'Net Features : press release distribution

Increase ROI & Go Global With Online PR

Administrator — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:18:00 GMT

(This article was provided by PR Fire; the specialist free PR distribution website.)

Online marketing is a necessity for any business. Regardless of the industry or size of company, a mix of marketing techniques - SEO, PPC, social media - is required to boost overall online presence and to improve sales. Online public relations should also be one of the fundamental tools in any marketing campaign; it's one of the most powerful, effective and cost-efficient tools available.
Despite social media's exponential growth, a March 2012 survey by Text 100 revealed that press releases are still favored by journalists; and are the preferred communication method for relaying news information. Online PR is an essential marketing practice to promote product announcements, service notices and business news. But just how can you benefit from it? We outline the top-three advantages below.

Unrestricted Return On Investment

Traditional PR services are typically paid on a per-lead-basis, so if you pay for an advertisement in a local newspaper, you will only be active for as long as you pay for the fee. However, online PR is continuous and generally unrestricted, so the promotional content will be available and visible online for years to come. You simply pay a one-off charge. The ROI is unlimited, as you can generate a number of future leads. It is a long-term investment and is unparalleled in comparison to other marketing effort.

Globalization

The Web is a vast platform. You have the opportunity for success on a global scale. In contrast to traditional services, which are targeted in local geographical regions. While it would cost a fortune to air an international TV advertisement, or attempt to achieve nationwide coverage in newspaper ads, online press release distribution can establish a global presence. People from all over the world can read the information you are sharing.

Track Progress

In any business it is key to measure progress to better the company and achieve success. One of the most appealing aspects of online pr is that you can track the progress through applications, which offer detailed analysis. For example, through Web analytics you can see how many visitors view every page of the site, which websites they have been referred from and at what percentage they performed a desirable action.

Alert the Press, Increase SEO

Amberly Dressler — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:30:00 GMT

From company launches to product announcements, the almighty press release not only has its place in business news, but is also a powerful tool in SEO, brand building and more. There are countless ways to distribute press releases. Fostering relationships with media contacts is the most rewarding, but is also the most time consuming and often the most futile. Don’t give up though! Get creative with your pitches. It just takes one reporter with a deadline and no article to put your company on the 5 o’ clock news, somewhere in print or on their website (organic traffic, anyone?). Follow media members on Twitter, too. They may return the favor, thus having direct access to tweets about your company.

With that said, there is no venue for distributing press releases that is simpler and more productive than press release wires. Here are the top-10 free press release distribution sites:

PR.com

This free- and fee-based site, depending on the distribution level you choose, is a surefire way to expand a company’s presence on Google News. Among PR.com’s SEO benefits are a full company profile and the ability to add anchor text, for a fee. Even for free submissions, the approval process is quick, getting your news picked up faster.

PR Urgent

Another service, which gets nearly guaranteed placement in Google News is PR Urgent. Again, they offer both free- and fee-based distribution, but prices start at just $9.95 and top out at $25. The fees allow users to upload an image, optimize the release and more. For free, all releases will be manually reviewed by an editor who will make changes to speed up approval, if necessary. Most press release distribution sites have strict guidelines, to control quality, and PR Urgent is no different. To take advantage of this quality service, make sure your releases are news material, don’t contain copyrighted material, etc.

PRLog.org

One of the few distribution services to allow users to upload an image and submit a press release at no cost, is PRLog.org. Bookmark this site and use it often. Advanced, paid features are available, but the free ones are pretty impressive. Besides the ability to create a full “About” section for a company, PRLog.org also archives company releases, to provide users with a Press Room, where releases are easily accessible.

FreePressRelease.com

Embed images and video at will and insert unlimited outbound anchor-text links in a press release that is being distributed for free all sounds too good to be true, but FreePressRelease.com allows all users to do just that. The cherry on top of this already feature-rich service is spam protection for the contact’s email. All users may also apply as many categories to their press releases as they wish, and much more.

i-Newswire

Following suit, i-Newswire also offers different pricing plans. It’s free service typically requires a 72-hour approval period, but is worth the wait. Their guidelines are strict, but published releases here carry plenty of weight with editors and journalists because of it. Plus, users are able to select a category for their release, and also include keyword tags.

WidePr.com

WidePr.com is another service that allows users to publish a photo with their release, for free. In addition to a generous “About You” section, published below each release, WidePr.com also allows a liberal amount of keyword tags. It’s archived “Related Press Releases” section also allows readers an additional way to follow a company and helps with SEO efforts.

1888PressRelease.com

The free distribution at 188PressRelease.com doesn’t get businesses in Google News, but is an effective way to create published material about a company, which you can link to in a variety of ways. This site gives users the ability to share their release with 20 different websites including the big names like Facebook and Twitter, as well as sites like StumbleUpon, Reddit and more. Take your release a step further with several pricing and distribution plans ranging from $15 a press release to $300 a press release.

PressBox.Co.Uk

No sign-up required. No passwords to remember. Count us in. PressBox.Co.Uk requires users to fill out just a dozen, very basic fields before they can not only submit a free press release, but also add their logo to it. Plus, you’re allowed about a half dozen text links/URLs. It's basic, but it works for link building.

Free Press Index

Pick a name – pick the right name, as this free press release distribution site archives press releases by the submitter’s name. The site allows for non-hyperlinked URLs, which is better than omitting it all together. A bonus is that users can use tags to categorize the release with other hot newsworthy ones. Press release viewers can also leave comments. An engaged audience is a good audience.

The Open Press

There may be a bit of a waiting period to register for this site, as all registrations are done manually, but once registered, it’s a service to add to a regularly used list of PR wires. The Open Press allows a hyperlinked URL in the copy and the Contact Info and Release Information sections allow users to link to their websites twice.

Only 12 Percent Leverage Video in News Releases

MaureenA — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Despite the growing use of online video among U.S. consumers, businesses have yet to fully leverage the use of video in press releases, according to a new report by PRWeb. The results of a new PRWeb survey showed a huge disparity between those who find it valuable to implement video in press releases and those who actually do it. Of the 1,817 surveyed, 94 percent see value but only 12 percent actually put video in press releases.

"We think the answer centers on the idea that developing video can be challenging and PR professionals hesitate to publish video that may not be of professional quality," said Jiyan Wei, director of product management, PRWeb.

While, online video viewing increased from 158 billion in July to 161 billion in August according to comScore data, it appears that consumers are becoming much more comfortable with online video – even expecting it in some places.

For those who want more information on developing videos for press releases, PRWeb has a webinar posted on its site called “How to Use Video and Multimedia to Optimize Your Online News Releases.”

What would get you to pull the trigger and implement video in your releases? Or, are you part of the 12 percent who actually puts video in releases?

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A Blogger's Dream: PRTube

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:40:00 GMT

One of my favorite press release distrubution services, PRLeap, announced last week the launch of PRTube, a way to embed, share and track press releases on any blog or website.

"PRTube takes the social media press release to the next level by allowing anyone to embed the press release on their website, blog or social network profile, making it viral," said Merrick Lozano, co-founder of Condesa, the company behind PRLeap.

Using Adobe Flash, PRTube is essentially an embeddable press release viewer. Where the system will really stand out is in its statistics and tracking capabilities. PRTube features real-time monitoring and tracking, allowing a Web marketer or publicist to see where the press release has been embedded and how many times it has been viewed. This is in addition to the web analytics already available on prleap.com.

For bloggers looking for content, finding it through PRLeap and displaying it through the PRTube interface might be a good option.

PRTube.com is scheduled to be launched as a separate platform and set of tools in the spring 2009, although it's available now within all PR accounts and in distribution of all press releases.

PRWeb Distribution to AOL Money & Finance

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:55:00 GMT

The real value in sending press releases is in the distribution and syndication (and even more if you can embed a few keyword rich links in the copy) of content. When you've found an entity that enables you to share a message across a seemingly infinite number of outlets, you should use it reguarly.

PRWeb just announced that it has extended its press release distribution to AOL Money & Finance and the Quotes and Portfolio pages. The AOL partnership now enables those publishing press release to appear on that site, as well as within existing partner news outlets such as the Associated Press and Yahoo! News, to reach online audience of more than 70 million unique visitors in the United States alone.

"With PRWeb's rapid growth and expansion, it is becoming a key goal for our customers to get their news to the financial community," said Bill Wagner, chief marketing officer of Vocus, Inc. (Owners of PRWeb.com). "With over 15 million unique visitors each month to AOL's Money & Finance site, the partnership increases our customers' exposure in the financial community and helps generate interest among some of the top business investors and analysts."