Press releases need to be newsworthy and engaging to grab the attention of publishers, but they also need ‘clickability’ as well. Adding backlinks in press releases that add value for audiences not only gives your releases clickability, but also helps boost your content visibility and drive traffic to your website.

What are backlinks in press releases?

In the digital world, SEO is a really important aspect of your PR and marketing strategy. You’ll want to gain backlinks as part of your strategy.

And simply put, backlinks are one website providing a link to another. This link serves to strengthen the SEO of the page that it links to.

A good way of securing backlinks is to place them in press releases that are distributed by online publications. However, gaining backlinks from publications isn’t always easy because it depends on their link policy.

Here are a few tips for using backlinks in press releases:

• Add hyperlinks within the body of your news releases – connect to your home page, a blog or report, or even a landing page for a download.
• Make sure that the words you hyperlink actually describe the page you are linking to, or what’s in the content you’re linking to. For example, here we are linking to Allott and Associates home page – B2B PR and marketing consultancy.
• If you’re referring to research, use the name of the research document as your link text.
• Avoid linking words such as ‘click here’ or ‘find out more here’ – context is important.
• Make sure what you are linking to is relevant to your audience/the audience of the publication you are sending your press release to – it stands more chance of being included that way.
• And remember that links are considered stronger when they are contextual. So, they’re more valuable when you have them in the body of your press release rather than at the end.

Journalists can and will remove or edit your backlinks, so there’s no guarantee. However, following the above tips gives them the best chance of being used.

Why are backlinks so important?

Because Google looks at a backlink like a recommendation that the page being linked to offers valuable content and information. So, it moves the page higher in search results meaning yours is more visible. There’s lots of information online about what backlinks are and how to get them.

Can you ask journalists for backlinks?

Journalists will include backlinks if they work for their publications and readership – and it’s sometimes their call. But most likely decided by the publication’s link policy. And these policies differ.

If your backlinks are included, its never a given, but rather a bonus.

It really helps to build good relationships with journalists so that you can understand how their publications work, and what they want and don’t want so you can present releases and pitch stories in the right way. This is where we come in. We have established relationships with journalists and understand the media landscape so we know what will work, what won’t and when to ask and when not to ask!

We ensure that we include relevant backlinks in all of the press releases we create and distribute for clients to give them the best possible chance of backlink success.

Please call us on +44 (0)1423 867264 or +44(0) 207 257 2017 to find out how we can help you with backlinks in press releases as part of your digital marketing and SEO strategy.