As a press release distribution company we’re obsessed with following Google and finding out the
best ways to optimize our service to benefit our clientele. We follow Google on a day to day basis and
constantly tweak our own approach to press release marketing to accommodate their constant changes.
We’ve found that with a little bit of research mixed with a lot of common sense figuring out their
algorithms IS possible.
With Google’s recent changes we’re getting a lot of concerned emails. The blog network crackdown has
people especially worried- Asking us if we submit to those types of networks and the chances that a
press release will end up on a network of that kind.
Of course we do not submit our press releases to blog networks and our press releases rarely end up
on those types of sites. Press releases tend to circulate within news sites and don’t see a lot of blog
networks while they pass through syndication. That isn’t to say they don’t end up on blogs relevant
to their niche, but when it comes to spammy, 3rd rate networks that are nothing more than huge link
building farms we keep our distance (and apparently rightly so)
Google has been warning the online community for years about this type of link building so it came as
no surprise to us when they finally cracked the whip (In our opinion it was long overdue). When it comes
to Google the best policy is to follow the rules, engage is legitimate, white hat marketing and with a little
hard work and perseverance Google will eventually reward you for it.
From a webmaster standpoint it doesn’t make sense to us how people consciously go against Google’s
web spam polices then gripe when it comes back to bite them in the ass. If you want to play the game
then you have to play by the rules.
The next change that Google made has to do with anchor text. Everyone is freaking about this because
they think anchor text in their press releases is no longer legitimate and Google is going to slap their
site if they engage in it anymore. We consider this to be a gross over-reaction to the recent update.
Google actually didn’t say that they were going to slap sites that engage in anchoring their keywords-
they simply said that they were going to weigh them differently, perhaps with less relevance, but even
that was not specifically stated.
We’ve found that the best way to use anchors in your press release is to simply use 2 deep links, both
linking to 2-3 word key terms relevant to your target niche, and both linked to internal pages within your
site. Then, at the end of your press release we suggest that you use one raw URL pointing back to your
main page- This is standard format in our service (the last URL part).
We offer four anchors and one raw URL in our press releases but from our experience that can be over-
kill, especially if all the anchored keywords point to the same webpage. Again, the best thing you can do
here is think internal pages. Google will weigh the first link in your press release with a certain amount
of relevance, then that relevance will decrease exponentially as it encounters the same URL listed (even
for different keywords) as it cycles down through the body of the press release.
We also suggest having your first anchor keyword be within the first 250 words of your press release.
When writing press releases for our clients we always try to follow this protocol.
It’s our honest assessment that Google is much smarter than most people give them credit for. One bad
link on a bad website isn’t going to kill your results in the search engines- That would be like a teacher
failing a student because of one bad grade on a homework assignment. Google weighs everything you
do, so as long as you’re “generally” good you’ll be rewarded for it.
I recently read an interview with Matt Cutts where he said a major bank submitted a back links report to
Google to check the relevance of their back links. It turned out that the service the bank hired gave them
shoddy back links on spam sites and Google counted NOT ONE of those links towards the strength of
their website- All of the links were completely thrown out.
This is why free press release sites and automated article submission software are so completely
useless. Google wants to see that your site has quality links going back to it. That is why those blog
networks hit the wall face first- they were playing with fire and they inevitably got burned.
When it comes to Google the formula is quite simple. You should think quality over quantity, engage
is all forms of marketing, keep your quality up, constantly put out fresh content, and you WILL be
rewarded for it.
To learn more about our services, or to order a professionally written press release with professional
level distribution, please visit: http://www.pressreleasemonkey.com/services
