The internet has changed the way we write press releases.  Why? Because today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s birdcage liner, but the internet is forever.  As a result it is more important to me that a story work well in the on-line world.

While traditional press releases are often written leaving the reader wanting more, on-line releases are complete, written with an eye toward search.   Here are a four tips to improve your release:

Short Headlines.  – Google results display only the first 63 characters of each headline and with Twitter limited to 140 characters, you want to have room for the headline and the link in your Tweet.

Remember the human reader – Search is important, but you want the reader to stay when they arrive. Don’t miss the mark by writing copy that’s overly repetitive, spammy or unreadable.

More Short Topics – As releases age, they tend to drift lower in the search results. You will get more bang out of a campaign of several releases spread over a period of time rather than one single longer story. Multiple releases create multiple links to your site, more opportunities for people to find you.