How Can Press Release Increase Web Traffic?
Press release is a communication delivered to media outlets about a product, service, or event. It has also become an important channel for a business that wants to raise awareness about their company or its latest developments. According to MarketWatch, press release marketing is “one of the hottest forms of online advertising on the market”
So what should you do if you are looking for a way to increase web traffic? Read this blog post and find yourself onto the right track. In this article, you will find the top 5 ways to promote your press release on the web. (Read more...)
Expiring trail: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-promote-your-commercials-and-press-releases?reflink=MW_Article_Popup
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Type: Press Release PR Portals http://prreleases2go.com This burro is similar in structure to different other publishing sites like PRWiki - although it does offer additional tools such as a "blog" feature, searchable database of press releases and a directory of categories that are related to different kinds of news sites such as . . . .
PRWeb is a news distribution website that allows companies to distribute their press releases via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and the high traffic websites Digg, reddit, StumbleUpon and Delicious. However, in order for most of these features to be used, the press release must be approved by PRWeb editors first.
Traditional methods of distributing press releases include:
The traditional method of distributing press releases is still widely used today. The major disadvantage of sending out a hard copy by postal mail is that they are generally one time reads. In addition, there is no way to tell if the recipient actually read through or even took any notice of it.
The advantages of this method are that people do read the press release. On average, 7% of people who read a press release take an interest in the subject. Taking this into account would lead to an increase in web traffic from a press release distributed several times over.
However, there is a disadvantage in that most people who read the press releases are simply going to look for something else about the same topic and never actually engage with the information presented.
Another disadvantage is that it is difficult for companies to track any form of web traffic linked to their press releases. What happens if they have a website with links coming through from other websites? It is unlikely they will have visibility into this sort of thing at all.
The traditional method of distributing press releases should not be overlooked. It is still a very useful method, albeit it needs to be used with caution.
Email is the most popular way of distributing press releases. There are mainly two types of email distribution: bulk emailing and targeted emailing.
Bulk emailing involves sending out a large number of press releases which will hopefully be read by some people. This method can be very time consuming as sending out 10,000 press releases may take up to 2 hours just to send out to a limited amount of recipients.
A second problem with bulk emailing is that not all recipients will open the emails as they are sent out. A further disadvantage is that addresses containing periods such as . . . and . . .. may be filtered out of the distribution list.
The most common type of email distribution involves sending out press releases to a selected number of people. This is usually achieved by using a database for recipients, which allows you to search for individual names or addresses and send out only those press releases that have been marked as to be distributed.
Sending press releases as email can be very advantageous in terms of web traffic and exposure. You see an increase in web traffic from an email press release and this also helps your company website reach potential customers who are interested in your products and services.
In the UK, receiving press releases from companies and organisations can be done through the official Press Release Distribution Service. They offer a free service for everyone to be able send out information about your company or organisation on a large scale (via email) with no limit on the number of people copies are sent to. The information is once again free to receive, or if you do decide to pay you get a con's rate of 0.45p + VAT per email copy sent to 100 people.
There is also an alternative service available called Bulk Emailing which offers more flexibility in how many emails are sent out and also allows you to target certain groups of recipients so that they can be more specific in the subject matter of their press release.
In the UK, PRWeek is a free weekly news magazine which has editions in print and digital. The website features a column dedicated to PR and marketing news. It also hosts a free newswire service which can generate headlines for press releases for distribution via email or their newswire txt service. PRWeek also offers a range of other articles on the topic of public relations. These can be obtained through their online magazine or via RSS feeds.
There are other similar publications such as PR Corner (also freely available online) and this list is by no means exhaustive.
As mentioned on WikiPedia, NewsNow is a news distribution service which features a large database of target markets. The database can be searched for by industry sector and by geographical location. For more targeted press releases, there is an advanced search option which allows you to specify your own keywords and even upload your own CSV data file.
The website also allows you to submit news stories manually via their submission form and also contains a blog feature so that it is possible to publish your own news stories directly onto the site. NewsNow also offers custom fields pages, featured news stories, daily media links and updates as well as free press release distribution via Twitter.
PRWeb is one of the largest online press release distributors and offers a free press release distribution service with approval by a PRWeb editor prior to distribution. There is also a paid-for service available for an extra fee which allows for more links to be included in the header of the press release and also increases the likelihood of your story appearing in search engines.
There are many companies who use PRWeb as a way of distributing their press releases. Some examples are: Twitter, American Express, Dell, Standard Chartered Bank, Nokia and Microsoft.
The website contains information about how to write your own news stories along with tutorials on using social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Press releases are a powerful and effective way of not just getting your name out there but also of large-scale distribution. There is no hard and fast rule on how many press releases should be sent out, nor how long they should take, and nor is there a set number of times they must be sent. It really does come down to the personal preference and goals of the company sending the press release.
One important rule to take into account when sending out press releases is that it is always recommended that you adhere to all legal laws concerning press releases.