I recently did a press release submission two weeks ago for the website that is listed in my signature. I was looking at my traffic stats for today and noticed an unusual increase. A little research and I noticed they my site was mentioned on the New York Times Website. They also used a keyword to link to the site. So I guess if you have legitimate business/blog the main stream will mention it. Oh - I used a digitalpoint member to do the pr service for $7. So I didn't use one of the majors. Not the biggest news in the word; but it's definitely work sharing. By the way - if you are a small business onwner in the US and want to share your entrepreneurial story please contact me through the site.
That's the greatest thing about press releases -- Your content can be syndicated and shown on thousands of websites if you simply get lucky. Glad to here it worked out for you!
I've had good luck with prlog.org. I've had releases show up in google news, which can easily net you a lot more views beyond what you get on the site, but even if you don't get into google news, the site has a lot of traffic and you'll get a fair amount of views just from local traffic, even if you don't share or post your press release anywhere. The click-through rate is pretty good. It's very time-sensitive traffic though. You'll see a short burst within 24-48 hours, then a trickle for a week or so, and then it's basically done. Another benefit of writing a press release is that if you write it well and it speaks to people, it will get published. I've never gotten into a mainstream paper or website (yet) but I've had press releases published (permanently) on numerous websites. It's a great technique to use, especially when you roll out a new feature or announce a key change to your website. If you want to check out how I've used the site, here's a link to the press room for RateTea.net. I'm open to suggestions of how to use the site better; I feel relatively inexperienced at writing press releases and I'd like to get better at it.
If you take the time to write a press release, do you also submit it locally or off-line? Where else can you submit a press release besides free / paid online press release sites?
thats good thing that your site get listed on website of new-york times. I don't think that it will work for everyone as well...
Press releases are very good instruments in the marketing mix. I always try to get in a few links and write with the journalist in mind.
Would you mind stating who offered this service that brought this result. I am interested in trying this out for my site. Thanks in anticipation.
Would you say that paying for PR submissions is worth it? Has anyone had a good experience with PRWeb for example? I've used it several times and have always had good results-- far better than submitting my PRs everywhere manually-- but would you all say it's worth it for the rather significant amount of money traffic-wise?
I haven't used these, but I think in general, paying for PR submission is not something you do for the traffic. The advantage of using a paid service like PRWeb is that you're more likely to get picked up by high-quality news outlets. This can bump you into a new realm of legitimacy, if it happens. For example, if your press release is published in a newspaper or magazine that has print circulation, you've just got print circulation for no additional cost. Also, if you get into a news site that's archived in google news archive, your site is now mentioned in google news archive, which is also a big step. What's best, however, is if your press release gets the attention of a journalist who contacts you for an interview or for more information, or who researches your site on his or her own, and then writes a legitimate, well-researched article that is not just regurgitating your press release. This is the best kind of mention. People know that press releases from businesses are essentially promotional material, but a legitimate article means that someone thought your site was worth writing about. That's what you should aim for. If you don't think you have a good enough site and are good enough at writing press releases to have a shot at getting picked up by more mainstream news outlets, I wouldn't waste your time with a paid submission, just stick with a free one. The main benefit is not the up-front traffic but the long-term benefits of getting covered in legitimate news sources.