News Release Linkbuilding

I’m sure along your SEO journey,  you’ve most probably already encountered news release. This linkbuilding technique is usually a great way to attract links through other publishers and press release websites. And as you well know, other publishers and press release websites can generate a lot of buzz – and they usually have good PageRank juice to boot!

This entry is part of the SEO Hacker School series: Linkbuilding Techniques

It all Boils down to Content

Again, the thing you need to start with is having a good, solid content that is newsworthy. Usually this content has to be fresh and new in your industry in order to spur interest with publishers. Always remember that in news pitching, you’re not just writing for any ordinary person. You are writing for publishers and other knowledgeable writers in your niche – who are usually as updated as you are!

Obviously, having a content that can be considered a ‘fresh scoop’ SHOULD be worthy of attention and media coverage. Once you have established your newsworthy content, it’s time to spread the word.

Getting it out

It’s not everytime that you publish the news in your own blog. Sometimes it is more strategic for you to publish it in press release websites such as Technorati or The HuffingtonPost.Why? Because they have a good, established amount of readers – some of whom are publishers such as yourself! And if they see you publishing in well known PR sites such as Technorati or The HuffingtonPost, they’re going to have an increased amount of respect for you.

You can either apply to become a writer for Technorati or be a top commenter to be able to write at The HuffingtonPost. Becoming a publisher in either one of these sites can be a good leverage for your news pitching strategy. It’s very hard to become a writer at The Huffington post though. But no matter, there are several other sites you can pitch news in.

Press Release Websites

• 24-7PressRelease.com – Free release distribution with ad-support
• 1888PressRelease.com – Free distribution, paid services gives you better placement and permanent archiving.
• ClickPress.com – Distributs to sites like Google News and Topix.net, Gold level will also get you to sites like LexisNexis.
• EcommWire.com – Focuses on ecommerece and requires you include an image, 3 keywords and links.
• Express-Press-Release.com – Free distribution company with offices in 12 states.
• Free-Press-Release.com – Easy press release distribution for free, more features for paid accounts.
• Free-Press-Release-Center.info – Distributes your release, offers a web page with one keyword link to your site. Pro upgrade will give you three links, permanent archiving and more.
• I-Newswire.com – Allows for free distribution to sites and search engines, premium membership differs only slightly in adding in graphics.
• NewswireToday.com – All the usual free distribution tools, premium service includes logo, product picture and more.
• PR.com – Not only will they distribute your press releases, but you can also set up a full company profile.
• PR9.net – Ad supported press distribution site.
• PR-Inside.com – European-based free press release distribution site.
• PRBuzz.com – Completely free distribution to search engines, news sites, and blogs.
• PRCompass.com – Distribute your press release with a free or paid version, others can vote it up ala Digg style.
• PRUrgent.com – Not only distributes your release, but attempts to teach you how to write one, and even offers downloadable samples for you to work with.
• Press-Base.com – Submit your release for free and get on their front page and the category of your choice.
• PressAbout.com – A free press release service formatted as a blog.
• PressMethod.com – Free press release distribution no matter what, but extra services based on the size of your contribution.
• PRLeap.com – Free distribution to search engines, newswires, and RSS feeds. Fee based bumps get you better placement.
• PRLog.org – Free distribution to Google News and other other search engines.
• TheOpenPress.com – Gives free distribution for plain formatted releases, fees for HTML-coded releases.

Source: Mashable – 20+ Free Press Release Distribution Sites

News pitching

• News sites usually have a “send a tip”, “submit news” or “contact editors” page linked somewhere in the footer – use this to submit your story if you think you have groundbreaking news in your industry.
• When pitching your story to news sites, try to keep it as short as possible, concise and clear – paint the story in the most interesting way and don’t forget to cite sources (one or two of which should be a content in your website). Make sure you don’t have any grammatical error as you’re trying to be a reputable source of information.
• When you’re submitting your story, don’t use their social network accounts or email addresses to do so. They have their ‘submit news’ page for a reason – overriding it may mean that your story will not go to the editors or to the people whom you want to send it to.
• It is a must to have great, juicy information – so you will have to go out of your way to acquire data that is not widely spread. Publishing a story like this can gain links, interest, brand exposure and traffic to your website – especially if the content in your website is the main resource of the news scoop.

News Sourcing

Sometimes the fish you’re trying to catch when pitching in these news sites are the journalists who are using them for sources. There are several other websites that are available out there in order for you to do this. You can tip journalists and reporters and publishers directly by using News Sourcing sites.

These sites help you become a source for reporters, journalists and other publishers out there – who will most probably link to you as they use you and your information in writing out their piece.

Some of these sites are:

• Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
• FlackList
• ProfNet
• Newsbasis
• Reporter Connection
• Source Bottle
• Media Kitty

In pitching your story to news sites, you should also direct them to your content as you dish out the story or the coverage. These news websites usually provide a contact details form or some other way wherein you can reach the publishers when submitting a pitch.

Also, keep in mind that your pitch should be short, concise while giving out juicy detail and information that you think is necessary for them to have a solid scoop. If they have no scoop, you will surely have no mention and no link. If your scoop is really good and they push through with the scoop, then the chances of your content being cited as a source shoots up immeasurably.

Tips for Keeps: Do your deep research -> Write it out and build great -> solid content for sourcing -> pitch it to authoritative news sites -> see what happens.