Press Release Writing – A Complete How-To Guide

Press Release Writing Guide
Writing An Effective Press Release
Version: 1
5/29/2014
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Contents
What’s a Press Release
Format of a Press Release
Headline
Summary
Date Line
PR body
About US
Contact Information
Finding Newsworthy Topics
Sample
PR Checklist

A Press Release;
What Is A Press Release
Is an interesting way to announce a product or service and
gain exposure online by capturing the attention of the
target audience.
Educates people about your product or service
with the legitimate information possible.
Gains visibility for a company by resonating the
message with journalists, customers and strategic
partners.

Press Release Format
For an effective formatting of a press release, it’s
necessary that you need to include the following;
Headline
Summary
Date Line
PR Body
About US
Contact Information

Headline
Your headline should be strong to reflect the news angle and
captivate the readers to read the full release.
Format Is NOT MORE THAN 100 Char with spaces
Capitalize Each Word in the Headline
Include Keywords Only If Possible
Keep a Specific Headline Limit (since search engines use different
limits for displaying)
X Wrong:
Atlanta Dentist Provides Teeth Whitening
Right:
Atlanta Dentist Now Offering $199 Teeth Whitening Special Through July 2013

Summary
A Press Release summary is a short paragraph that follows your
headline and summarizes the content of the PR Body. Adding a
summary increases the effectiveness of your press release.
Format Is 2-3 strong statements that keeps the readers interested
It Should be Italicized
Keep it Simple
Example:
Leading Dental clinic recently introduced cosmetic dental implants at their Atlanta, GA
practice for patients who have damaged, broken, or missing teeth. With this new
procedure, patients no longer have to rely on dentures or cumbersome bridges to
overcome the aesthetic and functional problems with missing teeth.

Date Line
Add a date line just below the summary in a format as given below;
[Place, Date]
Example: [Atlanta, CA, 25th July 2013]

The PR body is the important part of the press release. It needs to
be clear, crisp paragraphs explaining the information provided in the
headline and summary.
Length – 300-350 words
PR Body
PR body should start in the same line as that of the date line
A strong introductory paragraph that covers all the questions including who, what,
when, where, why and how
Should contain a minimum of 3-4 paragraphs
Each paragraph should focus on a single idea expressed in a third person tone
Include quotes from key staff or experts, statistics, survey results, etc
Final paragraph should restate the key points of the press release

About US
This is the place where you can add some information about the
company and their services. Make sure to include a few keywords if
possible.
Example: XYZ Company is a leading distributor of widgets and
has been in the business of building widgets since 2 decades.
For more details, visit www.xyz.com

Contact Information
Contact information of the company which includes their address,
phone number, email, etc.
Example:
Contact Person
XYZ Company
Address details
City and country
T: +971-4-555-6666 (include country and city code in contact numbers)
F: +971-4-555-6667
http://www.YourWebAddress.com (if applicable)
Contact e-mail address

Finding A Newsworthy Topic
Choose any interesting information to be reported in the form of a
press release. It may be about or related to;
Website launches, new product/ service launches
Announcing new employee hire or change
Special offers and discounts
Seasonal deals
Announcing any recent or upcoming events
Anniversaries and Awards
Hosting summits

Sample
Title
Summary
Date Line
PR body
About us

Your Press Release may get rejected by directories if they;
Are Plain advertisements for any company, product and/or websites
Contain any duplicate content
Are wrong or misleading
Contain generalized and/or negative comments
Use all CAP letters or have an improper title
format
Are not accurate
Do not follow standard grammar and spelling

PR Checklist
Here’s a quick checklist for the requirements of a press release.
Your PR;
Has the minimum word count of 300-350 words
Has the search engine keywords highlighted
Has the news angle
Is informational and accurate
Follows the right format
Is written in a focused way
Includes quotes, key message and contact details

THANK YOU
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