Press release for a quick bump

🎥 Video: Press release for a client (Hyperbound) The worked example the steps below build on.

The “bump” theory: on-page SEO gets pages eligible; off-page signals (links, authority) get the borderline ones over the line. See Part 1 §1.9 Off-page link building & press for why a press push moves rankings, and §1.7 Speed-to-rank for why a new domain sometimes needs the nudge.

Where the specifics come from. The standalone SOP page is blank; the service, pricing, template, and drafting steps below are the team’s actual press-release practice, consolidated from the wire partnerships doc, live client drafts, and the Havana distribution experiment.

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When to reach for a press release

• Pages are indexed but stuck off page 1 after the Month-1 publish + index sweep
• Fewer than the target ~5 pages ranking, and the diagnostics point to authority/off-page (not on-page or indexing) as the gap; see 3.6 Quality Gate
• There’s a legitimate news angle to hang it on (product launch, feature, funding, milestone, partnership); a press release needs real news, not manufactured filler
• The client has agreed to a bump action in the review’s next-steps; see 3.8 Step 7

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Inputs checklist (before you start)

• The news angle: the real, announceable thing
• The target page(s) you want the bump to help (the LP/blog that’s stuck), and their keywords
• Client sign-off on the announcement and any quoted claims/spokesperson
• Access to the wire service (GlobeNewswire today, AccessNewswire as the cheaper option; both run on the Notified platform). Full pricing is in Step 4

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Step 1 — Pick the angle and the page it should help

• Choose the single clearest news angle (don’t bury it in three)
• Decide which target page the release should link toward / support, and its primary keyword
• Confirm the angle is real and defensible; the claims must survive the client’s own review

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Step 2 — Draft the release

1. Headline: the announcement in one line, with the product name and its category.
2. Subhead: a one-line benefit sentence under the headline.
3. Dateline: city, state, date (e.g. SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 8, 2025).
4. Lead paragraph: the news, with an anchored link on the primary keyword to the client’s site.
5. Problem framing, then the product as the solution.
6. Executive quote, with the named spokesperson.
7. Feature or roles breakdown, with anchored keyword links to specific product and use-case pages.
8. Proof metrics, where there are real ones to cite.
9. About [Company] boilerplate.
10. Media contact: name, title, email.
11. Press-release summary: one or two lines.
12. Keywords list (the anchor-text targets) and a related-links list.

• Draft the release around the angle, with an anchor link to the target page
• Keep claims verifiable, with no fabricated metrics or unverifiable superlatives

draft a press release for [client] announcing [angle]. anchor a natural link to
[target page URL] on the phrase "[target keyword]". keep every claim verifiable —
no numbers we can't back. match [client]'s voice from the product bible.

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Step 3 — Client sign-off

• Send the draft for approval; get explicit sign-off on the angle, the quote, and the spokesperson
• Lock any claim the client flags as sensitive (pricing, customer names, forward-looking statements)

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Step 4 — Distribute

• Submit the release through the wire service on the Notified platform (globenewswire.com is the public face; distribution and reporting run through Notified)
• Pick the tier for the client’s budget and target reach: US National for full reach, or the cheaper Yahoo/Apple News and budget tiers when the goal is just a syndication footprint
• Confirm syndication from the wire’s report once the release goes out; placements land on the syndication network within about half a day (see Step 6)

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Step 5 — Index and reinforce internally

• Once the release and any pickups are live, manually request indexing for the target page(s) and the release URL on GSC; see how-to: 2.5.3 (forward ref)
• Reinforce with the cheaper bump moves in parallel: footer internal links to the target page, an announcement or listicle post, a Medium post; see 3.9 Link building (forward ref)

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Step 6 — Measure the bump

• Re-check the target keywords on Google (and ChatGPT) 2–3 days after distribution, as in the Month-1 GSC verification cadence
• Record the position before and after for the target page; note it in the next client review as attribution evidence; see 3.8 Step 5
• Set the client’s expectation honestly (see the caveat below)

Be honest about the bump. A release earns fast syndication: placements on sources like Yahoo and Benzinga typically show up within about 12 hours, and the wire’s report may show thousands of clicks. Treat those click counts skeptically. Most of that traffic is bots, retrieval from syndicated sites, and scanners, not real readers. The signal that actually matters is the backlinks (which lag, and Ahrefs is slow to pick up wire placements) and a lift in net-new branded search. Sell the release as a durable authority and link signal, not as a traffic spike.

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Acceptance checks

• The release hangs on a real news angle the client signed off on
• There’s a natural anchor link to the specific stuck target page on its keyword
• No unverifiable claims survived into the published release
• Target page + release URL submitted for indexing after go-live
• Positions recorded before and after, and carried into the next review

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Edge cases — quick lookup

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See also

• 2.5.6 Press release for a quick bump (forward ref): the platform how-to this SOP will lean on
• Part 1 §1.9 Off-page link building & press: the “bump” theory
• 3.9 Link building (forward ref): the cheaper, durable bump moves
• 3.1 Onboarding — Month 1: where a bump gets triggered in the recovery menu
• 3.8 Running the client review: where a bump is proposed and its result reported