Google has recently been touting that press releases are no longer relevant. They say that they do not matter in reference to keywords and back links. Therefore, says Google, there is no real purpose for having them written and published any longer. While press releases may not be the appropriate tools for keywords and back links they once were, there are still numerous reasons for using them.
It Keeps Your Brand Out There
Anything that mentions your brand in a favorable light is a good thing, and press releases serve that purpose perfectly. If you put out a press release for every major happening at your company then you will be able to keep your brand in the media, even if in a very small way.
It Makes You Look More Professional
If a consumer types in a search and sees multiple press releases from your company they will assume you have a lot going on. This, in turn, can make even the smallest business look more professional and thus, desirable.
It Makes Pitches Easier
While it is an extremely rare event that a journalist will see your press release and decide to do a write up about it, press releases do make pitches to journalists easier. If you are writing a pitch to a specific journalist, a press release is an invaluable tool. It gives the journalist all the information they need in a single click, and makes your chances of being covered that smallest bit higher. Do keep in mind that you should always use a hyperlink when sending a press release. Many journalists (as well as other professionals) will not open up a message that contains attachments for fear of viruses.
It Associates Relevant Keywords With Your Brand
While press release may not have the keyword power they once did, they are still able to associate relevant keywords with your brand. Let’s say, for example, that you have just come out with a line of holiday tutus. In your press release you have used relevant keywords such as ‘holiday line,’ ‘holiday tutus,’ ‘children,’ and ‘holiday colors.’ These keywords will now be associated with your site, which helps the search engines to better direct virtual traffic to your site.
It Gives You More Opportunities To Feature In The Search Engines
This last one is fairly obvious and ties in with several of the benefits previously mentioned here. The bottom line is that publishing press releases gives you a greater number of opportunities to feature in the search engines. Anything that can help your site or company be discovered by the millions of internet users on at any given time is a good thing.
In short, press releases are still a relevant marketing tool, even if it is not for the reasons they were originally used for. It is extremely inadvisable to do away with these marketing tools if you’d like your business to become successful.
