Press releases own a notable space among the several tools that brands and small business owners can use to achieve a wide audience reach and promote their business. When used aptly, they present numerous and invaluable benefits. Indeed, as with all other SEO efforts, one has to 'do it right' for it to be effective and successful. This requires some work, which includes writing the release and then getting it to reach your target audience. Achieving this latter part - that is, press release distribution - could pose a problem if one chooses the wrong press release distribution service for the business. This could result in futile efforts as regards SEO and business promotion, thereby translating to losses for the business. To avoid all of these, the best way to go is to take careful consideration of factors such as the offered services, pricing, and features of any distribution company whose services one may have in mind to employ. This article outlines top press release distribution services for SEO to consider in view of meeting your business goals. First, however, let us see what the idea is behind press release distribution.
What is Press Release Distribution?
Everything involved in circulating your written press release - and putting it out to press members and journalists - make up the press release distribution process. As the name suggests, it is the means of distributing press releases for your business to the press and news media outlets that will publicize them. The following are the two major press release distribution models that small businesses and brands use:
The self-published method: Here, you write and send the press releases yourself, directly to a press release distribution service or a local newspaper, who then publishes it (in the case of newspapers) or provides it to their online media outlets for publishing (in the case of the distribution services).
The traditional method of press release distribution: This method involves sending your information to a newswire through a publicity agency. The agency writes and sends the release to the newswire or distribution service, who then publishes the release on the news media.
Press releases, simply, are official statements that are sent to the media for publication. They could be in the form of announcements, official statements, reports about events, or any other information that your brand may want to publicize. With press release distribution, you get to position your business at a spot where it becomes available for a large audience to access. This is possible since, with the services of press release distribution companies, your business or brand can get published online via podcasts, bulletins, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, or even blogs. In this manner, brand awareness is achieved along with its incidental benefits.
It is worthy of note that irrespective of the distribution model used, involving a press release distribution service in your publicity efforts will go a long way in promoting your business. What is more and as we shall see is that it is an SEO-driven endeavor.
How Press Release helps SEO
Besides driving local traffic to your business and generating more sales, both of which are great benefits of press release distribution, one prime advantage of the process is that it boosts SEO. Here is how it works.
The concept of SEO - or Search Engine Optimization - involves getting your business, through its site, positioned on the high ranks of search engine result pages. That is, whenever users search for a word or phrase related to your business, the use of good SEO techniques on your part would cause the engine's algorithm to favor your site and place it among the top results. These SEO techniques are several and they continue to evolve and change. Some of them, however, will continue to be of relevance. Press release distribution is one of such tools with constant relevance.
Having well-known publications or those with large audience coverage to feature and recommend your brand on their pages will positively influence your traffic, both local and online. One good thing about it is that whether or not the publication includes your brand's link on the press release, you can gain from having their coverage. How so? Studies show that when their website provides links to that of your business, it would boost your SEO ranking. This is because SEO tends to favor sites with backlinks (that is, those whose sites are referred to by other reputable sites through links). Thus, your business or brand would be more visible on the engine, bringing you more visitors and potential customers. Even without a link, on the other hand, you may get better rankings when there is a positive mention of your brand and favorable coverage in published press releases.
Top Press Release Distribution Companies
There are numerous companies that provide press release distribution services and this gives you so many options to choose from. It cannot be overemphasized that making the right choice in this regard is crucial if you are to maximize the advantages of using press releases. Thus, it is important to streamline the numerous options available and then consider them against your business goals and objectives, as well as its resources and circumstances. In view of this, below, are the top ten press release distribution services and their features.
1.) Linking News
Acclaimed to be the number one press release distribution service, Linking News boasts of having the strongest network in PR. They let you get published on top-tier sites such as Forbes, Yahoo, Medium, and BuzzFeed, as well as News sites like ABC, CNN, and Fox, to mention a few. They have, in their distribution network, over 900 000 journalists, 90 million influencers, and 330 000 publications.
Features
Besides their network strength already mentioned, other features of Linking News are:
White Label Distribution Service
The White Label service ensures that you have exclusivity over your press release. It will bear your name and branding, and not that of Linking News. With this feature, your release would appear organically on top sites without your competitors getting to know who you worked with to achieve it. They also take client privacy very seriously.
Chinese Distribution Network
Chinese press releases are not left out of consideration by Linking News. There are more than 2000 Chinese media outlets that Linking News distributes Chinese press releases to. The distribution service accepts custom orders for press releases in the language.
Pricing
There are six pricing plans available at Linking News. Below is a brief look at them. Note, however, that all the plans apply to any information style, including promotional and informational articles, and of course, press releases.
White Label (Basic)
This plan costs $159 and gets one article published on more than 100 sites. These include Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC.
White Label (Standard)
With $369, you get everything that the basic plan affords you and publication in MarketWatch and USA Today.
Silver Plan
The Silver Plan lets you have features of the standard plan and your release will also appear on Yahoo Finance. It costs $669.
Gold Plan
At $1680, the Gold Plan affords you Silver Plan features, but with over 400 sites and a space on the Associated Press.
Diamond Plan
With $2980 for the diamond, you have much better features than any of the previous plans. This plan accommodates international sites. Your news will find its place on several of them and in Yahoo News, Benzinga, Street Insider, and Bloomberg.
VIP Plan
You need $3500 and more to purchase the premium VIP plan, which affords you a global press release, a guest post opportunity, and PR outreach. If you have a bigger budget and you seek direct pitching of your story to bloggers and journalists, Linking News' VIP Plan is worth considering.
2.) 24-7 Press Release Newswire
Since 2004, 24-7 Press Release has provided press release distribution services for numerous businesses, medium and small. The company has been around long enough to be trustworthy and it continues to evolve to meet changing times. Its distribution channels include PR Newswire and Associated Press members amounting to some 30,000.
Features
Social Media sharing
With 24-7 press releases, your story gets backlinks to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Affordability
Getting your press release to your target audience is affordable with this press release distribution service. The tools provided by 24-7 are cost-effective. This makes it a perfect fit for small and medium-sized businesses.
High Publicity and Visibility
Your news or story will get across to bloggers, journalists, and even your consumers when you send it to 24-7 for publicity. It will also be available on popular search engines such as Goggle and Yahoo, among others. If you want your brand to go viral, you should consider distributing your press release with 24-7. What is more, 24-7 leaves your press release on their website until whenever you choose to remove it.
Pricing
Below are the available 24-7 Press Release pricing options:
Simple Post
At $19 per release for starters, you get this non-distribution package in which your story gets posted to the 24-7 Press Release website where only readers on the internet access it.
Visibility Boost
This package costs $49 per release and works for all business sizes in boosting their online presence and visibility.
PR Network PLUS
This is 24-7's intermediate package and it goes for $89 per release. PR Network Plus goes a step further than the Visibility Boost package by distributing your release to additional media partners online and to Associated Press.
Integrated Media PRO
At $129 per release, your story or news will reach journalists and newspapers on both traditional and online media.
Mass Media Visibility
If you want optimum online visibility with 24-7 Press Release Newswire, then their premium package which puts your news in over 4500 PR Newswire websites is the one for you.
3.) PRWeb
This distribution service has an enhanced network that leaves your brand’s virtual footprint on notable online channels. Recognizing the need to shift from solely traditional means of disseminating news, PRWeb has adjusted to digital proficiency over the course of its decades of existence.
Features
Free account, several benefits
With a free account, your site will have high rankings on search engines and, thus, its traffic will enjoy an immediate increase. You will also have media coverage of high quality that will boost your brand awareness.
A multitude of distribution channels
Your news will reach the far corners of the interweb with PRWeb. The service distributes releases to news feeds belonging to over 250 000 RSS subscribers, affiliates of the Associated Press such as the NY Times, and other national outlets. Your news will also reach industry-specific sites like Amazon and Capterra, to mention a few, as well as News sites like CNN and Fox News. These are a lot of places for your brand to be present.
Pricing
PRWeb offers four pricing plans, as provided below:
Basic
$99 per release and a permanent hosting on the PRWeb site are the features of the basic plan. With your release on their site, you get better visibility on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other major search engines.
Standard
In addition to the features of PRWeb's basic plan, their standard pricing plan distributes your release to the sites of their many media partners for $189 per one release.
Advanced
The advanced plan on PRWeb provides actual media attention. You get all the features of the standard plan, as well as access to influencers that are specific to your industry. This pricing plan costs $289 per a news release.
Premium
Now, you can "go viral" as they say. At $389 per release, you have PRWeb's advanced features, coupled with the opportunity of getting your release into the hands of, not only influential blogs but also Twitter feeds that are curated industry-wise.
4.) Business Wire
This Berkshire Hathaway company is another press release distribution company with quality distribution services. Small businesses and brands can greatly benefit from having their press release on Business Wire. With over five decades of being in the business, they proffer multimedia options that boost your views and get tons of people talking about your business or brand.
Features
Wide audience reach
You can benefit from the age-long resources belonging to Business Wire to reach a wide audience. The company boasts of 18 newsrooms worldwide and 100,000 media outlets.
Variety of services
Business Wire is not of limited services. It attempts to offer the whole PR package. This includes public and investor relations features.
Tracking, Analytics, and Distribution
Business Wire offers analytic and distribution features. Their global distribution circuits remove borders and allow for geographic targeting in some 19 languages. They also provide NewsTrak reports with detailed and complete analytics that will allow you to track your press release distribution process.
Pricing
Quite different from others in this article is the pricing feature of Business Wire. They do not provide definite pricing plans on their site but beckon interested businesses to contact them to obtain their current pricing. Reports, however, reveal that its cost for small and medium-scale businesses is about 44% more than that of the average distribution service. With enterprises, on the other hand, the margin is a 40% difference.
5.) NewswireJet
There are only a few distribution services that will shine a spotlight on your business as NewswireJet does. With a great user-friendly site, NewswireJet not only provides you with the opportunity to connect with a massive audience, but they also help you do it in the best way possible. There are big-name destinations that come with using NewswireJet, names such as Reuters, Fox, ABC, CBS, and others. This proves beyond a doubt that your press release is in capable hands. The services are a great fit for small or growing businesses and can also accommodate big businesses too.
Features
Detailed reports
With the use of NewswireJet, you get access to full reports on the status of your press release. This lets you know how much impact your release has.
Option for professionally written press release
This comes as an aid to those who do not know the first thing about writing press releases. NewswireJet guides you through the process.
Instant exposure
From the moment your press release is completed, you gain instant exposure. Your press release will show up in various places where it is relevant.
Pricing
NewswireJet has three pricing plans and they are as follows-
News Power
At the cost of $59, this gets you a distribution of your release to 250 media sites and reports.
Buzz Maker
With a price tag of $99, your press release is going on over 420 placements including huge search engines and news sites.
Buzz Maker Plus
As the biggest package of the three, this plan comes with professional writing done for you. The cost of this is $149 dollars.
6.) EIN Presswire
EIN Presswire is the gateway to reaching millions of people in as little time as seconds. The distribution service boasts of the ability to not only distribute with a vast reach but also monitor the feedback. This allows you to get data regarding your particular industry, the impact of your press release, as well as your competitors. The prices are very affordable and can be amended or molded in accordance with desired wishes.
Features
These are the features offered by EIN Presswire-
Search-optimized title
EIN Presswire understands the importance of Search Engine Optimization and will use it appropriately. This ensures that your target audience is able to find your releases.
Features on EIN Presswire
This distribution service is not just a distribution service but also a news desk. In addition to using their services you also get featured in their news desk.
Ad-free press releases
You can be assured of an ad free press release so your content gets the spotlight and is engaged with.
Pricing
EIN Presswire boasts of some of the best pricing packages for press release services. You will, thus, be able to find one which suits your needs. Below are their prices:
Basic
This plan is $49.95 and is specifically for the user of the distribution service to get recognition. It is sort of an introductory plan that you can upgrade from as your releases pick up traction.
Pro
This package is priced at $249 for 5 releases in order to promote your release successfully.
Pro+
For the price of $399, you get 10 releases, and the number of distribution channels your releases go through is increased to 5.
Corporate
EIN Presswire offers premium press release services to corporate bodies for the price of $999.
7.) Presswire
From your hands to the desks of millions of businesses and customer bases, Presswire has you covered. They offer the opportunity to have your releases in about 400 news sites. With Presswire, you can be assured that your releases will be treated with the utmost importance. Your press releases each have tailor-made lists to media to make sure your releases reach the right people and have the right impact. At no extra costs, you can schedule your press releases for specific times and have videos and pictures embedded in them. Presswire goes the extra mile by ensuring that your releases are translated to various other languages and their specific geographic locations.
Services
The services offered by Presswire include-
Access to a global media contact database
Search engine optimization and media monitoring
Press release distribution
Press release tracking
Features
Search engine optimization
Presswire offers this so as to ensure that your press release reaches your target market and as such, whoever is looking for something that you offer finds you.
Media monitoring
This records the responses to your press release and the engagements it receives.
Pricing
The pricing of Presswire is determined according to geographic locations. You will be charged according to where you want your press release to be targeted at. The prices for individual press release distribution is as follows-
All geographic locations that are to be targeted (North America, Europe, Asia) go for the price of $250. There are also other payment options if you want to add other services like -
Press release tracking - $80 per release.
Media monitoring - this covers a time period of a month and costs $250 per a press release.
8.) RealWire
With the use of RealWire comes a team of highly qualified and professional individuals to help you make the most of your press release. RealWire is a top-rated UK-based distribution company that possesses unmatched prowess in using online media. In today’s current world where social media is a big part of people’s lives, using services like RealWire's means you have struck gold. They understand human behavior and how people react to certain things and so, they use that knowledge to your benefit. For example, to catch the eye of people, RealWire allows you to upload three pictures and add as much information as you deem fit.
Features
An editorial team
With the use of RealWire, you get an editorial team that optimizes your press release.
Unlimited words
RealWire acknowledges the need for necessary information to not be cut short and thus allows for unlimited words.
Quality check
This distribution service makes sure that you do not send out a press release that is sub-par or below average. There is a quality check in place to determine that your press release is a success.
Pricing
RealWire has a pricing system that is customer-oriented. This means that they let you choose according to your needs and pay accordingly. The pricing of RealWire is as follows-
Traditional press release
The cost of these range between £149 to £379.
Social media news release
This package is valued at £229 to £449.
The variation in the pricing depends on whether you want only distribution or both distribution and the analytics of your press release.
9.) ReleaseWire
This distribution service can be described as highly relevant and specifically targeted. With ReleaseWire, you can be assured that you are supported by professionals who genuinely care about the connection between businesses and journalists. This is done by making sure both parties have a mutual interest. Also, they have a deep understanding of not relying on spams or irrelevant information for visibility. The ability to reach a huge consumer base also comes with the gain of quality media relations.
Features
Press release manager
ReleaseWire has insightful knowledge into releases and helps forge your release in the best possible way.
Targeted distribution
When sending out your press releases, ReleaseWire makes sure it gets to your specific target audience.
Powerful analytics
In order to measure the metrics by which your press release performs, ReleaseWire offers analytics.
Pricing
ReleaseWire has affordable prices in terms of distribution services. The prices are as follows-
ReleaseWire Newswire
This entails the distribution of releases to news search engines and web search engines. It comes at the cost of $49 per release. It also has the option of a monthly payment.
ReleaseWire Direct
This is a step up from the ReleaseWire Newswire and it comes at the price of $89 per release.
Both can serve as monthly payments or pay as you go.
10.) eReleases
This is a distribution service that packs a powerful punch in terms of getting you great exposure at an affordable rate. You even get to choose where you want your story to go. eRelease is one of the largest newswire services that are available, providing an incredible reach. Whether you are trying to break into a new industry or you plan on increasing your reach and exposure in a specific industry, eRelease can get you the best exposure you can dream of. You will not have to send out a press release to just any journalist out there because there is a carefully curated collection of journalists to pick from. Rest assured, your press release will appear on high-rated sites such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and the likes.
Features
Syndication to over 4500 websites
Your press release is sure to be spread to a staggering number of major news websites. This wide reach is sure to cover your target market.
Next day distribution
If you need a quick press release, then eRelease has got you covered. With prompt timing, you can get the information you want to pass across out as soon as possible.
Large target database
Using eRelease grants you access to a database that counts in hundreds of thousands. This speaks to the reach available to you and how you can utilize it.
Press release writing services
eRelease makes it easier for you to send out your press releases by also helping you write them. With professional writing, you can be sure that your release will be more efficient.
Pricing
Below are the pricing options for eRelease packages:
Buzz Builder
For the price of $299, you can get this plan. This gets your press release on 60+ media sites and a 400-word count with one target.
News Maker
Going for the sum of $399, eRelease gives your release on over 90 sites, 500-word count, and two targets. All of these are in addition to the Buzz Builder plan.
PR Pro
This is the premium plan. $499 gets you all the features of the News Maker plan, with your release guaranteed on more than 120 sites.
Final Thoughts
Building your business' Public Relations and meeting its goals may require extra strides such as the use of press releases. However, if you want to take full advantage of the tool and reap its benefits like promoting local foot traffic and sales, as well as the premium benefit of boosting SEO for its online presence, then you have to make a proper choice when considering which service to use. With the highlighted companies that offer top press release distribution services for SEO, you have a variety of options to consider. Thus, bearing in mind the peculiar circumstances and goals of your business, you can choose the best press release distribution service to help you reach your PR objectives.