Press Release Sites for Backlinks

[damon1212]

OK, I read a previous thread about whether people found press release sites useful (specifically I am considering a reputable pay for release service).

I understand the knock on press releases in this digital age (namely that no one reads them and arguably never did . . . ), but I was interested in moving the discussion in a different direction . . .

Do press releases services really help a sites performance based on increased backlinking?  Is there a SEO benefit to PR services?

My company is a local print company.  I've done quite a bit of research on my local competitors, and specifically for a couple products we would like to dominate.  The good news is that it looks like the hurdle would not be terribly high to really take over the web presence with a well planned and executed website/SEO campaign.

My inclination is that for a relatively small company like mine (dealing with relatively small competitors) it WOULD benefit me to pay for the sheer number of backlinks a PR program would generate.

The monthly cost is frankly about the same as the cost of this site, which OF COURSE I get value from (hey moderator, how about a couple extra MOZ points for that one!)

Specifically, I am looking at this for myself, but feel free to expand the question to the broader topic.

[toddmumford]

There is link-less citation value in having your business name, address and phone number on any indexed document in Google (in my opinion)

Since you mentioned that you are a local company, I believe there would be value in the release from an SEO standpoint assuming the release is high quality and provides value, describing an interesting product or service you market.

[echo1]

I was reading this post about press releases where Dr Pete Meyers - a Seomoz Associate, was expressing his opinion about the same subject, here it is:
"I have some smaller clients who have had limited luck with it, but I think it's best to just stick to one of the sites and do periodic releases (maybe every couple of months). If nothing else, it'll give you a sense of what's working, and you can take some of the popular releases and push to get them a broader market.
What I wouldn't do is go after multiple low-value PR services and plaster the same releases everywhere you can. At best, it's diminishing returns - at worst, they'll be devalued. I'm with Peter G. - the best press release opportunities come through relationships with the media. Obviously, though, that takes a lot more time".

You opinion is that "repeatedly submitting to a the same few press release sites is not going to be a sustaining source of power.  A lot of links on the same site are not as valuable as one link on each of a lot of sites"
I do not want to question your authority or his but there is a difference of opinions from to seasoned contributors. Any thoughts about this Dr Pete?

[TKIGWebTeam]

I was about to post a similar question, but found that this was already posted, recent and has some good discussion. Hope I am not "highjacking" thread. Figured it would be repetitive to ask the same question...

If I may, how often would anyone suggest utilizing a press release service? My experience and other sources have given me the impression of once per month, maybe twice. This would be solely for the purpose of gaining backlinks.

Thoughts?

[MikeGracia]

Hey Damon,

I sent you an email with a couple of suggestions for your site, things I think may have possible slipped through the net during your redesign, I hope that helped!

Also, re: press releases, as someone that owns a Google news approved PR site, I can give you another angle on this if you like?

I agree with what everyone here has said about quality for a start! One of the more traditional uses of a press releases is obviosuly to get the word out... these days some folks try to submit crappy spun articles as press releases. A visit for somewhere like the warrior forums will show you people using, and selling, that tactic.

As a PR site owner that just means more work on our part, declining trash releases, and banning IP's from our system! Not everyone does this though, obviously the big sites do (prweb etc) but some of the smaller, free PR sites don't have much of an approval process.

What that can mean for you, is that you may end up with your news release on a site promoting questionable products and linking to questionable sites. Whilst I doubt this would be bad enough to cause you much harm, it may not be the panacea that you could be hoping for!

If you go down the PR site route on a regular basis, try to opt for sites that have some level of quality control, look for ones that are Google news approved, and also ones that will show your full contact details, ideally including a link back to your site.

Write decent releases, and when you write an especially good one, take it offline too! Send it to your local papers and press.

Regarding the local papers and press, if you want a higher success rate, pick up the phone, call the papers, and ask them who deals with small business news. Explain you have an interesting press release you would like to send them, and ask who the best person to send it to is.

Doing the above can help your success rate pretty massively, as instead of going to a generic, contact@blah type email, then having to be sent around the block, you should go straight to the eyes of someone that is most likely to be interested.

This is only worth doing if you have something to shout about. A relaunch MAY do it, winning some local award, or sponsoring a local charity or something almost certainly should! Look for local charity events to throw a few $ towards for sponsorship, offer a training day to local school kids, anything like that should be good enough to get the attention of the local press. If a reporter does interview you, explain that you would love a nice, clean SEO friendly link from the body of anything they publish online Give them lots of coffee, to keep em happy!

The effect on your local rankings, if you manage to get a clean link from a quality local paper and some follow up news coverage, may well help you to get above the spammy sounding guys above you.

Follow that up with some LOCAL (real local, not spammy ones) directory submissions, some 'social love' and some online press releases, and you may well secure a decent position in time.

Anyway that was a bit of a long un, but I wanted to give you an idea of how you  could, pretty ethically, out do the guys above you, and also use online and offline PR the right way

Obviously online PR gets used in all sorts of ways, and at the end of the day so long as what you submit is unqiue, well written and interesting, it should probably get approved, what I describe above is something that can give a nice bonus in addition, to help with your results (especially local ones), when you have a news worthy event to shout about.

[seospain]

Really it depends on whether the release is "news worthy" or not.

My personal opinion is that regular and consistent press release distribution should be a part of your overall strategy if of course it is warranted and you can produce something of value.

I had one client who got a call and a write-up from Sky News, although a direct link did not result(completely gutted). I have had other clients who have also been contacted by media companies after viewing their releases.

If it is backlinks you are after, regular press releases may provide this. Remember though, just because your release is syndicated by 1,000 websites, does not mean you will get 1,000 unique backlinks that pass any value as it will be seen as duplicate content for sure.

If you are trying to build your brand and obtain more visibility, for the cost I think it is worth it.

[EGOL]

Creating good source material serves many functions in addition to SEO.

Having a website that has a great display of expertise and maybe some video of your projects/activities can be very effective way to kick up the credibility of your website, flaunt the activities of your company, showcase the expertise of your staff and build the internal pride of your company.   Brainstorm this at your next staff meeting.

[damon1212]

To give some perspective, the competitors I am dealing with have maybe a couple hundred external followed links . . . but only NINE linking domains.  As far as I can see, most of their external links are actually different versions of THEIR OWN website!

I'm just thinking a boatload of external links with a wide variety of sources would pretty easily get me leapfrogging these guys.  Obviously, elbow grease on forums, individual posts on PR sites manually and such will accomplish the same thing . . . but there is certainly appeal to only having to focus on creating good source material as opposed to worrying about how to distribute it as well (I'm less the SEO guy than the marketing guy . . . SEO is just becoming part of my job description!).

[kwoolf]

Well, I can share an experience with a client of mine who, without my condonation, ran a Groupon campaign hoping to drive more customers to his restaurant but also to drive traffic to his site. He intentionally stuffed links in his Groupon description posted on Groupon. I monitored local search results for two months after he ran this campaign, and while he made out okay on his Groupon, his site traffic didn't move all that much.

I know this is different than a PR service, but I think it'd be safe to assume Google has quite a bit of information on who charges money for "descriptions" and "public relation" postings. If you really want an inbound link from this site, and assuming the domain authority is significantly high, see if there is any other way to get that particular site to post a link to your website. I'm not convinced the cost is worth a few mentions in an article that will become outdated and probably won't generate much traffic to your site.

Now if I've misunderstood your situation, please clarify and maybe I can add something to help you make a better choice on how to spend your hard earned money.

[EGOL]

If I was you I would attack a local search listing first.  Then move to organic SERP SEO.

=========================

The press release sites are typically HUGE.  So huge that your press release quickly disappears deep into the site where it is so far removed from incoming links that it is about worthless.  And,repeatedly submitting to a the same few press release sites is not going be a sustaining source of power.  A lot of links on the same site are not as valuable as one link on each of a lot of sites.

I would be sure that you have all of the easy links in your niche and in your local community.

Niche includes: suppliers, professional associations, customers, etc.

Community includes: Chamber of commerce, local business listings, landlord, community service groups, etc.

.... if there is a pro SEO in your community she might know how to get all of those community links and take care of the local listing campaign for you.

I would then think about some content for your site that will get links from other businesses in your niche, blogs in your industry and local websites.

[AdoptionHelp]

There is a nominal value in submitting your press release to places like prweb.com. I've successfully used their site to get a few backlinks that helped out, albeit only a small amount.

Another tactic is to use HARO to get your organizations message published.

The true value of a press release is in its news-worthiness. If your PR is just thinly veiled advertising, its not going to be worth much. If your PR is exciting and new, it can go viral and a press release service can help with the first steps to getting it there.