Many business today write press releases that they never submit to the media. Instead, these press releases appear on their company website and on social media press release sites. The Press Release Grader helps you improve your press releases.

• Before You Start: You understand the value of social media press releases for your business. You want to make sure that your press releases give your business the maximum benefit.
• Learning Level: 3 | Building Skills
• Article Last Updated: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Social Media Press Releases

Your business can write a social media press release any time something happens that is newsworthy for your customers. There is an art and a science to writing good press releases. There is an art to writing about your business news so it is vibrant and fresh to the readers. But there also is a science to making sure that your press release has the correct components and that you add links to maximize the search engine benefits from it.

Press Release Grader

The Press Release Grader is a free online tool from HubSpot, Inc. that helps you to improve your press releases. It’s easy to use and provides valuable information designed to help you fine-tune your press releases so you get the maximum benefits from your press release strategy.

After writing your press release, you copy and paste it into the Press Release Grader. Fill out some information about your business, and click Generate Report button.

The Press Release Grader evaluates your press release for structure and content, and provides you with a thorough report of its findings. The report provides you with specific feedback with suggestions for things to improve.

Press Release Report

Your press release report includes:

• Score. This is the number of points out of 100 for your press release. Each time the Press Release Grader has a suggestion to improve your press release, it subtracts a few points from your score. Use the score as a guideline, but don’t be upset if you don’t get a perfect 100.
• Statistics. The number of words, sentences, and links in your press release. It also calculates a readability score based on the length of your sentences and the number of syllables in your words.
• Content Suggestions. The tool checks for the standard press release components. Generally, your press release should have all of the components it recommends.
• Gobbledygook Analysis. Using the work of David Meerman Scott, the tool checks your press release for jargon and other words that don’t add value. If it finds any of these words, consider replacing them with more meaningful words and phrases.
• Link Analysis. This section helps you to get the maximum search engine optimization (SEO) from your press release. Generally, you should fix everything that the tool recommends.
• Word Cloud. This feature lets you see the most commonly used words and phrases in your press release. After seeing this cloud, you may want to tweak your wording to make sure that the subject of your press release and any search keywords are used frequently.
• Additional Resources. The Press Release Grader provides you with links to additional resources, include HubSpot’s Press Release Marketing Kit.

When you review the suggestions, you may find recommendations that don’t fit your business needs. That’s okay. Use the feedback to make corrections to your press release and resubmit it to the Press Release Grader.

For more detail about how to use the Press Release Grader, check out the video by HubSpot.

For more information about social media press releases and creating a social media press release strategy, see The New Rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly by David Meerman Scott.

Your turn: Have you used the Press Release Grader? Share your experience with the community.

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