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.
