If you are new to writing, you might encounter a few problems in distinguishing between blogs, articles and press releases. It does not mean you have not come across the three. You might have just not realised it. They have some differences especially with the formats you are supposed to apply while writing each of them.
They also serve different purposes. The reason why your SERP tracker tool is reflecting low SERP rankings is probably because you are producing content for a blog in the format of an article. The following information will provide you with in-depth knowledge on what a blog, article and press release is, after which you will be able to tell the differences.
Blogs
A blog is a site that has information presented in reverse chronological order, which means that the most recent work appears first on the website. Blogs can be created for brand awareness for a particular company or as online diaries that are personal. Blogs are not limited to a single author.
Blogs may have different content. Some may appear as questions and answers, news, list and reviews to mention a few. For quality blog posts, the author should be consistent and ensure that he/she has all the posts uniform regarding style, font and format. Use of bullet points, images, headers and paragraphs is also acceptable.
With blogs, the author gets to decide the frequency of putting up posts. Nevertheless, as a blogger, it is advisable that you produce new and relevant posts as frequently as you can to stay pertinent.
Articles
It might be the reason why you place daily orders for your daily papers. Articles can be in the form of print or online written work. Articles are characterised by debates, news, academic analysis or research results. They can be designed for a general audience or a specific nook with its primary purpose being to educate the reader.
How are articles written? The headlines should be abbreviated with catchy and relevant keywords. The byline should have the name of the writer coming first then followed by the writer’s position. The lead, which is the first paragraph should sum up the whole article: it is what determines whether the reader will continue reading or click on the next item.
While writing an article, one should ensure that the body has content derived from the lead. You are not allowed to fix things out of the blues. The content should appear in chronological order, for instance, if you are talking about a comparison, you should first start with the similarities before you get to the differences. Not the other way round.
Last but not least, you should have a conclusion when writing an article. It goes without saying. A summary statement could work here.
Press Release
Remember that piece of writing you stumbled upon Newswire announcing that your store was going to have a clearance sale. That was a press release. A press release is an announcement to the media which has been jotted down. The statements may cover offers, promotions, events and new products to mention a few.
How should a press release be written? Note that the headline should have every first letter of each word capitalised: not unless the words are less than letters. Do not forget to use relevant keywords and a sub-header or summary that encourages your audience to read on: remember to write this in the third person and an active voice. Details such as the place, date and contact information are also included in a press release.
Regardless of whether it is a blog, article or a press release, proofreading is vital. Grammatical errors are punishable by death! Well, not literally but they might make you lose credibility.