We make wire service links nofollow. However, when we announce a press release and it is picked up by journalists and is published in full, with their own editorials, the links are real.
What Still Works
A quick primer for 2016: PR pros need to remember what a press release can and can’t do to avoid blowing their budget on out-of-date tactics that haven’t worked since 2015.
Press releases are the lifeblood of many journalists and with a well crafted digital PR campaign, it is possible to encourage quality reporters to turn your content in to their own reports with your website as the link of choice.
Google indexes and surfaces brand mentions. Even a press release released on a newswire will pick up a number of first wave branded mentions on sites that are aggregate news feeds for keywords and entities that have become relevant to your business.
Press releases built around original data Media Relations 101: Getting Reporters to Cover Your News In days and weeks ahead, we’ll be posting more Media Relations 101 items, but this one stands by itself as a basic primer.
What Does Not Work
Avoid these common press release SEO mistakes that waste budget and deliver zero link equity.
N.B.: Wire service links are nofollow, and syndicated copies are considered duplicate content. In Aug. 2008, Google updated their official guidelines to say that links from press releases “should not be interpreted as votes that influence PageRank”.
In the pre-Penguin days, keyword-rich anchor text in press releases was a common SEO tactic. Now, it can land your content in the spam filter. Normal conversations about a brand, however, are still okay.
There are many agencies offering “link building” to customers and listing out “50+ placements” in reports when they simply and only mass syndicate press releases with nofollow links through automatic services. Not actual, editorial links.
Editorial link building Editorial link building creates high quality backlinks within contextual, published content on high authority domains. Our links are dofollow, indexed and provide a legitimate authority value.
Better Alternatives
Media and link outreach used to be the press release SEO way to get authoritative backlinks that would move rankings. And now they deliver on that promise.
Editorial link building Editorial link building on vetted publishers. Dofollow, indexed, real authority. From $149/link.
Digital PR Digital PR sends the media a PR pitch. Earned editorial links from high DR 60-90+ publications. That’s what the press release SEO strategy evolved into.
Data-driven PR Data-driven PR involves building a PR campaign on top of original data, where your brand becomes the source and the citation. This is the most profitable evolution of press release SEO.
Guest posts Guest posts on vetted publishers with dofollow backlinks. High volume delivery. Competitive pricing. Reliable turnaround time.
Link insertions Adding links to existing articles, even those that have already been crawled and indexed. More efficient than guest blogging. Less expensive. The same level of editing quality.
AI SEO services and answer engine optimization Artificial Intelligence SEO and Answer Engine Optimisation depend on authorative content and unique human voice, and are highly adversely affected by content syndication.
Pricing
Features include: Original, 1,000 word article, 1 contextual, dofollow link, Full site approval, Index guarantee, 12-Month replacement, AI tracking See full pricing by DR tier →See full pricing by DR tier →
The following DR 70+ through DR 92 models are available through our channel of distributors and resellers. Agency volume pricing available. White-label purchasing →White-label purchasing →
Proof of Placement
Examples of live screen grabs from campaigns we have successfully launched for our agency partners. All links are to real content pages.
FAQ
Our wire service links are nofollow and will not generate link equity. Ultimately, the SEO value of your press release comes from the media coverage you earn, not the syndication links.
No. Press releases are good for announcement type topics, general awareness for journalists and brand entity signals. For backlinks, we recommend using editorial link building, also known as digital PR.editorial link building or digital PR.
Press release distribution pushes to wire services. Digital PR We offer a media relations service where we distribute press releases to all major news wires. We also carry out Digital PR, which involves directly pitching journalists with relevant, newsworthy content in order to secure legitimate media coverage that includes a high authority backlink.
In 2017, Brian linked to Press Feed, mentioning a “harmful” $179 price tag for a single release. We still recommend including outreach for press releases in your budget, and categorize it as a paid link opportunity along with editorial links, digital PR and guest posts.editorial link building, digital PR, and guest posts.
Reach more than just journalists with Press Alert, and escape the limitations of basic PR distribution. Get meaningful editorial links that drive real SEO value to your website through our network of 20,000+ high-quality, human-edited websites, media outlets and publication sites. No annual retainers required.
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