For the longest time, article marketing and online press release distribution have been staples in just about every SEO campaign. These methods were very effective for increasing your search engine presence, getting you more links, driving traffic to your website, and increasing your name recognition and authority. But over the past year or so, Google has made some major changes to its algorithm that have put these time-tested tactics in jeopardy.
This leaves many people wondering: Is syndicating press releases online through various directories still an effective tactic? The answer: It can be, but you can’t take the same approach you’ve probably been taking. Here are 5 important things you need to know before syndicating press releases online.
- It’s all about quality writing — Google’s algorithm updates are typically about one thing: improving the quality of their search results. They’re trying to weed out the low-quality content and spammy sites from their search results. That means that what they want to see is quality content that is truly useful to the reader. In fact, many article directories and press release directories have increased their quality standards in an effort to earn back the trust of Google. This means that your writing needs to really be on point. No more cranking out tons of press releases without much attention to their quality. Less is more these days.
- Choose your press release directories carefully — Speaking of less is more, that goes for syndicating your press releases across directories as well. Rather than blasting your press release out to hundreds of press release directories, publish it on just 3-4 top quality, trusted directories instead. You don’t want to be associated with spammy directories, so choose carefully.
- “Spinning” content is a major no-no — Back in the day, it was a fairly common practice to “spin” articles and press releases — that is, to rewrite them slightly to make each of them unique. This practice will get you penalized for duplicate and spammy content now, and it can make you take a major hit in the search engine rankings.
- Don’t expect a lot of link juice — The truth is that a lot of the press release directories just don’t pass much link juice these days. In other words, you’re not going to see a huge spike in your search rankings from these links that you’re getting whenever your press releases are published. Now, that doesn’t mean the links are useless. They can still be effective for driving traffic.
- Send your press releases directly to reporters — Don’t rely solely on publishing your press releases online. Make sure you distribute them directly to reporters. This will give you the best chance of getting your story out there in a way that reaches more people and helps you from an online marketing standpoint as well.
What are your thoughts on using press release directories in this new age of Google?
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of the Beginner’s Guide to Writing Powerful Press Releases here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/beginners-guide-writing-powerful-press-releases/