Article in SEO

One of the oldest and most often forgotten methods of promotion is the press release. What is a press release? A press release is a short notice of information about your company or website that is sent to various members of the press.

It can be about a new feature or business you are launching, or about a new product or service your company is offering. There are various press release services, even services online, such as PRWeb. Sites that offer press release services like PRWeb make it very easy to create a press release. This makes it immensely easy for small businesses and new websites to get their company or website out into the world.

When sending out your press release, especially with online sources, you should make sure you don’t have too high expectations. Oftentimes, especially if the press release service is free, it will simply republish the release on a network of sites.

If you expect to get phone calls, interviews, and other media attention from your idea, chances are likely that you’ll be disappointed. It’s possible, but very unlikely, since most of the larger press and media sources get hundreds of press releases daily; typically, they’ll just browse through them or ignore them altogether.

If you’re seeking media attention, such as a spot on the evening news or in a large newspaper, it’s better to personally contact individual stations and media outlets. This can be particularly successful if you live in a smaller, more rural area. If you’re into webmastering sites or other internet business aspects, living in a small town can get you a lot of local press. However, though contacting the media sources personally does increase your chances of getting coverage, you still shouldn’t expect phenomenal results.

The good thing about doing a press release through online services like PRWeb and other press release services is not the actual press coverage (which will be minimal, at best), but is rather for the potential incoming links. The larger the online press release website service, the more likely you’ll get a larger number of backlinks.

Backlinks can help your search engine rankings which help your traffic, so it’s something you should aim to constantly receive. It’s possible that even the republished press release can be republished again and rewritten, only this time posted on the blogs of other webmasters. It’s hard to say if you will be fortunate enough to get additional press coverage with other online blogs, but it’s possible. However, it largely depends on the topic or niche of the site, as well as the newsworthiness of the item you’re releasing to the press.

When you write a press release, just keep realistic expectations. Don’t expect any press attention from media outlets like newspapers or TV stations, even though this sort of coverage is possible. It’s simply less common and more rare. What you should really write a press release for, at lest online press releases, is for the backlinks and potential click through traffic you can get.