How to Get to the Top of Google

As a precursor to this article, if you have not had a chance to get the eBook How to Dominate Google Search Results Using Press Releases, you need to get it. It is available on sale on Amazon.com for Kindle but you can get it here for free. I have been asked by customers if I can provide a step-by-step case study applying the strategies and techniques from the eBook and concretely show results. This article will show you how to get to the top of Google using press release marketing.

Case Study

The case study that we are going to use is a new company that I have a stake in called Press Credential, which is a journalistic entity that issues press passes. Keep in mind that this is the first press release sent for this company. As you send more press releases, you will gain higher ranks in Google search for the corresponding keywords.

I. Keyword Competition and Research

There is no point in optimizing for keywords that nobody is searching so I used the Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool to do keyword research. Click here for a video I made a while ago on how to do keyword research using the Adwords Keyword Planner Tool. I have decided the two keywords that I want to optimize for are “press credential” since this is the brand name and “press pass” since this is the search term that the audience will be using to find the service and it has a significant average monthly search volume.

II. Writing the Press Release

I made sure that I included my keywords in the headline, which is “Press Credential Rated #1 in Press Pass Authority”. It took me around 20 minutes to write the press release. I made sure I included my keywords and variations of the keywords in the press release body and linked some of those keywords to the website. You can read the press release here.

For the image, I went with a rectangular image showing the press passes. I highly recommend adding a photo or image to your press release, and if you have a video, be sure to include the YouTube or Vimeo link below the press release and that will get syndicated as well.

III. Sending out the Press Release

I sent out the press release using the Premium Press Release Distribution ($129).

IV. Checking the Results

I waited a bit for Google to index the syndicated websites that pick up the press release. Now, let’s take a look at the results.

Results

First Page of Google for “Press Credential”

It is on the first page of Google for “press credential” and even included the image that I used.

First Page of Google for “Press Pass”

It is on the first page of Google for “press pass”, which has 3,600 average monthly searches and if I advertised using Paid Search through Google Adwords, I would otherwise spend $2.39 for each click.

Disclaimer: Google highlights the latest news around the keywords so the results are time-sensitive but on average, a press release will stay on the top of Google search for several weeks or longer. I highly recommend sending a press release every week or 2 weeks and highlighting different search keywords around your industry to continue to stay on top of Google across all of the keywords within your industry.