Press Release and SEO

I only write a press release when I have a genuinely newsworthy story — something a journalist would cover without being paid. A product launch with real market impact, original research with proprietary data, or a strategic partnership. If the announcement is weak, I skip the release and invest the time elsewhere.

Once I have a story, I write using the inverted pyramid. The headline and first paragraph must answer who, what, when, where and why it matters. That is the part journalists scan, and it is also the part Google uses to form the title link and snippet. I choose one primary keyword that matches the announcement. For a B2B SaaS company launching a client dashboard, the keyword might be "real-time client reporting dashboard" — not "best software". I weave it into the headline and first sentence, then let the rest of the release flow naturally.

I publish the release on my own site before sending it anywhere. That owned page gets NewsArticle structured data, a clear URL, and a link to the relevant landing page — usually a product or feature page. The owned release becomes a permanent asset that can appear in Google News and in universal search results. I then identify 10–15 journalists who have covered similar launches or the company before, and I send a personalised pitch, not a mass blast. If the story is strong, a few will cover it, and those editorial mentions often include contextual links.

I worked with a client last year who launched a dashboard feature. Their owned press release page ranked for the feature name within two weeks. Three tech blogs wrote about it — two linked directly to the feature page, one to the homepage. Over three months, branded search queries increased by 40%. Referral traffic from those three articles totalled 1,200 sessions. Meanwhile, the wire service I had also used (PRWeb) generated 47 visits from syndicated pages, all with bounce rates above 90%. That confirmed my rule: the owned page and the editorial pickups drive the real SEO value; syndicated links are noise.

I treat the press release as one part of a wider [digital PR](/digital-pr/) strategy. It is not a standalone tactic. If the story is good, it can also feed into [building backlinks](/building-backlinks/) through journalist outreach. But I never start with the goal of links — I start with the goal of coverage.

Don't treat a press release as a link-building shortcut. Syndicated links from wire services rarely pass SEO value. Many are nofollow, and the few dofollow links sit on low-authority syndication pages that Google may devalue or ignore. Worse, a pattern of syndicated release links across dozens of domains can look like a link scheme and attract manual action.

Avoid keyword stuffing. If your headline reads "New AI Tool for Small Businesses Launches to Help Small Businesses with AI", a journalist will delete it and a search snippet will look spammy. Write the headline for a human reader, then check that your primary keyword appears once in the headline and once in the first paragraph. That is enough. Supporting terms can appear later where they make sense.

Don't use weak announcements. A logo refresh, a minor product update, or a new hire is not press release material unless the hire is a known industry figure. If you would not pitch it to a journalist, do not write a press release. The effort of writing, optimising, and distributing is better spent on a blog post.

Don't overload the release with links. One or two contextual links to relevant landing pages are fine. A list of links in the boilerplate or footer suggests the release is promotional. Keep links lean and always link to the most relevant page — not the homepage. Use descriptive [anchor text](/anchor-text/) that matches the page's topic, but avoid exact-match keywords if it reads unnaturally.

Don't ignore structured data. Without NewsArticle schema, Google may not recognise the page as a news item. I add the NewsArticle type with properties for headline, datePublished, author, and image. This helps the release appear in Google News and in rich results. I also make sure the page is mobile-ready: many journalists read pitches on phones.

One edge case: if you have original research with unique data — a survey of 1,000 consumers, for example — the press release can earn editorial links from news outlets that write up the findings. In that scenario, the link value can be high, but only if you do the outreach. The release alone, even with data, will not generate coverage sitting on a wire service. The decision rule I use: if a journalist would cite the data without being asked, then I invest in the press release and the outreach.

Even with a good story, be careful about your [backlink profile](/backlink-profile/). Syndicated links from low-quality sources can dilute your link equity. I check the domains where my release appears using a [backlink strategy](/backlink-strategy/) review, and disavow any that look like spam. The owned page and the editorial mentions are the only parts of the campaign I want in my profile.

I used to think press releases were a quick way to get backlinks. In my first SEO role, I wrote releases stuffed with keywords and sent them to every wire service I could afford. I tracked the number of syndicated links and felt smug about the count. None of those links ever moved a ranking. They were on blogs that no one read, with anchor text that screamed optimisation. I wasted thousands of pounds on distribution packages that delivered zero measurable SEO impact.

What changed my mind was a campaign where I skipped the wire services entirely. I wrote a release about a genuine company milestone — a funding round — and published it on the company blog with NewsArticle schema. Then I spent the distribution budget on a coffee meeting with three journalists. Two of them wrote articles, and one linked to the release. That single editorial link drove more referral traffic than all my previous wire service releases combined. I realised the release itself was not the link asset; the owned page was, and the coverage was the real prize.

I also changed my mind about structured data. I used to think schema was optional for press releases. Now I add it every time. Without it, Google may treat the page as a standard blog post and miss the chance to show it in news-rich results. I saw a release with schema appear in the Top Stories carousel for its primary keyword for three weeks. That generated 4,000 extra page views. Schema costs nothing to implement and the potential upside is huge.

Another mistake: I used to write headlines that targeted high-volume keywords unrelated to the announcement. For a product launch, I would try to rank for "best CRM software" instead of the actual product name. The headline was irrelevant to journalists and the release attracted the wrong kind of traffic. Now I optimise for the announcement topic, not for a broad term I cannot realistically rank for. The release's job is not to rank for competitive terms — it is to be found by people searching for the news itself.

I still get tempted by cheap syndication packages. But I force myself to run the numbers: £300 for a basic wire distribution could instead buy me an hour of a freelancer's time to pitch journalists. The hour almost always yields more value. If you find yourself thinking about press releases as a [seo link building](/seo-link-building/) tactic, step back. They are an [off-page seo](/off-page-seo/) tool for exposure, not for links. Use them that way and you will get the benefits without the disappointment.