your products, or what new thing you’re coming out with. Not only are those, but all the yammering about integrity aside, newspapers in business to make money. The only way that happens is when there are stories in the paper that people actually want to read.
That means that a journalist’s job is to write compelling stories that people will care about, or at least will enjoy reading. Journalists are paid (too little in my opinion) to take stories of occasionally only minor interest and turn them into great stories that people read.
Further, the job of the average journalist is exceedingly difficult as a result of the nasty deadlines they operate under.
So the first and most important thing that you can do in your efforts to get written about is to consider what you can do to make the reporters’ job easier (and again, one of those things is not to write a story for them).
One of the best ways is to actually consider what is really newsworthy, and then, sending out a press release that interest the reporter enough that they want to find out more.
Once that’s done, you’ll need to make it easy for the reporter to do their own research. Giving them links to prove your numbers, links to other relevant stories, links to outside objective opinions written about you, your company, and your products.
It also means that when a reporter calls, you’d better answer the phone (you, not your secretary … a reporter gets your direct line) … or if there is a very good reason for not answering, you’re calling back within 30 minutes. This last item is important (remember what I said about their deadlines) if you expect the reporter to actually write about you.
You see, because a reporter is working under such a wicked schedule, they need you. It is important for you to remember that if you want those top rankings, the traffic, and the sales, you need them as well.
The next thing you can do to make a reporters life easier is to tie your products in with the latest and most breaking news available. As an example, let’s say you manufacture a wrist protector. During a football game, a famous wide receiver breaks their wrist. You promptly send out a press release to sports writers about the break … and point out that had the player been wearing your protector the break wouldn’t have happened. In the release you let the reporter know you can give independent evidence of the veracity of your statements.
The thing you have to remember is that most reporters are deluged with press releases. If you want to be written about, your press releases have to stand out. It must tie in with current events or somehow tie in with basic human emotions (and remember the news axiom “if it bleeds it leads”).
If you want to be written about, be bold, be creative, be controversial, even better, be all three.
Will some people be “upset” about you being controversial? Maybe … probably even (hey, it isn’t controversial otherwise!). However, consider it a Good Thing. Stir the controversy, and while all of the whiners are wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth, you get to laugh all the way to the bank.
