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| Bad news. He'll not use your SEO bloated press release |
Keyword-bloated press releases don’t just look clumsy – they can actively damage credibility, reach, and results.
Press Releases Are for People First
A press release has one primary job:
to communicate news clearly to journalists, editors, and real readers.
When a release is crammed with repeated keywords, awkward phrasing, and unnatural sentences, it becomes obvious that it wasn’t written for humans.
Editors notice immediately – and once credibility is lost, the release is far more likely to be ignored entirely.
Keyword Stuffing Signals Low Quality
Search engines have moved on. They now prioritise clarity, relevance, and genuine usefulness.
Over-optimised press releases often trigger red flags:
Repetitive phrases that add no value
Sentences written around keywords rather than having meaning
Paragraphs that feel padded rather than informative
Instead of helping SEO, excessive keyword use can
reduce visibility by making content appear spammy or low quality.
Journalists Will Simply Skip It
Most journalists skim first. It's all they have time for, especially on deadline day. If the opening paragraph reads like a shopping list of keywords rather than a clear news hook, the release won’t survive the first few seconds.
Whilst working as the new editor for a print magazine I received a press release via email that was stuffed full of SEO keywords that actually had url links embedded within them. Utterly pointless as the magazine copy was saved as a text file and then loaded into InDesign for page creation. And would not have survived the process of converting to use on a website, either due to formatting issues.
Eventually after wasting a considerable amount of time on the press release I realised that it was pretty much junk, so I deleted it.
Especially when working to a deadline an editor or journalist has no time to deal with press releases bloated with keyword logorrhoea.
A press release should answer:
What’s happened?
Why does it matter?
Who is it for?
If those answers are buried under keyword clutter, the story is lost.
It Dilutes Your Actual Message
Ironically, the more keywords you force in, the less memorable your message becomes.
Strong press releases focus on:
One clear angle
One main announcement
One compelling reason to care
When every sentence is bent to serve SEO, the story itself gets watered down.
It Can Harm Brand Perception
A badly optimised press release doesn’t just affect that one announcement – it reflects on your business as a whole.
Over-stuffed content can make a brand appear:
Inexperienced
Desperate for attention
Unprofessional
That’s not the impression most businesses want to leave with the media.
The Smarter Approach to SEO in Press Releases
SEO doesn’t need to be abandoned – it just needs restraint.
A better balance includes:
One primary keyword used naturally
A small number of related terms where they genuinely fit
Clear, readable sentences written for humans first
Headlines that inform, not over-optimise
If the press release reads well aloud, you’re usually on the right track.
Final Thoughts
Press releases are not blog posts. They’re not landing pages. And they’re definitely not keyword dumping grounds.
When clarity, relevance, and genuine news come first, SEO tends to follow naturally. When SEO is forced, both humans and search engines tend to push back.
Sometimes, saying less – but saying it well – is the most effective optimisation of all.
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