Online Press Release Frequently Asked Questions

A press release will help your Website gain awareness in your industry. It is a fantastic way to announce a grand opening of a new business, a large sale or promotion, a unique tool, feature, movie file, content or other resource.

Yes you can, but using a press release service means you get professionally written content that meets all the standards of the news industry. Our press release service also includes online distribution through PRWeb®. In order to make your press release successful, we make sure it is:

• newsworthy and objective in tone so it gives customer credibility
• of an acceptable length for press releases so it will be properly indexed by the search engines
• grammatically correct
• formatted in a way that is acceptable to PRWeb
• optimized for search engines

Optimizing a press release for the search engines entails professional keyword research to identify words that are searched frequently. These keyword phrases are placed strategically throughout the release and in the code of the press release Web page (to show the search engines what the release is about).

When a press release is optimized for keyword phrases that are searched frequently in the major search engines, it can also help you with search engine visibility, or ranking high in search engine results. For a full list of Press Release Service features, please proceed here.

First, you get keyword research that identifies words that help us make your release more visible to search engines. You also receive 3 links embedded within the body of the release, and 2 images that appear with the release. There are also a number of other press release benefits:

• distribution of your story to major media channels
• industry targeting of up to 10 specific industry categories
• visibility in the search engines
• permanent backlink/embedded links in the press release to your site from the trusted domain PRWeb.com, along with the potential for future links to your site from industry professionals who find your site through your press release
• guaranteed page one placement on PRWeb

Simply contact us by calling 1-877-438-8599. Your next step will be to fill out a press release questionnaire. This provides us with information we need to write the release. The questionnaire is a terrific opportunity for you to get a press release that is truly customized to your needs. Without some guidance from you, it may be difficult for a copywriter to know what's most important to you and the readers you wish to attract.

An announcement doesn't necessarily need to be new - just new to your audience. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh set of eyes to identify that hook. Our professional press release writers are experts at coming up with creative announcement ideas. We'll be happy to work with you and make recommendations. Here are some of the topics that are commonly used as press release announcements:

• A special event or sale
• Grand opening of site or redesign
• Achieving significant industry recognition
• Inventing, manufacturing or releasing new, exciting product or service
• Educational achievements of your staff relating to your industry
• Performing an important service in the community
• Being present at or involved in a major news event
• Joining or taking leadership in a professional or community service organization
• Offering apprenticeships, training programs, classes, or opportunities to volunteer
• Teaching, lecturing, presenting or products/services featured at a professional conference or trade show

There are some announcements PRWeb® will not distribute. These include:

1. Advertisements: A good press release informs the media and the general public about a newsworthy topic. If your press release reads like an advertisement, it will lack credibility and PRWeb may reject it.
2. Sexually Explicit Content: PRWeb does not accept explicit content or links to explicitly sexual material, illegal material or profane language.
3. SPAM: This includes high volume or density of words and/or phrases that are frequently found in advertisements, unwanted e-mail (SPAM) or on non-newsworthy websites.
4. Duplicate Content: The search engines and other targeted audiences do not want to see the same release more than once.
5. Intent to Harm: PRWeb does not distribute content intended to harm or exact revenge upon an individual or group.
6. Online Gambling Promotional Material: PRWeb does not publish press releases that promote or link to online gambling and related Web sites.

Absolutely! Many of our customers are just beginning the process of building or redesigning a website, and plan to use their press release to announce their new/improved site. Others choose to purchase press releases in bulk for future use, as needed. These extra releases can be set aside and used when necessary, whenever there's an important announcement to make. This also allows you establish a rapport and work with the same copywriter on all your releases.

The shortest possible turnaround of a press release is about three business days, assuming the copywriter has the information he/she needs to write the release and you are able to approve it in one day.

Network Solutions® copywriting team has a great deal of professional writing experience, including marketing, news and creative writing. Additionally, each writer receives ongoing training in Online Marketing techniques so that we can continue to provide press releases that meet the changing news and Internet landscape.

The press release is distributed through our distribution outlet, PRWeb. They distribute it through four channels:

• Email Distribution: PRWeb® maintains a database of approximately 100,000 media contacts, newsrooms, industry analysts, and freelance writers who receive daily email listings of press releases which match their filter criteria.
• Syndicated News Feed: Headlines are available to other web sites through the XML/RSS news feed (http://www.prweb.com/rss.php). Adding this news feed to the system increases exposure to your press release.
• Through the PRWeb website: PRWeb® generates millions of page views per month. All press releases are posted on the site indefinitely. Press releases are only removed from the site if the originator deletes them from our system or they do not meet editorial guidelines.
• Search Engine Submission: For maximum distribution, each press release distributed through the service is optimized for search engines indexing. Search engines regularly spider the site and index the press releases.

The day the release goes live, we send you a link to it on PRWeb so you can see it how it turned out. You will also find it on Yahoo!® News, Google® News, Overture®, MSN®, AllTheWeb®, eMediaWire, AltaVista® and more. All the major channels are covered, plus you have endless possibilities since your press release will be distributed via RSS which feeds thousands of channels.

We send you a report with information such as page views, top performing keywords, and search engine performance for the press release one week after your release goes live.

Easy - you don't have to! Part of the goal of a press release, in addition to making an important announcement, is to get people to follow through and visit your website. Instead of telling readers everything there is to know about your business, it's better to provide a brief, general summary and tell them where to get more details.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It allows for syndication of content across news websites and weblogs. When your press release is distributed to hundreds of other websites in your industry via RSS feed, a short description of the press release along with a link to the full release is displayed on these other sites for a period of time, usually lasting a few weeks to a month or more. The release also shows up in the search results of Google News, Yahoo! News and MSN News, depending on the level of service you purchase.

There is no guarantee as to how many members of the media will contact you. Each industry is different, and each website's unique offerings and announcements will generate differing levels of interest.

Media response is also dependent upon name recognition your business already has and whether a member of the press has gathered all of the information that they need from the press release. Many times, a writer of an industry related blog or news e-zine will write an article based on the content in the release with no need to contact you for additional information. The best way to track the progress of your press release is to view the report that will be sent to you one week after the press release is distributed. Also, consider turning on Google® Alerts for your company name. Read more about Google Alerts here.

You may post a link to your press release that will be archived indefinitely on PRWeb®. This protects your site from a duplicate content penalty.

There are many competing theories on this topic. In our experience, there is not a large discrepancy in the numbers between a press release that goes out on Tuesday vs. Wednesday, etc. The distribution date cannot make up for a release that is not newsworthy. Focus your efforts on issuing an announcement that people will be interested in.