Are high quality press releases worth it?

17 replies
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I mean, spending $200+ bucks on a single high quality press release seems a bit ridiculous but in your guy's experience, do they actually work? Do they really get you dozens of super high quality backlinks as some people say?

What are you thoughts on this?
#high #press #quality #releases #worth
  • Profile picture of the author dburk
    Hi hobokook,

    The original idea behind issuing a press release is to get the press to report your story. If you are crafting press releases with that in mind and using the proper channels to get it in front of members of the media that might actually publish a story, then it could be worth far more than what you are paying. But it really depends on exactly what you are doing, if you are doing it all wrong, then it is just a waste.

    Who have you hired to craft your press releases, and how are they being distributed?
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  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    Spending $200 on a pressrelease only from SEO point of few with a non news worthy pressrelease is a waste of money.

    As a matter of fact I just tested SBwire.com, their distribution is ZERO.

    At PRweb.com with the $369 premium I get about 100 pick ups, and then tons of sites that link back to those 100 sites OR not link back at all. A standard Google search shows 1000's of results but most sites just scrape the news feed.

    Even with this expensive pressrelease it's obvious good enough for easy kw's but for the tougher ones it doesn't give much of a boost, actually I'm a bit disappointed.
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  • Profile picture of the author retsek
    Originally Posted by hobokook View Post

    I mean, spending $200+ bucks on a single high quality press release seems a bit ridiculous but in your guy's experience, do they actually work? Do they really get you dozens of super high quality backlinks as some people say?

    What are you thoughts on this?
    It's worth it if you want to get the word on a really news worthy or interesting piece of content, that you want other publishers to know about and report. That's actually the sole purpose of a press release.

    It's not worth it if all you're after is backlinks from press release sites. PR sites aren't article directories.

    So for that reason above, all the free release sites are disqualified because they have no reach, and no one reads them.

    For one site, I typically do 1 - 2 PRweb releases per month. Usually it's announcing an infographic, or curated data, or some other type of content that's link bait.
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    • Profile picture of the author EdwardDennis
      Originally Posted by retsek View Post

      It's worth it if you want to get the word on a really news worthy or interesting piece of content, that you want other publishers to know about and report. That's actually the sole purpose of a press release.

      It's not worth it if all you're after is backlinks from press release sites. PR sites aren't article directories.

      So for that reason above, all the free release sites are disqualified because they have no reach, and no one reads them.

      For one site, I typically do 1 - 2 PRweb releases per month. Usually it's announcing an infographic, or curated data, or some other type of content that's link bait.
      I believe I have asked this question, but I just want to re-assure some things.

      PRweb is good if your target audience is US based, correct? What if you are in other countries? Like Australia, Canada, UK, etc. Are there any other good press release sites that are worth considering?

      Also, while we're at it, how much do you usually pay for a press release article?

      Thanks.



      P.S. I thought I had bookmarked your thread talking about this subject, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Danggg.. That thread was gold!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
    It entirely depends on the monetization strategy of your website. If you have a high converting "irresistible offer," then the traffic from high quality press releases can cause you to easily recoup your investment. But you need the "irresistible offer" first before I'd even consider spending any kind of significant money on traffic building.

    The backlinks from press releases are an added bonus, but the main benefit is the direct traffic you can send to your offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author tech84
    Ofcourse, your press release should be actually "news worthy" otherwise, no matter how much you spend it wont get picked up
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  • Profile picture of the author StoneWilson
    It depends on how it works for you and how many benefits you can get from your investment. I spent $10K on articles creating, and so far I think it's worth, the ROI is amazing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart william
    Press release is an effective branding technique of the website. There are several free PR websites available on Internet therefore I don’t think it’s an advisable thing to spend 200$ just on single or distributor website.
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Originally Posted by Stuart william View Post

      Press release is an effective branding technique of the website. There are several free PR websites available on Internet therefore I don't think it's an advisable thing to spend 200$ just on single or distributor website.
      Hi Stuart,

      You don't really think that the free PR websites offer anything comparable to the premium paid services, do you? :confused:

      That's a little like saying "why hire a truck to deliver your cargo, when you could just strap it to your back and walk it to the desired location for free?" :p That might be fine for someone who has a very small objectives with no plans to go far in business, but surely not for anyone who is actually serious about their business.



      The best Press Release distribution services will check your press release over for compliance with industry standards, rewrite the release if necessary, and get in from of the people that are most likely to pick up and publicize your story in major media outlets. Free PR websites do not do any of that, in fact they are really not much different than just another article directory, right?

      Please correct me if I am wrong.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Stuart william View Post

      Press release is an effective branding technique of the website. There are several free PR websites available on Internet therefore I don't think it's an advisable thing to spend 200$ just on single or distributor website.
      I agree for the full 100% with you, better keep your money in your pocket, there are much better ways to spend the cash if you only do it from SEO point of view.

      I can say as a pure "fact" that a distribution to 25 free pressrelease sites gives just as much SEO benefit as a $369 costing PRweb pressrelease.

      And I'm not someone who just talks without trying, In the last 2 months I distributed over 50 pressreleases at PRweb, and even more to free sites. I don't notice ANY difference.

      If I had to pay $369 for each I would have felt hugely ripped off, I have a yearly deal so obvious I pay a LOT less which comes down to the same amount of money that I spend to let someone submit it to 25 sites. The only difference is that I have to pay more for the release it self to get accepted by PRweb as they only accept high quality content.
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  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    95% of the free Pressrelease sites do have an approval system, I bet you never tried them cause you say things that you know nothing about. Have you ever watched how well prlog ranks? It's a 100% FREE site and it's a LOT better then for example SBwire which has hardly any exposure. I did about 10 releases with SBwire and each of them was just as poor as it can be. I rather have my pressrelease at 25 free sites then only at SBwire or Emailwire.

    Okay SBwire doesn't belong to the best distribution services but it definitely shows that paid doesn't have to be better at all.

    "Rewrite the release if necessary" - are you kidding me here? I still have to find the 1st professional pressrelease distribution platform that will rewrite my pressreleases, you're really on your own their, they just say disapprove it and give some standard guidelines to get it fixed.
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

      95% of the free Pressrelease sites do have an approval system, I bet you never tried them cause you say things that you know nothing about. Have you ever watched how well prlog ranks? It's a 100% FREE site and it's a LOT better then for example SBwire which has hardly any exposure. I did about 10 releases with SBwire and each of them was just as poor as it can be. I rather have my pressrelease at 25 free sites then only at SBwire or Emailwire.

      Okay SBwire doesn't belong to the best distribution services but it definitely shows that paid doesn't have to be better at all.

      "Rewrite the release if necessary" - are you kidding me here? I still have to find the 1st professional pressrelease distribution platform that will rewrite my pressreleases, you're really on your own their, they just say disapprove it and give some standard guidelines to get it fixed.
      Hi nik0,

      There is a big difference in press release distribution for real media pickup, and press release distribution for web spamming. I was referring to the former, not the latter.

      When is the last time you had a member of the media pickup your story from prlog, or any other free distribution service? That almost never happens.

      The free websites do almost nothing to get your press release in front members of the media, journalists would have to search for your PR through Google and find your release among millions of others, which defeats the primary purpose of Press release distribution for the media.

      And yes, there are premium services that will write, or rewrite, your press releases for you, research to find the journalist most likely to pickup your story and followup with those journalist to try to get you an interview with those journalists. Here is one such company Press Release Sites - Piece of Cake PR - Press Release Writing and Distribution., and one of the partners is former journalist himself, and a WF member as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yohance j
    I was wondering about this as well. I can get a article done in a local paper and wondered if that could help with my links in there of course.
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  • Profile picture of the author thepresence
    A free press release is still valuable but far less so than in the past. If you are promoting your basic posts, it will do. However, if you are selling a product, the rewards will be there for a paid release because that release will bring in lots of customers from important sources.
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  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    Yeah okay, you also take it from a different angle like Retsek does. Then nothing said.
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  • Profile picture of the author gearmonkey
    Press releases are amaizng... but $200, no. You can find high quality free ones.
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