I'd like to share with you a strategy for combining search engine optimization with online PR.

As you probably know, gaining inbound links to your website helps increase your search engine visibility. In fact, the age of a website and the number of links coming in are Google's top two criteria for ranking a site. There are even companies who perform link-building services full time!

So, let's look at a way to combine PR with link-building. It's called the optimized press release, and when done right it can give you direct exposure and search engine boost, all at the same time.

The Optimized Press Release
Did you know you can submit a press release online (with keyword-rich links to your website) for only $80? It's true, and it's a tactic I use about once a month for publicity, direct exposure, and yes ... SEO benefits.

I use and recommend PRWeb.com. You can submit a release there for free, and they'll allow you a link to your website. But if you do an $80 upgrade, you can hyperlink some of the key phrases within the body of your release. Remember, links to your website with key phrases in them are the brass ring of SEO.

When posting a release, pay close attention to the notes in the right column of the submission form. That's where they tell you the rules for headlines, summaries, body, etc. It's also where they tell you the linking formula.

PRWeb.com also has a rule about spreading your links out. Here it is verbatim: "To avoid having your release placed on editorial hold please limit your links to 1 link per 100 words of body text. This policy is in place to protect the link value of the links that you include in your release and the value of links within the PRWeb Network."

Value of an Optimized Press Release
We talked about the value of inbound links from other websites to yours. We also talked about how links with keywords in them outweigh links with only the web address. Well, when you publish a strong (newsworthy) release through PRWeb.com, it will be distributed all over the web to news sites, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. If you have links in the release, all of those websites are suddenly pointing to yours with keyword-rich hyperlinks!

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