While some consumers in the US are shopping online to avoid driving, even those visiting stores in person are hitting the Web first.

Eight out of 10 respondents who had recently made consumer electronics purchases in a brick-and-mortar store said they had visited the store's Website first, according to a May 2008 Nielsen Online survey. More than one-half said they purchased from the retailer on whose Website they had spent the most time.

Read the complete article here
There are many, however, that issue press releases on a regular basis. What they don't understand is that press releases can be part of your SEO efforts, and can be used to gain presence in the editorial results of the search engines, even if it's not a direct presence for your actual domain.

Press releases, in the traditional sense, were meant to reach out to journalists with the hope that a publication would pick it up, call someone within your company for comment, and gain a presence within the traditional media community (television, radio and/or print) to enhance your image and further your business.

Press releases in the digital media environment can do all of that, plus a bunch of other cool stuff. Even though many continue to issue press releases, few have made adjustments to their efforts to include press release optimization for the digital community and to further their interactive marketing -- and specifically SEO -- efforts.

Read the complete article here