SEO copywriting: ‘Press release, not news release,’ says Google Trends
There appear to be around three times as many people looking for press releases as new releases, reports one of Google’s latest gadgets, Google Trends. That suggests that press release is the term I should use if I want to attract people searching for someone who can write a news release. I certainly shouldn’t use media release as hardly anyone is looking for one of those. This will upset a few public relations practitioners, but it pleases me.
When I was studying for my post-graduate diploma, we were told that news release, not press release was the correct terminology (although media release is acceptable), because not all media use printing presses. Broadcasters, for example, might be offended. With many getting their news online, that’s never been more true. But we still set sail on ships that don’t rely on the wind. I think it’s wrong to play with language like this because old fashioned terms, like press release, remind us of our heritage.
So Google Trends is much more than a toy. Combined with keyword selection tools that examine real searches and suggest popular related terms, it should help copywriters optimise their work for search engines. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is increasingly about good copy that both machines and humans can read. Good, well search engine optimised copy, will use descriptive headlines, not puns, which some find sad. Key words may be used repeatedly, in the hope that search engines get the message, but not to such that copy ceases to be human readable.
In fact, a good SEO copywriter will produce work much closer to plain English than many suppose. And this shows that search engine optimisation is not something you can buy after your website has been built.
Google Trends is also a powerful tool for evaluating awareness of a business or brand. Take the search above which pitches Powergen against rivals npower.
You may need to click the graph to see it, but Google users are more likely to search for Powergen, in the red corner, than npower, in the blue. So it’s fair to assume that Powergen enjoys greater awareness among consumers than npower. And there’s more. Powergen is more likely to be mentioned in the news. Not that that is always good, as Google illustrates one spike with a link to ‘Powergen hikes gas prices by 24%’. All good stuff and all free.
Contact Stephen Newton
Comments (No comments)
There are no comments on this post so far.
Post a comment