Good posts poeple! We've submitted about 5 now and all got a score=4. All on the $30 deal. My suspicion is it takes some serious $$$s to get a 5, nothing to do with quality. But I hope I'm wrong. I haven't seen much in terms of links or traffic but the releases do tend to rank well so we do it for sheer online presence. Whoever searches our business will come across numerous PR's written by us so we sort of control the image out there.
ME: In my experience, it's not about the amount of contribution, but about editorial quality (I've placed hundreds of releases on PRWeb, and still only get lucky with a 5 about 1 in 10 releases). Also: I assume that you contribute $30 so you can add attachments to your release. What's not clear is that if you move it to $40, you'll actually get a thumbnail view of your attachments (aside from PDF's). So when someone clicks your release headline, they end up at your release and see a right-hand border area of your attachment images - very effective at getting increased attention in this ADD world! ME: This is such a key comment, that I'd almost like to start a new thread: Controlling Your Image/message/brand. One of the top things we accomplish with online PR is ensuring that WE own our image, and not a competitor, customer from hell or industry trade group. So we focus on ensuring we have lots of little upbeat messages floating through the ether, many being picked-up by RSS feeds and in print publications and blogs (we handle such a variety of clientele that a new or innovative product can gain the attention of TIME or PEOPLE magazine from a decent online press release). The end result is excellent ToMA (Top of Mind Awareness). And that's what counts in managing our message. It's like that old maxim: Perception is Reality. So... it's Monday afternoon here on the west coast... I better craft some PR and get it in to tomorrow's press run while there's still daylight! Wish me luck on getting a "5"! Best, ME
Best of luck to you! I re-wrote a release from last month because it scored a "3"; I emailed PRWeb to request a bump in editorial score so that they would include the release in their eMediaWire service. They agreed (maybe because I increase my contribution to $201 ), so now all my releases with them have an editorial score of "4" I highly recommend a > $200 contribution for each of your releases. The traffic to my sites has been excellent. Worth the money. AmCy
ME: That's a great story... One of the unwritten helpful notes here is that, aside from the increase in contribution helping to escalate your position on the PRWeb Home Page for the distribution date, if you actually DO make improvements to your release, an actual HUMAN reads and comments and will make the related changes in position and editorial score. I visited their headquarters recently in Ferndale, Washington (about a 4.5 hour trip from Portland, Oregon where my office is located). They are an excellent group of people, and they have a growing group of editors who are really sharp. I always thought the process was sort of automated, but was pleasantly surprised to see that there are real faces who read each of the submissions. But I digress. One of the very cool elements exposed in AmCy's post is that you can UPDATE your press release as often as necessary following your submission (if you felt you had something valuable to add). I've had to release on a specific date, but added a new link, an additional distribution target and an attachment weeks later... and received additional traffic as a result. So an online press release is actually dynamic, much like a blog entry or a web page. So a change made today can be spidered tomorrow and may even have some effect on your backlink status. More later! best, ME
PRLeap is the same in that a real person reviews your release (they rejected one of my releases, which they later accepted after I re-wrote it; they also manually review all my little edits and re-approve each and every time.) I did not donate anything to PRLeap, though, mainly because they only accept PayPal, and I am boycotting Paypal (sidenote: I heard on NPR today that Google is coming out with a service that will compete with PayPal--Woohoo!) The people @ PR Leap need to be more professional and accept credit card payments via a real merchant account, not that rinky-dink PayPal nonsense. It was great to see my releases in Y! and G News, complete with the premium anchor text links. I am expecting great things! As always, IMO. AmCy
Uhhhh.. Are you asking me? It's AmCy, short for American CyberSpace I am happy to share my releases with the forum: Debt Help Forum Press Release Student Loan Consolidation Press Release Credit cards press release Comments are welcome! Anyone else want to share? AmCy
ME: Very well done! Thanks for the insights to your PR... it's cool to see someone else using these tools (PRWeb, PRLeap, PRNewswire) to get the expanded reach of your web site. My test model to gauge results of PRWeb distribution and backlinks "in a vacuum" is looking good. The most recent press went out today (I've included links to both press releases below, along with some additional ones to see how we've achieved an editorial score of "5"). Something I need to resolve is how drastically different the pickup rate is between Yahoo and Google. On Yahoo, I get 506 mentions when searching for "prwebquickstart". On Google, the number is 290. Does Yahoo spider more pages, or look at content differently (such as counting every reference for the word or phrase within the body of a page)? Something to ponder here. Also, a new tip I just figured out: If you release your Press Release (with a contribution of $80 or more, or through PRWebDirect at $119), and get it in the queue a week ahead of time, you'll start getting links by about the 3rd day. Evidently the Inktomi engine gets involved within 24 hours to ensure that your PR is available to their content partners. It was interesting to see links begin to show, even through the press release couldn't be "found" by clicking the resulting links on Google. So, here are the links to the releases: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/inktomi248698.php (PRWeb Quickstart initial release) http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb253582.php PRWebQuickstart Follow-up release http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb206705.php Genius at Your Next Meeting release http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb233453.php From Creativity to Productivity with eXpertLingo In my experience, continuing to apply good copywriting principles, sticking to a focused message, and asking (and answering) a compelling question seem to be some of the keys to a good pickup rate on PRWeb and PRNewswire. You know, a catchy headline does wonders! Anyhow, any inside skinny on the numbers in the results between Google and Yahoo? Just curious. Best, ME
Good stuff! Which one(s) got an editorial score of "5"? And please enlighten me as to how I can get the "Other Releases by this Member" links to show @ the bottom of my releases. Do you have to work for a PR firm to have access to that privilege? AmCy
Heh...U know, some months ago, I registered the domain name contractor.cc thinking that I had snagged a great keyword domain name. I was quite proud of myself. Later on I realized that I had in fact registered the domain name contrator.cc, a domain name which is of course totally useless. You just gotta' laugh at yourself sometimes AmCy
Hi AmCy, Thanks for the positive response! All of the releases I profiled are rated a "5" (though the two regarding eXpertSystem and eXpertLingo needed to have changes to the content to get there from a "4"). Oh yeah, and isn't it cool the way you get the additional linkage at the bottom of your PRWeb press releases? If you do, say, 12-16 press releases in a row, 1-2 per week, and catagorize them right, you'll see this sloping curve: oldest press having the greatest number of clicks, the newest the least. It's because the old ones are listed below the current release, and if the headline jumps out, the viewer will often click that one as well. Here's how to make that happen: 1) Immediately above the "Your Recent Press" in the admin console is a menu called Select Group. When you have a lot of releases (those of us who have a few clients have releases numbering in the hundreds per account). 2) To the right of the "Increase Contribution" link is a menu that has a list of the groups you've created, and a selection called "Create New Group". 3) You can use that to create a group, OR BETTER: 4) Go to the ADD/EDIT RSS GROUPS link next to the Submit News Release button. 5) Add keywords and an RSS Description, then Save and get back to your Console. 6) Apply that GROUP to your selected press releases, and watch the results compound. We have a release from May 2003 with over 3,000 actual clicks, almost 200,000 "views". It's a direct result of this "stacking" effect you get with multiple releases. Also: Check out the Press Release stats (see attached) we did for Susan's Healthy Gourmet addressing Wayne Knight (aka "Neuman" of Seinfeld). Those are amazing stats... but that's what you get for picking a release with high "ToMA". I hope this is helpful. Very good insights, by the way. Sounds like you're a master of your domain(s)...;-) Best, ME P.S. Keep an eye on the 3rd page of our www.prwebquickstart.com site. It's all about how to get PRWeb to work for you in SEO/SEM and in what PRWeb calls their Online Visibility Engine. We will have some solid content up by late next week.
I just configured it. That was easy! Thanks very much for taking the time to type that info! More later. I've gotta' catch some zzzzzzzz's...... AmCy
You bet, AmCy! Yeah... time for some shut-eye myself. I have a client who won the Yahoo contenst for Most Innovative New Product, and is being awarded 10,000 clicks through Yahoo/Overture, and gets to meet Richard Branson on Thursday... tons of work to prep for that, but very cool to see him getting the worthwhile attention. See his stuff at http://www.staircycle.com nd have a great rest of the week. best, ME
That's an excellent resource in the making eAgent. There probably is a lot of information out there about PRWeb, but I had a hard time finding it. Looking through your pdf, it definitely answers a lot of the questions I originally had. Good luck with the site!
ME: Thanks for the positive ping, NevetS... Look for both an update to the ebook and the new online Visibility eBook by next Friday (the OVE eBook will be much more detailed on how to use PRWeb to drive long-term traffic to your site and to actual print and web publications. I've been working on it for over a year, so it's pretty deep and wide in what it covers... but simple enough to implement each specific step within a few minutes each). I'm adding a TOC to the current book and a visual index with navigation so you can just click through the 21 points addressed in order, with a site-map like interface to make navigation more organic... always a challenge in these things. Please feel free to keep asking questions as well... it's all valuable in helping to clarify the processes and makes me think through some thigns i might have overlooked... myopia can set in pretty quickly when you're in front of the keyboard 12 hours a day! As you very well know. have a phenomenal week, and thanks again. best, ME P.S. Did I see you're in SoCal? I moved from Newport Beach 18 months ago and am lusting for it again. i still get down there every few weeks for www.trikke.com and www.thevaleogroup.com. If you're in LA, or that area, let me now and maybe we can connect.
I read through this entire thread last week and it actually convinced me to give PRWeb a try. We have a PR company that handles our off site stuff so I have plenty of professional Press Releases. I have been really impressed so far with the interface but I had a few questions. First of all, our first Release got a 4 out of 5 and is set to be released Monday. The context of our questions are for exposure, not necesarily SEO benefit. 1.) We contributed $40.05 in order to get the thumbnail shot. I figured the .05 puts us over those who bid $40 - Correct me if I'm wrong 2.) That level seems to give us everything we are after. What would the reasons be to go to a higher level from an exposure standpoint? 3.) Our current position is listed as "42". Is that a good position (Obviously #1 is the best but for $400 we aren't going after that). If we bid another $2 for instance, could we possibly see a move or is it unnecesary? 4.) What does the 42 siginify. Our place overall or our place withing our category? Thanks in Advance!
yfs1 I read through this entire thread last week and it actually convinced me to give PRWeb a try. We have a PR company that handles our off site stuff so I have plenty of professional Press Releases. ME: Excellent. It's great to have well-composed content to work from. I have been really impressed so far with the interface but I had a few questions. First of all, our first Release got a 4 out of 5 and is set to be released Monday. The context of our questions are for exposure, not necesarily SEO benefit. 1.) We contributed $40.05 in order to get the thumbnail shot. I figured the .05 puts us over those who bid $40 - Correct me if I'm wrong ME: You're right-on here... 2.) That level seems to give us everything we are after. What would the reasons be to go to a higher level from an exposure standpoint? ME: This is a great question. We've done an analysis of $10-$250 contributions in $10 increments (the stats will be in the Online Visibility eBook due out in the next 2-4 weeks) on every day of the week. The $120-$150 contribution gave us the best performance for most days for what we were seeking. We do a $200-$350 release at least twice a month to ensure we get the added benefits of a persistent listing (meaning it's in the top 3-4 positions, so we get it on every page, at the top, of that days PRWeb.com pages (which can number in the hundreds) and the additional metrics you receive (it's like having Webtrends hooked to your release... very cool to follow the stats for local, Google, Yahoo and Internation pickups). The added threads to PRNewswire.com and Yahoo News, as well as guaranteed front page listing is extremely impactful, and those require a minimum $80 contribution. 3.) Our current position is listed as "42". Is that a good position (Obviously #1 is the best but for $400 we aren't going after that). If we bid another $2 for instance, could we possibly see a move or is it unnecesary? ME: We usually go for $10-$11 increments and get to the position we want (usually positions 8-12 are absolutel gold, and 13-24 are very good. Below that is fine, as you'll still be front page... but page 2 gets almost half the traffic, which reduces your clicks and headline views). 4.) What does the 42 siginify. Our place overall or our place withing our category? ME: No, it's the actual place on the page of ALL press submitted that day. Now keep in mind, that number will change as you near your distribution date (if you submit today for distribution a week later, which we recommend if possible, you'll have a rockin' 2-10 position with $40-$80 contrbution. But as you near the date, more folks will be pushing you down the list). Ways to beat that: 1) More contribution, up until the 11th hour. it's sort of like eBay sniping, where you can win the auction at the last minute by watching your position relative to others. 2) Tell your friends. This is easy to implement, and is a real win/win for you, your business associates, and PRWeb. When you're in the Admin console (where you submit and monitor your release) you will see a "Friends of PRWebâ„¢" link. Click that and you'll find an email form you can use to tell others about PRWeb (please keep this legit, as they've worked very hard to ensure that real potential users or prople who would want to read or benefit from PRWeb content (bloggers, editors, business users, etc...) know about the service. So adding more to your Friends list also adds to your position in that day's listing. 3) Perfect your release and get it to a "5". That means making sure it's really newsworthy and doing the rest above. I listed some releases I received a "5" on in an earlier post, so you can see some of that as well. Let me know if this is helpful, and loo for the more detailed SEO aka PRWeb's Online Visibility Engine guide coming to a PDF near you very soon at www.prwebquickstart.com. Have an awesome weekend, and thanks for the ping on this. best, ME Thanks in Advance!
A saturday or sunday press release will get better position for lower dollars, but then again it get's read less. I think you meant emediawire. PRNewswire distribution is more expensive. If you are looking to improve your position by 'sniping', the release happens at midnight Pacific time (GMT-8:00), but you can change your contribution at any point during the release date to try and climb up the list. PRWeb says that top 5 get featured listing spots on all pages, but I think it's top 6. I think that each gold star indicates $40 of contribution. You can look at the archives to see what 1 gold star gets you positionwise on Mondays. Look at like the last four Mondays. $40.05 gets you above the regular $40 contributors, but I would suggest going $42.05, $46.05, or $51.05 if you are worried about positioning - just a little extra boost. I think you can add to your contribution and see the change in position right away but I'm not sure. One big thing is to pick a LOT of categories for your release. That way you get the widest distribution. The article views DO NOT translate into page views on your site however. If there is a compelling reason you might see a fair amount of click throughs, but set your expectations low. Right now, I see 18 articles on the front page. So I would suggest shooting for at least 18, but even on saturday that means at least an $80 contribution (assuming that I'm right about 1 gold star = $40). Today $40 gets you close to the top of page 2, last monday it puts you at position 86 - meaning the only people who will read that far are A) people searching for info about your company B) People reading newsfeeds in one of your topical categories C) people who end up reading it at a syndicated site I think that there's just not a lot of people who click through past a few pages on PRWeb, but I could be wrong. I've only done one release myself.