Whether you are looking to spread the word about your company, your brand or yourself, online press releases really can work to boost public awareness and knowledge and shape the image that you want in the people’s minds. However, you need to know how to use online press releases in the best possible way to get them to be effective and make an impact.
Where To Submit Press Releases Online?
First, to look at whether online press releases really work, you need to see where they can appear. Obviously, you can host these articles on your website, but your website is not the only place on the web for your releases.
Closely watch the news feeds on some of your favorite websites and you may be surprised to find that some of these articles being shown to thousands of users are actually press releases or veiled marketing by a specific company or blogger. Social media also provides a means for sharing and posting portions of articles, giving your words the potential to reach tens of thousands just through circles of friends sharing your release.
What They Do
Press releases notify the public about your business: what you do, how you do it, any new deals or events, essentially anything newsworthy. But online, press releases serve a very unique purpose; they have the potential to bring more customers or readers to your website by expanding the reach of your message online. You can create press releases about events, donations to charitable organizations, new products and milestones all through online press releases.
How Else Can They Help?
Press releases can act as an extended “About Us” section for your website. They not only tell would-be clients what you do, but they can give insight into how active you are, whether you give back to the community, and what kinds of goods, services or deals they could come to expect if they were to become your customers. If you are trying to promote a blog, these press releases can give a clearer indication of the person behind the writing.
And, if you have an actual news article written about your company, reporters will often include your own business or personal press releases to aid them in getting a fuller picture of whom you are.
When They Don’t Work
Never have a poorly written press release out on the Internet that is peppered with your company name. That makes you look unprofessional. The second rule: avoid spamming. You don’t want to fill your website with hundreds of releases that people just will not wade through and you don’t want to send countless e-mail updates about all those press releases because even news outlets will start to relegate you to the spam folder if you send multiple unsolicited e-mails in a given week.
In short, keep your releases newsworthy and provide meaningful, useful information. Do not prepare a press release for SEO benefits alone.
Online Press Release Companies
You have dozens of online press release companies to choose from. Some will even release your article for free. But quality and getting the maximum impact is the priority. Some of the mostly widely known online press release companies include
Prices can vary greatly between companies and the level of service. As you move up in price, you may be able to add an image, your logo, or video to your press release. Press release companies will also provide you analytics statistics on the effectiveness of your release.
One way to check the effectiveness of press release companies is to check Google News. If the company’s releases are being picked up in Google News, that is generally a positive sign that the press releases are making an impact.
Ascent Internet, a St. George, Utah Internet marketing and Web design company, contributed this article.