When you read the newspaper, you take notice of what is being said in an article of interest. You know that the information included in the article must be important if it is in the media, so you are less suspicious of the message that is being conveyed in a newspaper article than on an advert. Press Releases are no different than newspapers. But in the online arena, you have the opportunity to send out information that will interest the community yourself, and reap the rewards for your troubles with highly targeted visitors wanting to learn more about your business, or service.



What Are The Benefits Of Using Press Releases For Promotion?

The most commonly known benefit of submitting a Press Release is the traffic that it will generate to your website, as well as making your brand, company, or name known to the general public. Basically, you are getting your company noticed by important people, or those who are looking for the answers that you can provide them with.

The other benefits that using Press Releases for promotion include the price of submission. If you write your Press Release yourself, you can have your Press Release out to the general public free of charge. Most Press Release services offer a free submission service. If you are not sure how to write a Press Release, or don't have the time, there are many Press Release writing services available, or you can outsource to a freelance writer who is experienced in writing Press Releases. But before paying for a press release to be written for you, make sure that you have a newsworthy story to tell.

Press Releases have the potential to be sent all over the web by editors, both online and offline, and at the bottom of your press release is your bio, and your website link. This benefits you in two major ways. First of all, you are getting promotion from the published Press Release, which will bring traffic. But you are also receiving a large number of one way links to your website when the Press Release is published by other high ranking websites, which will make your search engine ranking soar.

So basically, for next to nothing, a Press Release can bring traffic to your site, increase page ranking in the search engines, create credibility, and awareness of your product, service, or company. And all you have to do is know how to write a Press Release that will attract the type of promotion you are seeking.

Are There Any Rules To Writing A Press Release?

Press Releases are a breed of their own, and to be accepted into online media sources, they must follow a set of guidelines. Each submission service will have their own set of rules regarding your Press Release submission. However, there are a few universal rules that are almost always used by any submission service.

The number one rule of writing a press release is to inform the audience, rather than advertise to them. So make your Press Release newsworthy. The second most important rule is to address the questions "Who, What, Why, Where, and When. Try to picture yourself as a journalist, who is reporting a new website, or something of interest to the media.

Keep your Press Release informative, and try not to write to create hype or excitement by using exaggerated phrases. Many submission services will flag your Press Release if you are using CAPS in the body, or in the heading. Don't go overboard with punctuation such as!!!, and??? in the Press Release.

Check your spelling, grammar and punctuation before submitting your Press Release. This isn't a rule, as much as it is a guideline, as often editors will see a newsworthy Press Release, and use it without modifying it, or changing anything in it. A poorly written Press Release will look unprofessional, and less like an important newspaper article to the reader.

Make sure to check the guidelines of each Press Release submission service, as some of them require Press Releases to be formatted in a particular way. Others like them to be kept brief, and some services like content related Press Releases. You can submit as many Press Releases to as many submission services as you wish, and by familiarizing yourself with their submission guidelines, you will find it easier to get your Press Release accepted by the editors.

Another good way to learn what is acceptable when submitting your Press Release is to look on the site at other people's Press Releases. Press Release distribution services usually have a search box on their site that will allow you to type in keywords, and find other Press Releases that are closely related to your own. You can't copy what is in the Press Release, as that is called copyright violation, but you can learn techniques, and gain ideas from other submissions.

Where Can I Submit My Press Releases

There are a number of good sites that accept Press Releases. Simply conducting a search for "Press Release Distribution" through your favorite search engine will provide you with a number of possibilities. There are some well-known, popular submission services such as prweb.com that are free to submit to. These will get you started, but there are plenty more available, and many are free.

Once you have leaned the rules, and can write a Press Release, you have unlocked a door that will give you the power to get promotion for your website whenever you like. Best of all, you can submit most of your Press Releases for free.

You may include this article on your site or in your ezine as long as this information remains intact.

Copyright 2007 Alastair Hayward