How important is press release?

[buronggoy]

Hi I just encounter a site that offers press release for your site.
I wonder how this one helps you promote your site?
Thus it will give you backlinks only or do they will give you significant result in increasing your traffic?

Anyone have tried this one before can share their experience?
Thanks!

[Moto]

It's best to do the press release yourself.

[bluegill_catcher]

I did a press release myself once and then I paid a pro(?) to write one for me. Both times they were submitted to PR Web. Results: Hardly anything. No change or notice of a traffic increase, etc. I get a LOT better results by writing and distributing free articles

[gford]

go the article route.

[Sims2]

Yes, I think you should do the press release yourself.

[Moto]

PR Web is almost worthless. Send the PR to news sites that are in your industry.

[ly2]

I did PR for one of my sites and YTD it has sent me 35-40k uniques. Plus atleast 20 backlinks. I went with the $120 PR and paid someone from here to write it for me. I plan on doing another one soon.

[Sxperm]

I did PR for one of my sites and YTD it has sent me 35-40k uniques. Plus atleast 20 backlinks. I went with the $120 PR and paid someone from here to write it for me. I plan on doing another one soon.
Looks great :D Could you tell me where is the best place to publish your own press realeases? I'm kinda do it myself too. Paid pro to write them for me first then publish them myself.

Cheers,
Sxperm

[buronggoy]

I think im missing the point here.
Just want to know if I will submit my own press release will it help my site get traffic or backlinks?thanks!

[projectw3]

PR Web is almost worthless. Send the PR to news sites that are in your industry.

That's good advice. Tried PRWeb to publish my new content site. Hardly nothing.

[angelfire]

I think im missing the point here.
Just want to know if I will submit my own press release will it help my site get traffic or backlinks?thanks!

of course it is worth it both traffic and backlinks. It drives more traffic if you are able to do it right. It gives your site more visibility, more visibility equals more traffic. ;)

[APYL]

It gives your site more visibility, more visibility equals more traffic. ;)

we are too agree with agale fire. More Visibility more traffic...;)

[boohlick]

that is if you pay for it, I ve sent my PR to all free PRess Release sites but no increase in traffic..
BTW if there sombody here uses a software to submit your press release?
I found this one http://www.prwizard.com/
Does anybody here uses this? is really woth it?

Thanks

[Copywriter]

It depends very much on the press release. A press release has to be genuinely newsworthy to get you traffic. Too many people put out releases which are really just adverts, and then wonder why they don't achieve something.

As an example of how well press releases can work: I put one out online on Monday night, for one of my sites. On Tuesday, it was picked up by Google news. My traffic increased hugely because of that.

For offline distribution, I put out a press release two weeks ago for a client. Last week he had a call from a nation newspaper here in Scotland, who are going to write a double-page feature on his business - the kind of advertising that he just couldn't have afforded to buy.

It all depends on the press release and how newsworthy it is.

[angelos]

I think that the way you distribute the press release is no less important than the quality of the press release itself. Though, again, it depends on what purpose you pursue mainly - SEO or raising conversion rate. That is to say, press release shoul help not only to bring more traffic, but persuade a potential customer to buy your product or use your service. Then, press release may be of great help.

[Seiya]

That's good advice. Tried PRWeb to publish my new content site. Hardly nothing.

Try saying how much you paid..

I had the $80 package today for my first time, well see how it goes.

[marketjunction]

A press release has to be genuinely newsworthy to get you traffic. Too many people put out releases which are really just adverts, and then wonder why they don't achieve something.

You can say it over and over, but it will fall on deaf ears. :cool:

[Seiya]

I can tell you now that for my topic it didnt work out for even 1 new member i think =P

[jhmattern]

As a PR professional, I have to say they're one of the best tools out there. The problem is that a lot of website owners aren't using them to their full potential. First of all, unless you truly understand the proper formatting of a press release, hire someone to help you - even if it's just the first few, so you can then model your own after them. It's not as simple as most people think, because you have to learn how to catch media attention.

Using press releases simply for seo and getting rankings / backlinks might work sometimes, but it's not what a press release is for. If you want serious results, you'll either have to pay for newswire placements, or you'll need to invest in a custom media list or build your own. It's always better to fax / email a copy of your release to specific media outlets and then follow up with them later. Newswires should be in addition to that; not a substitute.

Jenn

[projectw3]

Try saying how much you paid..

I had the $80 package today for my first time, well see how it goes.

I paid a dollar for trial. However, my point is, if you have to pay big bucks to get some credible result, wouldn't anyone consider other options?
With $50 per release, I have so many other options.
e.g. buy links, manual directory submissions, buy guaranteed traffic, etc etc.

And when I agree that there's little value, I mean the page views doesn't bring about much traffic. And I tried more than once to be fair :)

[jhmattern]

And when I agree that there's little value, I mean the page views doesn't bring about much traffic. And I tried more than once to be fair :)

The point of a press release isn't to bring incoming links; it's to convince media outlets to pick up on your news for a story. If you're looking at it as nothing more than a link-building tool, then yes, you're better off spending your money on guaranteed traffic or something, rather than trying to use a tool for something it's not designed for. ;) The point though is that if you spend $50 on a release (and in reality, if that's all your spending, you're not going to get great results, but the best way is manual submission which is much more expensive), it becomes enormously more worthwhile than buying traffic, because one media outlet publishing a story about you can reach hundreds of thousands of people. But if you can't reach the correct media contacts, don't know how to convince them that your story is newsworthy, or don't make yourself available to them and really push your pitch on them, press releases probably aren't the best tool for you anyway. :)

Jenn