Using Google Maps in press and PR releases

The Internet is changing every single day and very few public relations companies can stay up with the speed of change.

If your inbox is anything like mine it will receive many emails from SEO companies who are offering a chance to get your business up to the top of search engine rankings.

The reality is, there is very little that can be done to achive this without either paying for an adwords type campaign or writing copious amounts of good quality text to attract visitors using organic search.

There are also 'black hat' tecniques which are not tolerated by Google and can result in your website being removed from Google altogether.

For three years now I have been learning the psychology behind the search engine and have gleaned many legitimate techniques for getting information into the places where it is intended to be read. Because I have spent thousands of hours writing to the site, the strength on Google is high.

I would like to demonstrate an example of some success I have had this week using Google Maps in promoting the sponsored bike ride that BALI chairman Richard Gardiner is undertaking in aid of the Greenfingers charity.

Having received a press release from BALI I set about writing it up in my own way, making sure that any organisation that is mentioned is linked to. By linking out, I can achieve a high density of relevance for the piece so that anyone surfing the net, can use many combinations of search terms directed to the page.

What I also did - in my own time and as part of my Landscape Juice news distribution service - is link all of Richard's stopping points on the 245 mile ride creating a Google Map.

...Now the clever bit. If you search Google with 'sponsored bike ride bali richard gardiner', or something similar, you will likely notice that one of the search returns is that for the Google map and alongside are the original Landscape Juice post, the page for BALI's Communications Officer, Kelly Conway (who joined the Landscape Juice Network). The front page of Landscape Juice is also featured in the search returns because it still contains the original story.

By using these methods I am able to cover all angles and ensure that someone searching over the Internet finds the Landscape juice piece ahead of any other trade or Internet site.

If you would like help or advice in getting your business or organisation seen then give me a shout to discuss what I can do and at what cost.

To submit a press release free of charge, please email it to me - Press release submission