Are press releases good for building healthy backlinks?

EliteWriter Level 3

May 30, 2016, 11:05 am

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Are press releases good for building healthy backlinks?

Apart from the usual on-page SEO methods such as keyword research and meta tags and usability, there are also off-page SEO techniques such as blog commenting and press releases. Do you think press releases are effective for building a healthy back-link profile or are they seen as web-spam?

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idealmike

Not really on their own no. Not today like they used to be 5+ years ago. Google has put less emphasis on them because they were so heavily spammed. But when used in conjunction with other link building methods they can be. Simply because they can rank highly on their own and go on to send you organic traffic from them and also because they can provide backlinks but the majority of them will be nofollow nowadays.

However that's not to say they can't still be useful. If you do a professional press release with someone like PRWeb they can publish it on the top press release sites which can be picked up by bloggers/webmasters etc and provide you with brand awareness and citation flow (CF). And sometimes a quick boost of traffic from them. However this soon dwindles down as the press release becomes buried under ever more hundreds of newly submitted press releases. But even still, some can rank in Google for some keywords for years provided there isn't much competition for whatever keywords you're targeting / it uses.

But using press release sites only for backlinks isn't really what I would call healthy. But when used as part of your overall link building practices and methods then they can help in that sense. Most big businesses in the world have press releases written about them at some point. Some more than others when they do something new. So if your site was big like theirs it would only make sense that it too also have some press releases written about it and posted to press release sites in time.

But the majority of free press release sites are spammed so heavily today that all the links they provide are nofollow or they don't allow live links or they have had to stop accepting submissions for a while while they do a clean up. Then they usually return and start charging for the privilege.

Press release sites can still be useful to get the word out about something, like some important new change, update or feature in your service, business or website. They can provide some backlinks from some high authority press release sites too but mostly those will only come if you pay for a premium press release service as opposed to using the free ones which have been hammered.

I hope that is a good insight for you.

Are press releases good for building healthy backlinks?

Not really on their own no. Not today like they used to be 5+ years ago. Google has put less emphasis on them because they were so heavily spammed. But when used in conjunction with other link building methods they can be. Simply because they can rank highly on their own and go on to send you organic traffic from them and also because they can provide backlinks but the majority of them will be nofollow nowadays. However that's not to say they can't still be useful. If you do a professional press release with someone like PRWeb they can publish it on the top press release sites which can be picked up by bloggers/webmasters etc and provide you with brand awareness and citation flow (CF). And sometimes a quick boost of traffic from them. However this soon dwindles down as the press release becomes buried under ever more hundreds of newly submitted press releases. But even still, some can rank in Google for some keywords for years provided there isn't much competition for whatever keywords you're targeting / it uses. But using press release sites only for backlinks isn't really what I would call healthy. But when used as part of your overall link building practices and methods then they can help in that sense. Most big businesses in the world have press releases written about them at some point. Some more than others when they do something new. So if your site was big like theirs it would only make sense that it too also have some press releases written about it and posted to press release sites in time. But the majority of free press release sites are spammed so heavily today that all the links they provide are nofollow or they don't allow live links or they have had to stop accepting submissions for a while while they do a clean up. Then they usually return and start charging for the privilege. Press release sites can still be useful to get the word out about something, like some important new change, update or feature in your service, business or website. They can provide some backlinks from some high authority press release sites too but mostly those will only come if you pay for a premium press release service as opposed to using the free ones which have been hammered. I hope that is a good insight for you. :)

10 years ago

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EliteWriter

I think that even a small or medium sized business could utilize press releases to its advantage. Press releases can prove to be a very good way to boost web traffic, and to a certain extent they are a form of content marketing and an opportunity to update a site. To make the most out of press releases it is important to add plenty of relevant keywords within the press release of course. Moreover, since it is after all a press release it should be announcing something important about your business, such as a product launch, a promotional offer, new partnerships or other important milestones. These need to be taken to your advantage and the press release should be released right on time to be effective. After writing press releases for some clients they noticed that they did benefit from an increase in web traffic. Obviously it is important that the content of the PR strikes the right balance between keywords and readability.

10 years ago

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TommyCarey

Like said above, they aren't as good as they were 5+ years ago because people spammed the hell out of them.

Don't count them out though, you can still benefit from them if it's done right.

Don't pay someone $5 to do 50 press releases because you're basically paying for an automated system to push out the same article to a couple hundred press release websites and hoping for some to stick. Doing it this way will ensure you only get the low quality ones to stick and this will probably just hurt your site more than help.

If you can do the press release yourself and guarantee that each website you're posting on has a unique article (Not spun, but uniquely written) this will ensure a higher acceptance rate of your submissions and you can get your information onto better websites that get loads of traffic and are actually credible.

This does take a lot of time since you have to write each post yourself or have someone write if for you. Let's say you have 20 news releated websites you want to post on and you get a unique article on each of them. Each of these articles should have taken you at least an hour to put together. Whaaaatttt?!?!?!?! 1 hour?!?!?!?! Yeah, an hour. If you don't want to be serious about putting everything together and branding your business, then quit now lol. Now even after you put in your 20 hours of writing, this doesn't guarantee it'll be accepted. If they don't get accepted, you can always put the content on your own website so it's not a total loss

Thanks,

Razzy

10 years ago

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EliteWriter

Yes I agree that press releases need to be done right. For example the title of the press release is very important as it will affect SEO while also letting readers know what it is all about. The content is also important and some good keywords need to be used to obtain good results.

The timing is also important. Sometimes businesses hire freelancers to write a press release several days after the actual event happened, and that is a disadvantage per se as followers would be more interested to know what is happening currently or what is going to happen, not what happened.

Press releases can also be used to spread links back to the site. Links are critical for online marketing as they help to drive more traffic to your site and improve search engine rankings too. Press releases are a great way to distribute such links more broadly and effectively as you can increase inbound links with every press release. Hyperlinks in the body of the press release work well and they should be used apart from placing links in the footer only.

10 years ago

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SEOClerks

Are press releases good for building healthy backlinks?

Are press releases good for building healthy backlinks?

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idealmike

EliteWriter

TommyCarey

EliteWriter

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