Accountancy press releases
Press releases are a good way to keep local media apprised of your business’ activities, but some may question whether they are still a suitable SEO activity. Do they still influence rankings? And if so, how do you tread the line between adhering to journalistic guidelines and optimising for search? Here, we explore how press releases can impact marketing for accountants.
Press releases for SEO
When it comes to SEO, there are lots of examples of things starting out well, then being abused – and the use of press releases for links is one of them. A small number of marketers realised that links in press releases could boost rankings, and started submitting all sorts of stories – even ones that weren’t newsworthy – to artificially boost the position of their sites in the search results.
The result, of course, was the search engines realising this and bringing in penalties. After that, news sites added the nofollow attribute to links, meaning the link could not be vouched for. The attribute stops Google bots following the link, meaning there’s no SEO benefit to them.
So is there any point in using press releases for SEO?
With that in mind, you’d be right to ask, is PR for accountancy firms worth the effort?
Well, the short answer is yes, and here’s why:
As long as your press release has a purpose and is newsworthy, it can still help your SEO efforts. So before writing a release, you must decide whether it does any of the following things, and if so, by all means put it out there.
- Informing people of an event the firm is hosting
- Announcing a new product or service
- Detailing efforts to benefit the local community
- Preventing a crisis from generating all sorts of bad PR
Getting SEO benefit from press releases
Just because the links on the press release itself are tagged with a nofollow attribute, it won’t necessarily mean there’s zero SEO benefit to them. Instead, the advantage is indirect.
Let’s assume your accountancy firm has recently done something for the local community. Perhaps you’ve raised money for a cause, or given some free assistance to low income families. The link on your press release may not boost your SEO, but the traffic to your website as a result of the interest in the article might.
If consumers then click through your site and find other articles that are useful to them, or pick up on a service that they may need, all this is boosting your SEO.
When to create a press release
If you’re looking to create more press releases, there are several things that may prove newsworthy. We used the example of helping the local community above, but here are a few more ideas for newsworthy stories:
- Hosting an event
- Doing some research on something that impacts your audience, e.g. the awareness of MTD among those who complete Self Assessment tax returns
- Partnering with another organisation
- Completing a merger or acquisition
- Winning an award
- Opening a new office or relocating
- Offering training or resources
Help with content marketing for accountants
As a specialist in content marketing for accountants, we at Whitefish Marketing can help with your firm’s content and press releases. We have over 10 years’ experience in digital marketing, with a particular focus on SEO services for accountants, and can ensure your online efforts help to boost your rankings in a legitimate and organic manner. Contact us today to discuss your requirements.
