TRAFFIC
So I’m not talking about that kind of
press release.
I have a very different process for dealing
with press releases.
My desired outcome
I want to have something interesting
which is newsworthy placed on as many
relevant ranking websites as possible.
In my case, it’s industry publications
and affiliate websites.
Instead of going to distribution hub
like PRWeb, I ask my online PR guy and
affiliate manager to reach out to websites
we have relationships with and pitch the
press release we’ve got.
The typical PR cycle
Something new has happened on Oshi.
It might be a product release or a new
game provider, whatever it is, it’s new.
My online PR guy gives me a framework
so he can get quotes from me and I use
these quotes to add insight and background
to whatever the news is.
The press release is formulated and we
make a point of adding a no-follow link
back to Oshi.
We then outreach the press release and
depending on what different site owners
want, we will adjust the content to suit
them. This whole process is very similar to
link acquisition outreach and placement.
The difference is I get double the
value because I am building a brand
reputation and I get links from trusted
and authoritative sites.
I have a free pass, because as we know
Penguin doesn’t even register links which it
doesn’t see as valuable (read up on how
negative SEO does not work any longer)
and so if I do get picked up on PR
aggregation sites, it’s not a problem.
And if I can’t get the link on the
placement, that’s okay too because I get
brand awareness and citations which
are also helpful for ranking because of
increased brand engagement.
Generally site owners are happy to
place the content for free because it is
newsworthy and adds to their news
websites. In short, I can get five or six
times the value per pound spent going
this way than with the traditional link
acquisition approach via an SEO agency.
forums and maybe start running threads
on some of these using your press
releases as conversation starters (Warning!
Tread carefully with forums because they
hate abusers).
This takes certain skills and imagination
and I accept not everyone has these, but
it’s not that difficult to learn.
“I want to have something interesting which is
newsworthy placed on as many relevant ranking
websites as possible. In my case, it’s industry
publications and affiliate websites”
What if I’m an affiliate? Reiterating: links
I would talk about:
– partnerships with operators
(operators like this as well, so you
can get them involved to help pay
for this, or use it as leverage for
better deals)
– new game releases and offer
your expert opinion as an affiliate
– issues affecting the affiliate industry
i.e. licensing in jurisdictions
– site improvements and technology
innovations
Essentially if you can spin it up and
people want to read it, then it’s
worth publicising. Based on my thinking about citations and
no follow links on authority sites, it just
makes sense that Google would see these
as a vote of confidence in you.
Above all, behaving like a real brand
rather than a thin affiliate is a good thing
for your future.
Brand equity is trust and if a reader can
see that you have a flow of press releases
and announcements, you get picked up by
the mainstream igaming media and you’ve
got something useful and interesting to say,
users are more likely to believe in you than
the next website.
In turn, this engagement will help
rankings and you end up in a virtuous cycle.
This is why I think you should look
very seriously at press releases as a way of
building your rankings and brand.
Where and how do I place
these releases?
It all starts with a Google search for
‘igaming news’. From there you can start
to pull together a list of publications that
are relevant to you.
Contact information is generally
pretty easy to find because these igaming
publications need useful content,
otherwise they are going to lose
readership. Caveat: it’s up to you to
pitch them stuff they’re interested
in reading.
I would also look around at relevant
NICK GARNER has
a long-standing
involvement in online
marketing and is founder
of Oshi bitcoin casino
(on