It seems that the latest craze is to right a press release every two weeks or month simply to acquire more backlinks for rankings. The question that then comes to mind is… how effective is this in increasing rankings and is it the best (or worst) option long term?
So before we answer this question, we really need to take a step back and ask… what is a press release?
A press release is a statement of news.
News of your new site, a new product you are launching, new free services for customers, additional areas of the industry you are looking to move into, comments and insights you have on current industry trends and so on.
So when you are distributing a new press release every two weeks or monthly, are these press releases new worthy?
Many webmasters think that as long as they are getting backlinks, distributing press releases so often is fine however there is a huge problem. In most cases these releases are no where near news worthy and are also not the written professionally which the PR agencies note within a short period of time.
After the second distribution, how many of your releases are going to be picked up? And when you do have some worthy news regarding your site or products, do you think that the PR distributors are evening going to take a glance at your piece? That would be a big fat no.
So in the short term, distributing releases often may get you a few links however long term your releases will not be picked up and relegated to PR scraper sites with no authority, even if one or two is actually news worthy.
Therefore the big lesson here is to use press releases in a rational and reasonable manner for the best possible SEO result and outcome. When you have something that is news worthy, distribute a press release otherwise don’t bother.
Big, medium or small news?
If you are running a small business, you may wish to pick and choose which press releases are more important as having them written and distributed can be expensive depending on who you use.
Although some business owners would like to cut costs by writing their own release, I can tell you that this is a very bad idea. Even I get the pro’s in for this job.
The difference between a poorly and well written press release can mean a huge difference in how many times the release is picked up and distributed by interested agencies. A professionally written release will set you back anywhere between $100 and $400.
Depending on the importance of the press release, I use one of these services…
- Best results/distribution – http://www.prweb.com $230
- Medium results/distribution – http://www.24-7pressrelease.com $50
- Minimum results/distribution – http://www.webwire.com $20
Good luck with your press releases! I hope they improve your rankings and bring you many new sales.
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September 14th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Yes, we write and post press releases online to catch the attention of journalists and bloggers. But the bigger reason is to catch the attention of consumers who are searching for information online.
Writing press releases that also target consumers means we can bypass the media gatekeepers. This is a huge advantage to publicity-seekers, something we couldn’t do 20 years ago.
A consumer who finds our press release online while Googling can read it, click on a link, come to our website and buy a product—even if the media think the release isn’t worthy of their time and attention.
I created a free email tutorial that explains how to write and distribute press releases online. You can opt into it at http://www.publicityhound.com/.....ps/art.htm. I spend an entire week on SEO.