Link Building with Press Release Options

[eclipse]

Hi,

I decided to give Press Releases a try, after I had read a lot of positive input about it.

I used PRweb as my PR platform, I created 3 press releases, submited each every 3 days, payed 300$ for each PR. I only got links fron news.yahoo.com (all 3 press releases were included in Yahoo News).

My question is - Is it all I can get with Press Release ?

[Ruud]

No, you could get much more -- depending on the release itself. There is only so much promotinal talk people, and especially writers, can stand. How interesting is the release? How "news" is the news? How unique or special is the offer? The product? The service?

[eclipse]

PRWeb shows for each PR ~70 000 views and over 1200 pickups.

[meriweather]

Hi eclipse,

Ruud has some good questions there, but the one that hit me, and I'd want to know about first is why the 3 press releases all at once? We've been doing PR's for years and in nearly all cases wouldn't even consider doing more than 1 in a month, usually 2 to 3 months. Ever hear of spam, or the boy that cried wolf? From an editors standpoint it needs to gain attention and be something that they feel will be of value to their readers. 3 items from 1 source in one week is more than anyone cares about, unless you're the White House, or Google or something.

Build a relationship with the editors slowly. Say, every other month or so put out a 'professionally written' press release with an interesting, newsworthy item or two and an attention grabbing headline. After you've been doing this for a few months the editors will start to expect to hear from you periodically, and you can always send a 1 or 2 paragraph update directly to the editors in between to announce a less noteworthy, but still pertinent addition to your companies offerings. These often get published as short items on business pages, if nothing else, but are good for getting your name out in the business community.

Anyway, was on my way out and saw the 3/1 and felt like I needed to say something. Hope it helps you come up with a more usable solution.

/doc

[dgeary9]

PRWeb shows for each PR ~70 000 views and over 1200 pickups.

I don't have a huge amount of experience with PR Web, but I think those are actually pretty low stats. I have put 4-5 press releases up there over the last year or so, on very niche topics, paid only the $1 necessary to get them into PR Web at all, and have had far more views and pick-ups than that. My personal theory is that most of those aren't real people , but that's a different thread...

I also found that my releases started showing up on several sites weeks later (slow to get into the search engine indices), so it was good to write a press release that wasn't too "time" limited. One of those press releases currently ranks on the second page of Google, and is driving site traffic, unlike my sandboxed little site.

Anyhow, for $300, I think you ought to be getting better results ! I hope others can give you more concrete suggestions, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread...

[eclipse]

Takn You for all suggestions. I will try them out .

[etech-racheal]

Press release really helps in link building. But it is important to publish press release on right time.

Your content must be unique & informative. So if your press release is informative it helps in getting links.

[Dominic]

The smart money imo is on 'link building from news articles'... that is, actual news articles that are published by real newspapers (and on their website). Those type of links are golden.

The only place you should bother sending a press release is to a *real life flesh and blood journalist.*

Matt Cutts: A legit press release can get you written up by reporters, or editors/sites may subsequently choose to link to your site. But the actual content of the press release itself doesn’t directly affect a site. For example, on http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/10/prweb296086.php those hyperlinks don’t help avatarfinancial.com (in Google).

[toprank]

Even though my PR firm sends releases out through PRWeb, anything we get from that is icing on the cake. The results (from a public relations standpoint) come from individual pitches to journalists and editors.

For link building we alternatively issue optimized press releases and articles in combination with a fulfillment piece at the client web site, where the real "linkable content" exists.

A good example of this is where a press release is issued announcing the results of a research study and offers a link to the full report. The release is used to draw attention to the "linkable content". i.e. the release is the means, not the end. I think a lot of people miss that point.

When optimized press releases are used in combination with syndicated articles and some social bookmarking, the "linkable content" can generate some impressive inbound links.

[Nadir]

Instead of spending days submitting to dozens of PR sites, I would just pick a few good ones and submit something that will be entice people to blog about you, relate to your company, Digg you etc.

The other day, I was looking for news about SEO in Google and I've seen that SEO Inc submitted a PR just to announce they were moving to a new office, but filled the article with lots of Seo'd anchor texts... I don't think those stuff really help nor interests anyone.

Instead of trying to trick the system, someone can come up with a PR that will be really linkworthy. For example, spend a few days doing some research, or an online survey, and then publish it. Or you can come up with something provocative, funny, unique etc..then you really don't need to spend a lot of money to get links. It will just come naturally.

[eclipse]

When optimized press releases are used in combination with syndicated articles and some social bookmarking, the "linkable content" can generate some impressive inbound links.

I think I will try this method . Will post about it.

[randfish]

Hehe - I got to serve as the guinea pig for Matt's post there. The thing about press releases is they give you a chance to get picked up by news services or even the blogs of traditional journalists. For example, our recent 0awards.org got pick up by BusinessWeek and the Seattle PI blogs via the press release.

My advice, though, is to spend a few thousand dollars hiring a well-connected Public Relations consultant who can advise and help with the pitch. They can tell you if your release is newsworthy, and if it isn't you've saved yourself a ton of time and effort.

[eclipse]

Hey rand, can You recommend anyone (PR consultant) ?

[fthead9]

The main area to focus on is writing on a subject that people are actively looking for content. We've issued press releases that end up getting picked up by a number of sites as is as well as serving as the basis of articles. However we also made the mistake of issuing an ego driven PR for a client that flopped miserably.

Frankly no one gave a damn the company thought so highly of themselves so no one picked up the PR despite our optimization efforts. Bottom line, write from the perspective of a reader. If it wasn't your client or for yourself would you have any interest in reading/sharing the news. If the answer is "yes" then optimized press releases can be a very effective tool for building links. If "no" then save your money and the world's collective bandwidth and junk your PR and shift your attention to something useful, like figuring out the estimated return on $100 bet on George Mason, UCLA, Florida, and LSU making up the Final Four

[randfish]

Eclipse, sadly I can't. The person we used just joined a company full-time, so she's off the market. Todd (Oilman) is supposed to send me the name of someone good, so I'll let you know if/when I hear (and put them on the recommended list, too).

[A.N.Onym]

umm, Randfish, which type of press release contribution did you use when using the PRWeb services?
Did you use other press release distribution agencies?
Did you submit your press releases directly to newspapers and journals?

Thanks for the tips in advance.

[stinhambo]

Sorry for the late reply but my wife reiterated the exact same sentiments as above. A Press Release is but a conduit to build interest and stimulate further interest in your product/service/report.

Oooh! I have just had a great idea for a Press Release and it will be relevant to our new field of job selection criteria and resume writing...