Press Releases

A guide to press releases.

Introduction

Press releases are official statements issued by companies to the media. The press releases may be factual or promotional. Some press releases are generated by the company itself, while others are done by outside public relations firms. Larger companies generally use press releases to keep themselves in the public eye. Many times the media relies on press releases to create their articles. When the media receives a promotional press release, their editors evaluate them and decide whether the story will interest readers.

For you, the webmaster, press releases are another way to actively promote your site and gain exposure. By putting out a press release you are looking to market your site from a more credible perspective because press releases generally are looked at as unbiased third-party reviews. If your message is an important one then you'll also looking for other journalists to pick up the story and publish it if they think it is interesting.

When writing your release, make sure you stay factual, and include a link or two to your site, but not more. The key to success is to draw visitors in with a good headline and then tell them something that's worth their time to read about. You can submit your press release via a number of sites for free, and to others for a fee (usually from $30 to $200) depending on the type of distribution you want. PRWeb is considered one of the best web press release sites.

Distribution

Different press release distributors offer different levels of press distribution that range from smaller distribution channels up to mass media distribution. A press release that has a message that is important or that will interest the mass market will possibly get picked up by other media sources. Ideally, these other sources would be mass media outlets like TV, radio, and newspapers. If you have a really big story like the milliondollarhomepage.com guy did, then it could happen but don't count on it. If you launch an online dating site and do a press release you won't be seeing it on the 11 o-clock news or see it mentioned in the New York Times.

The more likely pickups of the story will come from other websites. More specifically, I am talking about the many websites out there that publish industry-specific news. These sites automatically scan the news and press releases and do a filter for certain keywords and then publish only those stories on their websites. If you do a press release then the people who read these industry news sites will likely be your biggest source of exposure. It is important to note that many of these industry news websites not only broadcast the press releases they pick up but also "license" their news feeds to other websites in the industry and readers of those sites will also see your story. Although this narrow web-only exposure seems less sexy than mass market offline media exposure, don't underestimate it. You are getting very targeted exposure, which is always a good thing.

Cost

Although small webmasters may have a small marketing budget and press release may be expensive for them, this type of marketing may give you a better bang for the buck than any other type of advertising method. If you have a good story to tell, make sure it is well written, and the subject is broad enough to interest the general public then a press release could be a good way of branding your site.

Content

When you write a press release you need to have something notable to say. You can't just publish useless information and just try to get your name out. Do not think of press releases as legal spam. Only do a press release when you have a legitimate event or story - like the launch of your site or have a new product or service. If you don't have any authentic developments then you'll be wasting your money and others people time.


 
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