How to write a case study for the web

Feature articles are also referred to as “case studies”.  They differ to news articles or product press releases as they usually concentrate on a specific topic and use that as promotion for a company.
Case studies are used to inform, educate and demonstrate technical expertise on a certain subject.
Case studies can include topics on:
•    Successful projects
•    Product implementation
•    Providing solutions
•    Business methodologies
•    Addressing client requirements

A case study will usually address a problem and provide readers with a solution. The case should have enough information in it that readers can understand what the problem is, and through steps form a solution.

When writing your case study you want to write your article for an internet audience. Most importantly case studies must be constructed to be ‘search engine friendly’. Think about the most important aspects of your case study and make these into ‘keywords’ which you will use a number of times throughout your article.

Keywords are the words you type into the search field of a search engine .Before we begin to write our case study we must pick the keywords we wish to target and plan to use them through our case study to maximise its potential for interest and internet exposure.

Your case study will have its own web page within a website. You want to optimise your case study so it will achieve maximum exposure through the search engines. Case studies frequently show up in search engine result pages. The process of optimising your case study for search engines is known as ‘search engine optimisiation’.

Case study Format

Headline

The Headline is the most important aspect of your web case study. Your headline will attract the reader, and it will drive traffic to your article if it is constructed with your targeted keywords.
The headline is the most important aspect for search engine optimisation.
•    Include your brand name and the application for the case study
•    Your targeted keywords must be in your headline
•    Capitalise important words
•    Always mention brand names
•    Briefly summarise the case study and draw attention to your article
•    Place more important keywords first
•    Use the case study name in your headline to promote your company

Example
“ACME Provides National Fibre Network for Railway Signalling”
By mentioning your brand you are increasing brand exposure through the web. Anyone searching for your brand will have a good chance of finding your Case study. You have also mentioned a unique selling point that has drawn interest to your article mentioning your “National Fibre Network” and “Railway Signalling” keywords.

First Paragraph

Your headline and first paragraph should tell the story.  Start strong and carefully construct a compelling head line and first paragraph that interests a reader. Be sure to include your keywords.
You only have a couple of seconds to grab a persons interest so make your opening enticing.

Summarise the case study in question. Provide three or four lines to interest the reader.

Case Study Content

You need to organise sections of your case study.
Provide an introduction to the problem or case study in one short paragraph.
Provide a background on the case. Include the who, what, when, why and how. This should form a brief overall description.

Your body paragraphs should support your headline and first paragraph. Expand on your case study to include more information. This is where you can describe how the problem was solved with your companies solution. Include information about the benefits that your solution provides. Include facts, figures and other information that will back up your claims. Include quotes where possible. Demonstrate your company’s expertise.
Keep sentences and paragraphs short. This fits in the style of writing content for the web, which is short, concise and keyword targeted. Readers will be able to quickly scan your article to find ‘keywords’ they are looking for. This is also beneficial for search engine optimisation. Be sure to mention your targeted keywords at least two twice in your body.

Final Paragraph

Restate and summarize the main points of your case study. Clearly state what was the problem was, how it was overcome and the benefits of such a solution for the client. Include your targeted keywords. By summarising you will help to refresh the reader with your main message. You will also be utilising search engine optimisation as you are repeating keywords for a search engine.
Include a short corporate backgrounder about the company. Include contact details, web addresses, phone numbers and anything else such as dates if applicable.

For more information on Industrial Marketing and product press releases please contact Utopian Web Strategy.

How to write a web news release

A news web release will differ from a product press release as it will be focused on a news event related to your company rather than a product or service.  Keeping that in mind we want to focus on specific news events that can be used to promote your company.
Some events may include:
•    Awards
•    New staff
•    Business acquisitions
•    Important company announcements
•    Important events happening with your business that you think the public should know

Ask yourself is your news “newsworthy”? The purpose of a release is to inform the world of your news item. Do not use your news release to try and make a sale.  A good new release will answer all of the ‘w’ questions such as who, what, where, when and why. Create a plan for what you want your news release to accomplish.

When writing your web news release you want to write your article for an internet audience. Most importantly web news releases must be constructed to be ‘search engine friendly’. Think about the most important aspects of your news story and make these into ‘keywords’ which you will use a number of times throughout your web news release.

Keywords are the words you type into the search field of a search engine. Before we begin to write our news release we must pick the keywords we wish to target and plan to use them through our news release to maximise its potential for interest and internet exposure.

Your web news release will have its own web page within  a website. You want to optimise your news release so it will achieve maximum exposure through the search engines. News releases frequently show up in search engine result pages. The process of optimising your release for search engines is known as ‘search engine optimisiation’.

News release Format

News Headline

The Headline is the most important aspect of your web news release. It will attract the reader, and it will drive traffic to your article if it is constructed with your targeted keywords. The headline is the most important aspect for search engine optimisation.
•    Include your brand name and the worthy news item
•    Your targeted keywords must be in your headline
•    Capitalise important words
•    Always mention brand names
•    Briefly summarise the news and draw attention to your article

Example
“ACME releases new Website for Ecommerce”
By mentioning your brand you are increasing brand exposure through the web. Anyone searching for your brand will have a good chance of finding your article.  News releases can be an effective way to get a company announcement out fast with great internet exposure. You have also mentioned a unique selling point that has drawn interest to your article mentioning your “Website” and “Ecommerce” keywords.

Introduction

Your headline and first paragraph should tell the story.  Start strong and carefully construct a compelling headline and first paragraph that interests a reader. Be sure to include your keywords.
You only have a couple of seconds to grab a persons interest so make your opening enticing.

News Content

Your body paragraphs should support your headline and first paragraph. Expand on your news item to include more information. Include information about benefits for the audience and include unique selling points such as “the upgrade to ecommerce will facilitate quick and easy product selection”.
Stick to the facts when writing your news release. Tell the truth and avoid embellishments and exaggerations.  Try to use verbs where possible. Verbs will bring you news release to life and communicate a message of action.
Keep sentences and paragraphs short. This fits in the style of writing content for the web, which is short, concise and keyword targeted. Readers will be able to quickly scan your article to find ‘keywords’ they are looking for. This is also beneficial for search engine optimisation. Be sure to mention your targeted keywords at least twice in your body. Your first few paragraphs should answer the who, what, when, where and how questions.

Final Paragraph

Restate and summarize the main points of your news release. Include your targeted keywords with a link to your website. By summarising you will help to refresh the reader with your main message. You will also be utilising search engine optimisation as you are repeating keywords for a search engine.
Include a short corporate backgrounder about the company or person who is newsworthy. Include contact details, web addresses, phone numbers and anything else such as dates if applicable.

For more information on Industrial Marketing and press releases contact Utopian Web Strategy.

How to write a product press release

Press releases have been around a long time. They have been traditionally focused on the offline world, mainly for print. The internet and the print industry are very different marketing mediums. If you are writing a web product release, it should be constructed specifically for an internet audience in mind. Most importantly web product releases must be constructed to be ‘search engine friendly’.

Your web product release will have its own web page within a website. You want to optimise your product release so it will achieve maximum exposure through the search engines. Product releases frequently show up in search engine result pages. The process of optimising your release for search engines is known as ‘search engine optimisiation’.

How people source, find and read a web product release is completely different to a print release. Web product releases must be constructed with “keywords” in mind. Keywords are the words you type into the search field of a search engine. Before you begin to write your product release you must pick the keywords you wish to target and plan to use them through your product release to maximise its potential for lead generation and internet exposure.

Press release Format

Headline

The headline is the most important aspect of your web product release. It will attract the reader, and it will drive traffic to your article if it is constructed with your targeted keywords.
The headline is the most important aspect for search engine optimisation.
•    Include your brand name, product name and application/benefit in your headline
•    Your targeted keywords must be in your headline
•    Capitalise important words
•    Always mention brand names
•    Place most important keywords first

Examples
“Industrial Fibre Optic Modem ABC MR-22 from ACME”
What the product is, its function, brand, part number and distributor have all been mentioned. Targeted keywords may be “industrial fibre optic modem”, “MR-22” “ABC” and “ACME”. By including your company name and brand you are selling you are also increasing brand recognition.

“ABC MR-22 Industrial Fibre Optic Modem for Telemetry from ACME”.
Here we have put the brand name first and part number second. For competitive markets with a number of distributors this is a better structure. We have also included the keyword “telemetry” which is an application.

Lead Sentence/Product Introduction

The product introduction contains the most important information in 25 words or less. Grab the  attention of your reader. Include your targeted keywords from your headline. Include your company name, product name, part number and function, application or benefit of the product. This will help your article to perform in the search engines and quickly describe the main messaging of your release.

Body/Product description

Keep sentences and paragraphs short. This fits in the style of writing content for the web, which is short, concise and keyword targeted. Readers will be able to quickly scan your article to find ‘keywords’ they are looking for. This is also beneficial for your search engine optimisation. Be sure to mention your targeted keywords at least twice in your body. Your first few paragraphs should answer the who, what, when, where and how questions. When describing your product remember feature, function and benefit.

Final Paragraph

Restate and summarize the key points of your product release. Include your targeted keywords with a link to your website. Link to your home page or the related product page. The amount of links pointing to your website is extremely important for search engine optimisation. The more links you have the more important your website is to a search engine.  Increasing the number of links will improve your ranking in search engine result pages.
Include a call to action at the end of your release such as “for more information visit our site, or call us…”
Provide sales staff names if necessary.

Ways to link to your website

A simple link would be to place a link to your home page as www.utopianwebstraegy.com.au
A better way to link to your website is to link to your home page or product page with your targeted keywords from your product release. e.g  How to write a product press release
This is much more effective for your search engine optimisation as your keywords are included in your link.
Always remember when writing a web product release that it needs to be constructed for search engines with keywords in mind. Manipulate your headings, content and links for your targeted keywords. Provide the reader with a clear and concise summary of what they are looking for. If you follow these guidelines you should see a significant improvement in your web marketing initiatives.

For more information on Industrial Marketing and product press releases contact Utopian Web Strategy

Press Releases for Industrial Marketers

There are many search marketing tactics out there that come and go, but one method that has proven its value with Industrial Marketing is the press release. The industrial market provides an excellent opportunity as companies often have brands and products that buyers search for. With a carefully constructed “Search Engine friendly” press release, a business can advertise a new product or service efficiently and quickly.

Press releases provide targeted and new content which search engines often pick up and distribute through search engine result pages. If a press release is written with search engine optimisation in mind,  it will have a much higher chance of penetrating search engine results.

When writing a press release the title or heading of the press release is one of the most important aspects. Be sure to mention brand and products names as these are ‘keywords’ which people use to search for you. As you write the copy for your industrial press release try to use your brand name and product name 3 to 4 times through the body of the article. This will help to increase the relevancy of your article for your targeted ‘keywords’.

If possible create one or two text links in your article that link back to your home page and the product or service page. Make sure the text links have your targeted keywords in the link. For example if you are selling an industrial modem, hyperlink ‘industrial modem’ to the internal page of your website that has the information on that product. This will be beneficial for your SEO link building.

Once you have created your “search engine friendly” press release it is now time for its distribution. Find industry related news sites, vertical search engines or magazine portal sites. These sites will happily take and publish your press release because you are providing them with valuable content. One tip is to compile a list of magazines related to your industry and search for them online. They will often have a ‘portal’ which is acting as a news source and they will take your industrial press release.

Good luck with your Industrial Marketing!

From Utopian Web Strategy

Industrial Marketing Shifts Online

The internet provides a highly effective communication channel that can be used for generating leads and making sales. Surveys show that engineers and technical buyers prefer online communication for sourcing information on purchases.

Effective online industrial marketing requires a mix of programs and strategies. It is not enough to develop a website without initiating some form of web marketing  to give your prospects the opportunity to find you. Site development should be directed with search engine optimisation and search engine marketing in mind.

Once we have acquired traffic through web marketing we need to convert this traffic to leads for sales executives. Providing easy to use and accessible lead forms will greatly improve your online lead generation. Traffic is fleeting so make the forms as easy to use and as short as possible. You will be amazed at the increase in leads.

We should also make phone numbers and email adresses readily available through the entire site. The more easy we make it for a customer to contact us the higher rate of lead generation.

Finally once we have become successful in generating quality leads we need to execute some form of lead management program. Customer relationship management systems which directly link into your website save a great deal of time. Leads can be quickly attended to and disseminated to sales staff.

With a primary focus on lead generation or sales industrial marketing has the ability to leverge the internet for fast business growth.

Good luck with your Industrial Marketing

Utopian Web Strategy