Press releases are one of the most powerful ways to promote a website, product or service. While some methods (like SEO) take time and others (like SEM) require money, press releases are one of the only fast and cheap promotional methods available today.

However, there is a lot of confusion around what exactly a press release is, and what you can hope to accomplish with one. Allow me to elaborate on what they are as well as the inherent benefits.

What is a press release?

A press release is a written or recorded announcement about something with news value. These announcements are aimed at the press; journalists, news anchors and radio personalities.

The overall goal of a press release is to get the media interested enough to cover your story. This coverage can make its way onto T.V or radio shows, newspaper articles or prominent websites.

Traditional businesses rely on press releases to announce events, report financial data or to introduce new products or services. Because of the relative speed of results, press releases are a great way to build initial buzz around the actions and announcements of the business.

What are the benefits of a press release?

Of course, press releases aren't just a tool for offline businesses. Online business owners can benefit from routine press releases as well. Some of the major benefits include:

Traffic

When media outlets pick up your press release, they always link to your site from the story. This can lead to a server-crushing influx of traffic in a short amount of time.

Traffic equals prospects. And prospects lead to paying clients. That is, of course, if you have a professionally designed website.

Quality one-way links

When it comes to SEO, one high quality backlink can have the strength of hundreds of low quality links. The search engines pay very close attention to the types of sites that link to yours, and rank you accordingly.

Backlinks from media outlets carry a lot of weight in the eyes of the search engines. The links you'll earn when media outlets pick up your press release usually equate to dramatic SERP improvements.

Branding

In the book Positioning: The Battle for your Mind, the authors suggest that branding is a requisite for making money in today's hyper-advertised business environment.

This is even more apparent for online businesses. When your prospects are greeted with at least 10 choices for a product after a simple Google search, it's easy to see how branding and "mind share" can improve profitability.

When media outlets pick up your story, their readership view the story with the same level of trust they award the outlet's other content. This trust trickles down to your website, helping to solidify your brand as trustworthy and valuable in the eyes of your prospects.

Publicity

In 1983, Paul Hartunian used the magic of press releases to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. Reporters from around the nation picked up on the story and swamped him with phone calls and came knocking at his door.

Before all was said and done, he had enjoyed over 6 months of free publicity. He had even appeared on the nationally syndicated Johnny Carson Show. This obviously launched his business into the stratosphere and made Mr. Hartunian a bonafide millionaire.

All for less than $100 in postage costs! Remember: this was before press releases could be sent digitally...

The point I'm making here is that huge publicity opportunities exist. All the savvy website owner needs is a "story" and a professional writer to grab the attention of the press.

About our press release writing service

Get SEO'd Now contracts the best press release writers that money can buy. Not only do we write powerful press releases on your behalf, we also do the work of distributing them.

Distribution naturally leads to maximum exposure and the highest chance of media coverage. The result is quality inbound links, targeted traffic and the chance of business launching publicity.

To request a non-obligatory, free quote for press release writing and distribution click here.