This post has been a long time coming.  Client work and family life keeps getting in the way, but the online distribution universe changes so fast, and I’ve received so much goodwill as a result of the previous two versions of my online news release distribution reviews that I had make the time to write this update.

Let’s take a look at a some good reasons to distribute your news releases online:

1. By including a link in your release, you’re building inbound links to your web site.
2. Your news is being spread beyond the boundaries of your web site, increasing the odds of it being seen by your audience.
3. There is the possibility that it will be seen by new media or traditional media, leading to coverage from these outlets.  This isn’t something I ever count on, but it does sometimes happen.

Disclaimer: There have been occasions where I have been given free “try out” release distributions. I do accept these because they allow me to sample different services, but I do my best not to let them sway my judgment in the review.  I consider it the same as a product reviewer accepting a sample product.  Disclaimers about specific services can be found within their reviews.

So, which is the best place to distribute your news releases to reach your goals? Below is a review of what I consider the best of the best, both free and paid. Feed free to add your own via comments!

Premium News Release Distribution

PR Newswire (PRN)
Cost: Varies, starting at $170 for a 400 word release
Review: PR Newswire has been around in one form or another for more than 55 years.  They market themselves as being a mainstay among reporters and news organizations, and are recently pushing their ability to get news to bloggers via their opt-in distribution lists.  They also do a good job of distributing your release for use on other websites.  Your release will rank well on Google News for your keywords, and you’ll get plenty of quality backlinks.

The problem with PR Newswire has always been cost. They have a yearly fee that you have to pay for the privilege of paying more to post your releases.  They have been known to waive that fee for small businesses, so be sure to ask if you qualify.  Releases start at $170 for distribution on their city or state wire, with an additional charge for every 100 words after that. That’s for a short release of 400 words, though, and they charge you for each word after that.   At that price, the distribution to the media is limited.  If you want distribution to nationwide media, you’ll pay almost $650 for a single release.  With all of this said, I do think PR Newswire does a great job getting the word out to the media, and as I’ll say in a number of cases during this review — you get what you pay for.

BusinessWire
Cost: Varies, starting at $180 for the first 400 words, or $175 for EON distribution
Review: Business Wire has become my “go to” service for clients who have the money to pay for premium distribution. As with PR Newswire, their service is not cheap.  A basic citywide distribution will cost you at least $180 for the first 400 words, with an additional charge for every 100 words after that.

A basic release from BusinessWire will generate quality links for your release, and plenty of them.  The version of your release on the Business Wire site will rank on Google and Google News, but I’ve never been overly impressed with how well it ranks.  Generally speaking, the sites they distribute TO will rank better than the actual Business Wire version.  The good news is that Business Wire has a long list of sites that automatically will run your release, and after your distribution they will send you a link that will show you all of those sites.

One thing I should also note is that releases I have posted on Business Wire HAVE resulted in legitimate coverage on blogs and other new media sites.  What I mean by this is that rather than just posting the release verbatim, the bloggers or new media journalists have rewritten it or contacted me to learn more.

New for 2010 from Business Wire is a different pricing plan for their EON release distribution.  The EON platform, launched several years ago, is designed with social media and SEO in mind.  EON releases rank well on Google and Google News.  You can include images and videos, and style your release using HTML.  Previously, EON was an add-on to standard geographic distributions, but starting January 1, 2010, you can purchase it separately for $175.  A word of caution, however: with an EON release, your release is NOT distributed to Business Wire’s online partners.  It will only be posted on Business Wire’s site.

PRWeb
Cost: Packages range from $80 to $360
Review: When PRWeb was launched in 1997, its owners seemed to realize that releases would become more than a tool for sending news to the media.  They were correct, as releases are now a means of pushing news to your audience and pulling them back to your web site.

The two benefits of PRWeb are SEO and price.  Your release will rank very well on Google and Google News, and they do distribute to many of the same sites as PR Newswire and Business Wire.  While you may not receive as many backlinks as with the two services reviewed above, you also won’t pay as much.  Distributions on PRWeb start at $80, and range up to $360.  My personal favorite is the $200 package, which offers a nice mix of cost and features.  Additionally, they don’t charge per word, so a longer release will cost the same as a short one.

All PRWeb releases include live links, feature quotes, and a framed view of your web site below the release text.  Starting with the $200 distribution, you can also utilize anchor text links, which help greatly with your site’s search rankings.

Budget News Release Distribution

Online PR News (OPN)
Cost: $12 (free releases available)

Disclaimer: Since the last time I updated my review of online news release distribution, I have begun partnering with Online PR News on their podcasting service. I have also consulted with them on marketing in the past. In return for my consulting services, I receive complimentary distributions.

Online PR News is a relative newcomer to this stratosphere of distribution services.  Founded by two SEO content producers, the site naturally focuses on helping you publish a release that ranks well in the search engines.  The site has installed many upgrades for 2010, and has in turn raised its prices.  Free ad-supported releases are available that include one backlink, but with the low cost distribution beginning at $12, there’s no reason not to ditch the ads.

OPN has taken many cues from PRWeb in its release design, with each paid release receiving a pull quote and a frame below the release text that shows your web site.  Paid releases at the $12 level can also include user images, and releases at the $49 level and up can embed YouTube videos.  At the $349 level, you not only receive their maximum visibility and distribution, you also receive release editing services AND distribution via PR Newswire.

OPN does not yet have the push to other sites that Business Wire, PR Newswire, or PRWeb offer, but their prices are attractive and the OPN version of the release will rank very, very well on Google and Google News.  This service is definitely worth trying out.

PR Leap
Cost: Distribution starting at $49
Review: Started several years back as a free service, PR Leap has grown into a full service paid distribution site.  New for 2010 is a feature called PRTube that allows you to embed your release on a web site or blog using a code much like a YouTube video.  Additional services include Google News distribution, text links, and submission to (but not guaranteed usage by) outlets like the AP and UPI.  My previous experiences with PR Leap have been good ones, with their releases ranking well for my keywords.

PR.com
Cost: Distribution starting at $30 (free option available)
Review: The first thing you’ll notice about PR.com is the AWESOME domain name.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  The second thing you’ll notice is a slightly confusing web site set up.  I don’t normally distribute using this service, so I in writing this review I needed to go back to check pricing information. It took about 10 minutes to find the pricing page, which is about nine minutes too many.  The major issue is that the site has lost some of its focus on release distribution and is now also posting job listings.

Aside from the navigation and focus issues on the site, distribution from PR.com appears to be quite solid.  After running some Google searches for releases posted there, I found that the site does help spread your release to a number of other sites.  Distribution costs start at $30, but after perusing the options at that level, it appears that you’d really need to spend $50 to get much distribution to other sites.  A free option is available, but is ad supported.

PRUnderground

Note added 10/29/10: PRUnderground has recently increased their prices and changed the services offered at their various pricing tiers.  This review is updated to reflect that change.

Cost: Distribution starting at $19.95
Review: PRUnderground is one of the more successful of the sites using a social media approach to distribution.  At the $19.95 level, you get distribution to other sites, but not to social networks.  Your release will also have advertising on it.  At the next level, $49.95, you get distribution to other sites and social networking outlets, and the ads go away.

Distribution from PRUnderground focuses on channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and Moreover.  The technique seems to work, as the releases from PRUnderground that I tested by searching for them in Google did seem to get distribution beyond the PRUnderground.com site. You can also embed a YouTube video, and a preview of your web site is shown in a frame below your release text.

Other paid distribution services: Marketwire, PRBuzz, 1888PressRelease

Free News Release Distribution

Fewer and fewer sites offer quality free distribution anymore.  Here are some of the better options:

PRLog
Cost: Free (ad supported)
Review: PRLog has been around for years, and despite the unattractive layout of the site and its releases, it’s hard to beat the rankings they achieve for releases posted at this Romanian-based site.

A couple of years back, PRLog branched out from news releases and started offering job listings as well (is this a trend?), which cluttered up the site considerably.  Despite my cries that I’m going to stop using the site, I keep coming back.  If you can tolerate the look and feel of the site, it’s something worth considering.  It’s one of the last truly free release distribution services that isn’t neutered, as they include a user-uploaded image, some customization (bolding and italics), and the first three links included in your release will be live.

24-7 Press Release
Cost: Free (ad supported), with a $49 paid option
Review:24-7 Press Release is another of the sites with free options that I have on my roster for secondary distribution.  Generally for a client, I post on one of the premium paid sites such as PRWeb or Business Wire, and then I post versions of the release with different headlines on some of the free sites, such as this one.

One of the only major downsides to 24-7 Press Release is that they hold your release for a day or two before they post it on their site.  However, if you pay for immediate distribution, they review it pretty quickly.  Once live, your free release will rank well on Google and sometimes Google News.  Links in the release body are not an option unless you pay for the upgraded release, but a link is included in a small company profile box.  Their paid option of $49 includes enhanced SEO benefits such as anchor text for links within the release.

Wikio
Cost: Free
Review: Wikio is actually meant more for articles and for sharing links, but it can also be used to post your news release content.  A voting system similar to Digg is utilized.  When setting up your release, you can post anchor text links and format your release in many of the same ways you can when using a paid service.  There’s no additional distribution beyond the version posted on Wikio, but that version does seem to rank fairly well in Google.

I-Newswire
Cost: Free (ad supported) with paid option
Review: Going the route of many of the free release sites, I-Newswire has neutered its free options and increased its paid options.  Their free releases no longer include a link.  That will cost you $35.

The Open Press
Cost: Free (ad supported) with a $10 paid option
Review: This is a great free distribution site, with one downside — signing up is extremely ponderous.  Currently, you cannot sign up on the site.  Instead, you have to send an email and request to be registered. The explanation given is that they’ve had issues with spammers.  Once you go through that process, however, the site is very good.  It looks businesslike, and the releases posted there rank well in Google web search.  Tasteful ads are placed on your release.  They can be removed by paying $10.  The site’s owners truly review your release before posting it (unlike some sites who say they’re reviewing it, but really want you to pay for expedited distribution) and WILL reject releases that they don’t feel meet their standards.  I know this from experience.

PressReleasePoint
Cost: Free to post on their site (ad supported) and $15 to distribute elsewhere
Review: This site sounds good on the surface — they post your release on their site for free, and for $15 they’ll post it on 50 free distribution sites.  I have not tried this service, but it concerns me.  Google’s duplicate content rule may come into play after the same content is posted on that many sites.

Another problem is the site itself.  Previously, it had a number of layout problems.  Some of those have been fixed in the past year, but what hasn’t been fixed is that the web site itself is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.  My suggestion to the owners is that they have a professional copy editor go through the site with a fine-toothed comb.

One thing I do like on their site is the comprehensive list of more free and paid sites than I can possibly list here.  The list is found here.

PitchEngine
Cost: Free (no ads)
Review: PitchEngine is a bit of a conundrum for me.  The site, which features a slick social media news release format, has numerous fans.  However, while the version of the release on PitchEngine ranks rather well on Google, there’s no Google News distribution.  The site has had it in the past, but has lost it several times.  Additionally, releases posted using the free option expire after 30 days.  To have them posted permanently costs $35 per month.  To get the full benefit of the site, with a custom newsroom and permanent hosting, will cost you $50 per month.  I’m not certain what happens if you pay your subscription for a year, post releases, and then decide not to renew.  If anyone can tell me whether those releases then expire or not, I’d be happy to update this review.

The bottom line is that while PitchEngine has many loyal fans, I’m not really one of them.

Other free distribution sites: PR-USA, PostaFreePressRelease, Express Press Release

The Best of the Best

So, which of these sites do I think are the BEST?

Premium Release Distribution: PRWeb and Business Wire (Tie)
It’s hard for me to pick between these two, so I’m taking the easy way out.  PRWeb does a better job of ensuring your release ranks well and generates some backlinks.  Business Wire, however, will make sure your release receives loads of backlinks.

Budget Release Distribution: Online PR News
With budget distribution services, you normally won’t get a lot of distribution, so I’m judging how well the version of the release on the distribution site ranks on Google and Google News.  OPN gets you VERY good rankings with both, and they’re continuing to expand their offerings.
(Honorable Mention: PRUnderground)

Free Release Distribution: PRLog
I keep trying to replace them on this list because I wish they’d do something to clean up their site, but it’s hard to argue with a free release service that offers their features, and will get your release excellent search rankings.
(Honorable Mention: Wikio)

Disagree?  Agree? Want to talk about another distribution service (preferably not one you work for)?  Please let me know about it in comments!

If you appreciate the work it took to compile these reviews, please be sure to “retweet” it using the button at the top of the page, or post it on one of the services below!

Just kidding, of course.  What I’m talking about is making sure your Twitter account is optimized for the search engines.  Yes, Virginia, Twitter is indexed by Google.  That means you want to make sure you get the most bang for that opportunity.  I found a good article at Mashable recently that described the steps you should be taking, including picking the right Twitter name and taking advantage of the space for your bio.

Read more at The Top 10 Twitter SEO Tips

Some firms will stop talking to us (yeah! less email), but we’ll find other ways to get the news. Others, who haven’t read this post because they don’t read TechCrunch, will be unpleasantly surprised. Maybe if we cause enough pain then PR firms will start to take action against those publications who break the rules.

There will be exceptions. We will honor embargoes from trusted companies and PR firms who give us the news exclusively, so we know there won’t be any mistakes. There are also a handful – maybe three – people who we trust enough to continue to work with them on general embargoes (if you are a PR person and wondering if you’re on that list, you’re not). But for the vast majority of news we get in our inboxes, we’re just going to fire it off to our readers ad hoc whenever we please.

Many have suggested that Arrington is ticked off because his site, one of the most popular tech blogs in the blogosphere, isn’t the only big dog in his space anymore and that he’s just looking for ways to trump the competition.  I think it’s just part of a blogger backlash I’ve noticed recently against PR people.  The problem I see is that PR people don’t know how to pitch bloggers.

Fact is that PR people should follow many of the same rules about pitching blogs as they SHOULD be following when they pitch traditional media.  First, read the publication and read articles by the person you’re pitching.  Second, don’t pitch anything irrelevant.  Third, personalize your pitches for the publication and person you’re pitching.  That seems simple, but what’s happening more and more (particularly since companies like Cision have included bloggers in their media directories) is that PR people are just blasting releases blindly to bloggers like they’ve been doing with the media for years.  It’s called the shotgun approach and it’s a very poor PR habit.

As you might know, I recently redesigned the EndGame Public Relations website, moving it from being html-based to php-based and using WordPress as its content management system (CMS).  The site was ranking extremely well for the keywords I targeted, falling in the top five on Google and Yahoo for all of them.  Shortly after the redesign, however, I found that every time Google re-indexed my site, a few more of my pages would disappear from the rankings for my keywords.  I figured they would return shortly and made a few moves to speed up the process.

After two weeks of wondering when my site would return to the rankings, I finally figured out the problem.  WordPress was blocking Google and other search engines from actually SEEING my site!  By default, WordPress is set to full privacy mode.  What this means is that your website will be accessible on the web, but Google and other search engines will be blocked by a file called robots.txt.  This “robots” file tells the search engine spiders which pages they should and should not crawl.  It can be useful at times, but in my case it was a massive SEO roadblock in my website redesign plans.

So, if you build a new site using WordPress, or you convert a site like I did, when you’re done go into your WordPress panel, go to settings, select privacy settings, and make sure it’s set so that everyone can see you … including the search engines.  WordPress will then automatically remove the roadblocks from your robots.txt file.

FYI, if you read this and realize you made the same mistake I did, here’s what you can do: First, download a WordPress plugin called Google Sitemaps Generator.  It generates a sitemap in Google’s preferred format, and then notifies the search engines that the sitemap has been updated.  Once you’ve done that, go to Google Webmaster Tools and make sure Google knows your sitemap is there.  Those webmaster tools are quite helpful, letting you know when your site was last crawled and if there were any troubles.  In fact, my check over there was what finally led me to figure out why my rankings were in the toilet!

[Edited to add on 8/25: My rankings are starting to creep back to where they were! Huzzah!]