When I began my public relations career three decades ago, there was a certain – shall we say – hierarchy to various terms used by our profession.
At the mega-bank where I worked, the items we issued from the Corporate Communications Department were always referred to as news releases. Never as press releases.
The term “news release” carried with it a certain cachet, a level of importance, a tone of gravity. That was what serious public relations professionals called the news they issued.
A press release, on the other hand, was typically what publicists (another loaded term) sent out. A press release – at least in the circles I traveled in – was seen as a plea for attention, an acknowledgement that it was blatantly attempting to garner publicity, as opposed to cultivating thoughtful, highly regarded news coverage.
A news release was the understated Ivy League graduate who played tennis and volunteered at a shelter. A press release was her disheveled, unpolished high school drop-out cousin, always straining to be the center of attention.
And for 30-odd years, I always referred to a release as a news release. The term press release, quite frankly, offended me.
Flash forward to 2019. It no longer matters what I think about phraseology.
Why? Because the term press release is searched way more frequently in Google than the term news release. And by way more, I mean 16,500 times more.
According to both Moz and SEMRush, the average number of monthly searches generated by the term press release is 18,100. Compare that to the meager 1,700 searches that news release receives. The data doesn’t lie. Thanks to search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword research, we are now able to understand the minds and behaviors of our audiences better.
What does this mean for PR people? For starters, think about whether or not you’re using the terminology that your customers and prospects use. Look at your – and your clients’ – websites. If you’re using the term news releases to describe your releases, you’re not taking full advantage of the more powerful keyword press release.
(Interestingly, when it comes to what you name the section that houses press releases on your website, “newsroom” – all one word – is searched ten times more frequently than is “news room.” But there’s less of a clear winner here; agencies use a variety of terms on their websites, including “News,” “Insights,” and “Press Room.”)
Words matter. But it’s no longer just about the cachet, elegance or prestige a word or phrase evokes. We need to ensure that we are speaking the same language as our customers if we want to remain relevant. And, if people aren’t searching for a word or term you’re using, what’s the point of using it?
I broke a long-held habit because of what keyword research showed me.
How about you? Have you made any similar shifts? Let us know in the comments below.