Press releases used by marketers for SEO purposes

Marketers are increasingly using press releases for search engine optimisation purposes, to drive traffic to their website, a new report shows.

According to ROI of Online Press Releases, conducted by the Society for New Communications Research, new releases were once solely used to announce news but are now used as a public relations tool.

The study of 423 marketing professionals found that respondents’ main goal for using online press releases are to reach consumers directly, create online content and for search engine optimisation purposes.

Both traditional and new media emerged as the two most important audiences marketers hope to reach with their online press releases, followed by bloggers, business-to-business consumers and customers in the business-to-consumer sector.

Mihaela Vorvoreanu, one of the study’s authors, said: “The survey responses indicate that online distribution is changing the nature of press releases, repurposing them into news releases used equally by PR and marketing professionals alike as a communications tool to reach a multiplicity of audiences.”