New Search Engine Optimization Tool — For Press Releases!
Press releases have taken on a life of their own. They can be posted on the Internet, e-mailed, included in blog entries, complemented with podcasts, put out on RSS feeds and more…
We've talked about this before. But an announcement today from PRWeb highlights just how far the press release has come.
PRWeb, an online press release distributor, is making available to its clients a new search engine optimization tool — a wizard that will let communicators analyze their releases to see how they will score with search engines like Google and Yahoo! Here's how PRWeb describes it:
SEO Wizard's computer algorithm analyzes the keyword structure within press releases and provides users with reports that guide them in refining their press releases using the best keywords and phrases. These guides use keyword density analysis based on leading search engine technologies. We then provide related terms and phrases that users can substitute for higher performing results.
I like PRWeb and what it's doing to bring the press release into the modern era. I interviewed PRWeb Executive Vice President Mick Jolly about some of these issues in Episode 5 of my Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast.
This search engine optimization announcement, however, tells me that the idea of making news (in the form of press releases) directly available and searchable by the general public is gaining even more momentum than I had imagined. This, in turn, suggests the public is indeed interested in what press releases have to say.
And that says a mouthful about the future of journalism and PR.