WEBMASTER RESOURCES

How to Write a Press Release for the Web

2008-10-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Optimized press releases will rank higher in search engines

Self-promotion is an important factor for the success of a business. One way to achieve this is through properly written and promoted press releases. The first thing you should ask, before writing press releases, is when it is appropriate to use them. A news release can be used, for instance, when you win an award, introduce new products or services, open a new office or sponsor an event. The press release aims to connect with the media and is usually the first expected form of communication with the media.

Writing press releases comes with a number of benefits:

Free publicity. If your press release is deemed newsworthy by the editors of the websites you submitted it to, then it may be published, which means free advertising for you.
Improvement of your search engine rankings. The more links you have that point in the direction of your website, the better your rankings will be.
Keepin your business fresh in the minds of your customers.

Tips

Make it newsworthy. When writing press releases you should always bear in mind that you need to give the media a story, not an advertisement. Most journalists are not interested in your latest products or services unless they are truly revolutionary. They are looking for information that is of importance and of value to their readers. If you can find such an angle, your chances of getting coverage will greatly increase.
Keep it short. Try to concentrate what you want to say in one or two pages at most to make it easier to read.
Stick to the facts. Avoid exaggerations and embellishments. Be honest. If your story sounds too good to be true, then you may end up hurting your own credibility.
Use only enough words to tell your story. Do not use unnecessary adjectives or flowery language.
The less jargon the better. You will need a bit of jargon if you want to optimize the news release for online search engines; however, it is best to communicate your news by speaking plainly, using ordinary language.
Do not address your target audience directly. Avoid using "I", "we" and "you" outside a direct quotation, or else your copy will look like an advertisement rather than a news release.

Online press release structure

Header. When writing press releases for online distribution, the header consists of the following line: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
Headline. The headline needs to be catchy yet informative. It should be placed a few lines below the information in the header and written in bold type. Do not write in all CAPS, because many online news services will not accept a title in all CAPS.
Dateline. None of your press releases should be sent without a dateline. The dateline is usually placed either under the header and before the headline or at the beginning of the press release body, along with the city and state/country.
Press Release Body. The first paragraph (the lead) of the press release body should answer the questions of who, what, when, where and why. The second paragraph of the body should elaborate on the news and provide further details. Continue discussing various aspects of your company’s or site’s news in short paragraphs.
Boilerplate. You should include a boilerplate, which should remain the same on every news release you send, with a short description of who you are and what you do.
Contact Info. Provide your contact details so that you could be reached in case someone wants more information. They should be ordered like this, each on its separate line: Contact Info, Contact Name, Company Name, Mailing Address, City/State/Zip or City/Country, Phone, Email, Web.

Optimizing your press release

Always remember when writing press releases to use a language that is compelling to both humans and “machines” (software) that use sophisticated algorithms to determine the meaning and subsequent categorization of the release. Optimized press releases will rank higher in search engines.

In order to optimize your press release, the first step you should take is to select those keywords relevant to your field of activity. Choose your keywords efficiently before you begin placing them in a keyword-rich content. Don't forget that keyword density should be no more than 5% - 7%.

Placing your keywords in header tags is also relevant. Most important is H1, followed by H2 then H3. Try to add keywords in you press release copy and also include text links on your keywords.

How to promote press releases

You have written and optimized your press release for search engines. All you have to do now is to put it on your website and add a link to it on an already indexed page and the search engines will find it. Another way to promote press releases is to send them by e-mail to website editors. Even more efficient is to submit your news releases to online press release services, such as Business Wire, PR Newswire and PRWeb .

Retailers Panic Over Google Site Search

2008-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Display of competing ads draws complaints

Google made it easier for people to search within a small number of sites by adding a second search box to the top results for those retailers.

That second box takes advantage of the useful search operator, site:. The site: operator allows the searcher to limit results to a query to ones coming from a specific domain.

Many people may not be aware that they can type something like site:example.com and focus their search results this way. Google's latest project, focused on a handful of popular sites, brings up the second search box so someone using it automatically searches within the domain in question.

It isn't being as warmly received as Google may have anticipated. The New York Times discussed the feature, and a couple of retailers complained about Google doing in its search results what Google does best: stick text ads next to them.

The publishers and retailers who Google tapped as worthy of a dedicated search box within their sites apparently became horrified to see ads for competitors popping up alongside the site: operator results.

Though Amazon.com had been one of the initial sites gifted with the second search box, it's since been removed. The Times suggested Amazon.com requested this. Jewelry retailer Ice.com isn't part of the program, but they already told the Times they want no part of it.

The issue demonstrates the strength, and the vulnerability, of Google's first big revenue stream. They allow advertisers to buy competitor keywords. Though Google's AdWords policies restrict the display of competitor keywords, a highly placed ad could be enough to take people away from the site they searched for to a competitor with a nicer landing page and a better deal.

Utah nearly killed competitor keyword usage with a bill called the Trademark Protection Act. The bill would have required the creation of a database of registered keywords that search engines would have to check, and avoid presenting competing ads to searchers.

Fierce lobbying resulted in tweaks to the bill that removed the offending competitor keyword language. Businesses that hate the practice will be keeping an eye on Google to see if the search ad giant has dropped a second search box into their results.

Your Quickest Way to Success With Ezine Advertising

2008-09-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

An ezine is an online newsletter. They are used to share news, updates and promotions. They are a great way for webmasters to generate traffic to their site and keep in touch with their visitors.

Generating traffic to your site through an ezine is not that complicated. Most, if not all, ezines accept third party advertising. What that means is Joe Smith has an ezine relating to car maintenance. You are selling a new car polish that will protect the finish of your car. You place an ad in Joe Smith’s car maintenance ezine. This will also help Joe (the ezine owner) to offset the cost of operating his ezine as well as give him an additional source of income.

You can choose to place an ad for your website, product or service in the ezine. You can place different ads in different ezines. If this is done right, you will generate loads of traffic to your site.

You should place your ads in ezines that are related toward your specific niche. Be as specific as you can to narrow the possibilities. To use the above example, let’s say your car polish is used on vintage cars to restore their original color and shine. Would you then place your ad in an ezine for the new 2009 sports car or an ezine relating to car restoration? By narrowing your target audience, you will get the most for your money.

Try browsing sites in your niche to see which ones run an ezine. You can also do a search on Google. Try searching for: “your keyword + ezine” (ex: “car restoration+ ezine”). Once you have a list of possible sites, you can start to narrow it down to find the most targeted one as well as to compare prices and the number of subscribers.

There are various pricing options for these ads. Some things to take into consideration might depend on the niche or the number of subscribers. There are also different prices based on where your ad is placed.

Most ezines will have several options on where to place your ad. They may have one at the top, another in the middle and then when down at the bottom.

The best (and most expensive) is the solo ad. As the name implies, this is “one” ad. This will be the only ad the readers will see. This means great exposure for you. Because of this, you want to create an effective ad.

One way to do this is to subscribe to the ezine yourself and read through a few issues to get a feel of its style of writing. Then you can construct an ad to reflect on that style and match the tone and message it is trying to convey. The words you choose for your ad will determine the success of your ad, so plan on taking some time to construct it.

One last thing, track your ads carefully. You will want to test and keep track of which ezines are getting you the best response. Play around with your ad and see what kind of results you get. Only by testing will you see which ads are bringing in the traffic and which ads are wasting your time and money.

Avoid These Major Mistakes When Promoting Your Sites!

2008-09-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

There are some website owners who include the names of some of their competitors, especially the popular ones in their websites. This is actually not advisable for every website owner as the competitors may take legal actions against you. Previously, it was fairly a common practice to do so in order to direct other people into your website while searching for your competitors. However, this is not useful anymore nowadays and you will get into deep trouble if you do so.

Meta tags are commonly misused by irresponsible website owners as they put the names of the competitors in the Meta tags. How do you actually use Meta tags to the optimal level for promoting your website without abusing it?

Title Tag- it is the first tag of your website. Title tag is one of the most critical factors influencing your website rank by search engines. The title should be descriptive and it is desirable to include your keywords in the title. The length should be approximately between 10 to 60 characters, although there is no harm of getting a longer title. However, search engines may ignore the longer part.

Meta Description Tag- this is the description of your website and briefly what your website does. Here, you should include the keywords although not excessively. The summary should be short, concise and does not confuse the readers. Apart from the title, this is the most important part that visitors will look at the first instance from the search results.

Meta Keywords Tag- although this type of tag is becoming less important for search engines such as Google, but it is still worth the effort to get this working. It is believed that the Meta keyword tad can help with search engine optimization process. The keyword tags should be short, about 4 to 10 keywords in length. The keywords are to be listed with commas and it is desirable for the keywords to correspond to the target major search phrases. Take note that the keywords must appear in the context or else you may be penalized for irrelevance.

Meta Robots tag- there are four types of Meta robots tag. All of these help to specify the crawlers sent by the search engines. - Index, Follow- the main page is the starting point followed by the rest of the pages in a website

- Index, NoFollow- crawling only on the main page

- NoIndex, Follow- crawling on pages apart from the main page

- NoIndex, NoFollow- none of the pages are crawled and thus your website is not indexed by the search engines.

It is not very difficult to optimize your Meta tags and there is no need to abuse the Meta tags. Abusing Meta tags by putting in the names of the competitors will not only get your website into trouble, but you as the owner as well. Even today, there is lawsuit filed against such action. This will not only destroy your website, but wastage of time and effort. Thus, do not resort to such tactics and stick to the legal actions.

How to Quickly Find Out Who's Linking to Your Website

2008-09-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

Who's linking to you online?

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with backlinks.

Find Out Who's Promoting You All Over the Web - In Just 2 Minutes!

The Strategy First (first things first)

As you begin marketing your online business, you will want to know if it's really working. You've probably read about how link trades and resource pages work. You can contact other "similar" businesses to request a link exchange. You will link to them and in return, they will link to you.

It's a free, easy way to begin driving traffic to your site. Several years ago, I started my business with no promotional funds - just hands, feet, and a computer!!! :-) I really had no knowledge of web promotions and neither did anyone else.

Online, it works just as well - maybe even better since your website isn't sitting on a literal highway with traffic of cars driving by.

2 Key Ways to create word of mouth about your website

1. Contact similar sites to yours for a link exchange.

Develop a plan that will be consistent and continual. I still exchange links with other sites even though I have many linking to my site already. There are always new sites to partner with. The Internet is constantly moving.

Be sure to have a "links" or "resources" page ready BEFORE contacting your potential partners. This will allow you to show them where their link will be placed. *PACK* your "links" page with significant content, links to your own site pages, and HTML keywords that will drive visitors to your page

Submit the page to the major search engines

You can use the free service at: http://www.submitexpress.com/

Make it a point to contact so many potential partners per day.

Find the most targeted sites you can find that will reach your potential customers.

You may want to contact at least 5 people per day to build a steady stream of contacts - or more when you're able.

You can set your own goals based upon your time availability.

2. Provide lots of relevant content within your site

This is one thing that has made my website a success - content! I would have to say it's the major avenue of my promotions because most of my traffic comes through others linking to my various pages and search engines linking to various pages within my site (articles, tutorials, resource pages, etc.).

If you can make it a goal to add at least one new web page per week to your site that goes well with your product, theme or site goal, you will have 52 pages at the end of the year. There's a lot of "linking" potential with 52 pages, wouldn't you say??

Not great at writing content?

No problem! You can find web content writing services who will write unique content for you at very reasonable prices. Check out our own web content writing service at ..

How to get content for your website

These two avenues of promotion will build traffic to your site if you are consistent with your efforts. I must say - it's worth it!

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about backlinks. But don't be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

*** Now - the FUN Part!!! I bet you thought I would never tell...

As you promote your site using these avenues, there's a quick way to find out who's linking to your website or in other words, who's promoting your site free by word of mouth!! This tool is free - but not many people know it's available.

Simply go to the search engine Alta Vista at the link provided below:

http://www.altavista.com/

Next, type in the phrase below at the search box... (Note: substitute the letters "abc" with your site name)

link:www.abc.com

After typing the phrase into the search box, click "find" to do the search.

The websites that appear should be the sites that are linked to yours.

It's that simple!!

Give it a try today in between chores to find out who's promoting your site by word of mouth. Keep checking back for increases in links as you contact other website owners and add content to your site.

A new development in finding who is linking to you, finding the competition. and doing something about it for success is available when you join these link partners. I am a member now and really happy I found this site!

Happy Hunting!!!

Now might be a good time to take down the main points you've learned about backlinks covered above. The act of putting it all on paper will help you remember the important facts about backlinks.

6 Web Design Tips to Grab Attention

2008-09-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

As every good website design specialist knows, a well designed web page is able to draw the focus of readers to the content, news and events that the client you are designing the page for specifies. Of the many methods that can be used to accomplish this, often the easiest and simplest method is to simply modify the size of headline font. Using a moderately larger font to highlight headlines is very useful for attracting the attention of readers. Newspaper and media companies understand this concept well, and a great web design company should too.

Using Typography to Capture Attention

Most website design specialists should be familiar with the idea of changing different aspects of the font used on a website in order to capture the attention of readers. It is important to note, however, that this does not mean making headlines as large as possible. There are some general guidelines concerning typography that every web design company should know and adhere to. Some of the more important ones are as follows:

Only emphasize the most important content. Having large fonts throughout the site makes it unattractive and will not successfully engage readers. A good web design company understands that only headlines that are of particular interest to customers should be highlighted. You should only highlight headlines that will make readers read the rest of the text because they really want to know more. You should also keep the font size at an acceptable level. Ridiculously huge font sizes are not attractive to readers at all.
Larger is a relative term. Having a headline with larger font means making the font larger than that used for the rest of the text. Make sure the headline font is not too much bigger than the normal text, because that would look ridiculous. Having a huge headline but text that a reader has to squint at to read is not likely to attract any positive attention.
Determine beforehand what font sizes to use and when. A good web design specialist gets the client to decide which headlines and titles should be highlighted through an increase in font size and also exactly what font size to use. You can then follow this standard throughout the duration of the project. Your web design company will benefit from this agreement, because it will allow you to properly refuse any last-minute requests from clients to change the font size of particular headlines or titles.

Font size is not the only aspect of fonts that can be varied in order to increase readership of the web page that you are designing. Changing other aspects of the font you use can also be effective. You can switch between fonts from the same family in order to highlight certain points or content. For example, using the font Sans-Serif for most of the page and using Serif, which is more striking, to highlight more important content. Other properties of fonts that can be varied are color, weight and style. Bold or italicized font is also attention-grabbing.

Fonts are not the only option to consider when trying to make parts of your website stand out and capture the attention of online readers. Modifying other aspects of the site can also prove useful in attempting to improve readership.
One word - pictures. Pictures are a universal form of communication and they are very effective at making your web page more interesting, holding the attention of readers longer.
Use different templates. Changing the way content, links and menus are arranged is a good way to keep readers interested in your site, instead of letting them become bored with a repetitive design.
Make use of animations. If a picture says a thousand words, then a moving picture says a million of them. Your web design company or your client may request that the site you make contain animations, which are even better than pictures at grabbing the attention of visitors to the site. Remember that animations take longer to load than normal web pages, however, and heavily animated web sites may take longer to load than the reader is willing to spend waiting.

By using the techniques that have been laid out in this article, capturing the attention of readers may seem like a relatively easy task. A good web design specialist must remember, however, not to overdo it. While it is all too easy to fill your website with all manner of colourful, oversized text, you must remember that the aim is to make certain points stand out. Also, you must learn to use your judgement in deciding the magnitude of emphasis awarded to different types of content. A sale definitely does not merit as much emphasis as a global conflict. Therefore it is in your best interests, and those of your web design company,to ensure that emphasis is given in proportion to the importance of the content.

Microsoft Unleashes Updated Webmaster Tools

2008-09-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

More crawl details provided to webmasters

Microsoft's Live Search behavior should yield more information to site publishers as the company took its Webmaster Tools out of beta and tweaked them with some new features.

Addressing the needs of webmasters, and doing it well, will contribute to the overall success of Microsoft's desires for Internet profitability. The company wants to compete with Google on search advertising, no small challenge now that Google has Yahoo locked up with a deal to place ads on Yahoo Search.

Things can change, and they do so by being responsive to the needs of one's customers. Microsoft recognized its need to reach webmasters with tools that make working with Microsoft's Live Search a better prospect.

It's taken Microsoft some time to ramp up and chase after Google, which published its Webmaster Central some time ago. Google tends to update that service regularly, and Microsoft followed suit with updates to its version of webmaster assistance.

Microsoft's Webmaster Tools present ways for people to reach out for more traffic and analyze it once they have arrived. An update noted on the Live Search Webmaster Center blog showed it leaving beta, bringing along some updated tools as well.

Webmasters need to know how well Live Search crawls their site. Microsoft hopes to shed some light on this by presenting "crawl issues" encountered during the spidering process. The feature shows which of four types of issues the Live Search crawler encountered:

File Not Found (404)
Blocked by REP
Long Dynamic URLs
Unsupported Content-Types

As grizzled webmasters can see, Microsoft is just starting to catch up with Google in this regard.

Microsoft also said they enhanced the tool that gives details on the backlink data for sites. A limited look at that information during the beta period for Webmaster Tools expanded to show more data about those backlinks.

Additional tweaks gave webmasters more options to filter data, and a download option to pull that data to the desktop in comma-delimited (CSV) format. It's a small step for Microsoft, one that the corporate masters overseeing the effort need to watch closely and ensure it receives continual updating to satisfy webmasters who are used to what Google provides.