Press release is the basic way of informing thernaudience about a person, founder, company, product or service. Successful andrnefficient press release can be received by the right person, in the right timernand with the right information. The real professionalism is not only in writingrncorrect and comprehensive press release, but also in delivering it to thernperson who will be interested in publishing it. The international freelancernplatform for specialists if linguistic area 2Polyglot shares its experience ofrnusage of online press release distribution system.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to guarantee any interesting press release will be published. Itrnis obligatory to understand that journalists receive huge amount of pressrnreleases: some of them get the delivery of several thousand units every week.rnIt seems like many PR specialists suppose that journalists really read everyrnpress release they receive. But this is physically impossible. A lot ofrnjournalists delete all electronic press releases without even checking it.
Anyway, they are still important. The most frequent reason of the failures is trying tornmake everybody like it.
This is not a secret anymore that the usage of a press release has become a popularrnSEO tool. But it’s not just it. Press release has much more power than it isrnonly possible to imagine. Its content helps reach influencers, journalists, consumersrnand even investors. Joe Laratro, SEO expert and PubCon lead moderator said, “Inrn2006 online press releases were amazing for SEO. In 2013? Not so much. Onlinernpress releases have had very little value in terms of links and content overrnthe past few years – I would say it had been steadily declining”.
So what is the situation in 2015?
Due to Google’s system of link analysis called Google Penguin, link building isrnslowly disappearing from SEO’s “jurisdiction” and striving for becoming a partrnof PR. Google obviously discourages the practice of generating inbound links insteadrnof direct reach of target audience. There appear more and more stricterrnrequirements for links and this is qualitative content that becomes the first inrnthe race of search results. Paid backlinks can make things even worse. Tryingrnto deceive Google is like playing with the fate: one way or another, eventuallyrnyour website will get a filter on.
So nowadays, a press release has nothing to do with SEO and link building. Thernactual value press release distribution provides is reaching target audience,rnnot links. Generating unique reads, increasing brand recognition and socialrnshares are true goals of press release distribution. So interested visitors,rnnot a place in the list of search results. If you thought about another option,rnwhich is still available – key words in text, than (I hurry to disappoint you)rnyou will be disappointed that Google has another tool for it too. Google Pandarnis aimed to recognize unfair content supersaturated with key words. That is whyrnthere is no difference anymore between content for people and content for searchrnengines, now there is only Content. So playing with Google is not a good idea.
To purchase or not to purchase paidrnpress release distribution?
Theory is always only theory. Discussion can last for eternity, but real examples canrnshow more value of all said above. It is always better to learn from others’rnmistakes, than trying to improve the situation after consequences have already happened.rnTherefore, the experience of international freelance platform for linguists 2Polyglot will clarify an issue and helprneveryone make one’s own decision.
Several press release distribution services were considered for usage:
- PR Newswire
- eReleases
- PR.com
- B2Blogger
- PRNews
In the end, eReleases platform was chosen for distribution. The choice was made onrna base of information it has serious partners, wide database of relevantrnresources and many positive feedbacks about this platform from users on thernInternet. eReleases also cooperates with more than 100 thousand journalists andrnpress releases are being published by Google,rnUSA TODAY, The New York Times, Yahoo and LYCOS.
Publication conditions
- eReleasesrnoffers four different packages. The cheapest one costs $249 and thernmost expensive one is $499. 2Polyglot
team has chosen middle package called Buzz Builder:
- Pressrnrelease (400 words). It should be mentioned that written press release does notrngive the right for any discount.
- Postingrnpress release on 75 related resources.
- Promotionrnwith SEO tools (no explanations were provided).
In total
2Polyglot’s press release was published on 70 different resources (not 75 as it wasrnpromised). That was noticed that chosen resources were not the mostrnauthoritative due to low traffic and irregular content update. For the periodrnof 21 days only 100 visitors clicked the link in press release from all 70rnwebsites. Linguistic freelance platform recognized such result unsatisfied andrndefined this promotion method as inefficient.
Furthermore, many other distribution resources cannot warrant publication on authoritative websitesrnand do not usually provide with any short list (4-7) of guaranteed sites wherernpress release will be published. They often feed with quantity of guaranteedrnpublications, but do not say what they are. It means those resources may bernsmall enough that anyone could post a press release there by oneself for free.rnAnyway, the conditions were accomplished, so you had done it at your own risk.
Successful and efficient press release reaches thernright place, in the right time and with the right information. The realrnprofessionalism is not only in writing correct and comprehensive press release,rnbut also in delivering it to the person who will be interested in publishingrnit.
These words explain why distribution campaign occurred to be unsuccessful forrn2Polyglot. In fact, the most efficient way of press release distribution isrnindividual direct negotiation with target resources offering interestingrncontent, which will attract necessary audience. This method will save money andrnprovides increasing amount of visits from interested people.
