The Article Writer

I know that in times past I have steered some clients away from PR Web as this Vocus PRW Holdings company is rather pricey when it comes to press releases. However they also happen to be one of the largest and well known news distributors out there. What’s more, PR Web is very good when it comes to customer service — something that I have learned first hand recently.

Yesterday, I submitted a press release on behalf of a client who decided they wanted to give PR Web a try. After using PR Leap’s services a handful of times, he decided to go with PR Web, in part, to announce certain time critical news. I reminded this client that it would take $200 to have active anchor links in place, but he was fine with that. So, off I went submitting the release to PR Web.

Customer Service is Alive and Well

The submission part was easy, they handled everything. Once I finished uploading the release, it wasn’t five minutes later that I got a call from a PR Web representative, Cari, who confirmed the order and asked if I needed additional upgrades or other assistance. No hard sell either — just a simple question. I replied that we had everything that we needed, thanked her, hung up, and minutes later a confirming email highlighting our conversation was received.

Today, I realized that I did not have all of the links with the release activated (hyperlinked) as I misunderstood something about the package ordered, so I fired off a note to Cari. She guided me through what needed to be done and soon thereafter I had the links included. A subsequent email from their editorial team indicated that the release had been approved and was ready for distribution early next week.

No, PR Web isn’t paying me for what I am saying, so I will state that having a knowledgeable representative available does make a difference. Their distribution plan choices changed recently which can be a bit confusing, but I am satisfied with the help that they provide and I thought you might find this information helpful, perhaps encouraging.

When you write a press release (or have someone do the job for you) you want your release to do a couple of things — inform readers of some important company news (e.g., a new store opening, an acquisition of a company, a promotion of a key employee, etc.) and you want it to catch the eye of reporters. With the former, readers generally find your press release online through a news source such as Google News. With the latter, if your release is of interest to a reporter, he or she may quote excerpts from your release or find a story within the release which can then be turned into a fresh article.

The Third Component of Your Press Release

A third component of a press release is Google’s all-important page rank. If your release is posted via a quality distribution service such as PR Leap, it should eventually gain page rank on its own. However, that step is no guarantee — you must link to your online release from a ranked page on your own site.

For example, when I post a press release online I will also list the title of that press release on my PR4 portfolio page. Next, I activate the title by linking it to the release featured on PR Leap (or elsewhere) which essentially gives a “vote” for the release, thereby increasing the chances that this copy will also achieve page rank.

Your Ranked Press Release Helps Your Site

Why is this third component important? For one big reason: The press releases I list with PR Leap each offer active backlinks to my client’s web site (yes, I strongly recommend to my clients that they purchase the upgraded press release package from PR Leap or other service, if available). In some cases these older press releases have achieved page rank which then serves as a nicely ranked link back to their site. I not only write a jam up press release for my clients (wink*wink), but I also help to optimize their sites thanks to one important extra step that I take on their behalf.

For an example of one such press release that has achieved page rank and points back to a client’s site, please check out the following PR Leap release, “Weary Flight Attendants…” which currently has a page rank of 3. In this particular case I happen to also be the client as I wrote the release for another site I own.

You didn’t think that I would let an optimization opportunity sneak past me now, did you?

Since the year began I have been concentrating on writing press releases at the expense of writing articles for my clients. These days I am writing what I enjoy working on more than writing on what I have to do to make a living.

Yes, I am still marketing myself as “The Article Writer” but I have been mentioning to everyone who has asked that press releases is the main type of “article” servicie that I am providing right now followed by web content. Somewhere down my unwritten list are “feature length” but I am not seeing much of a demand for those at the moment.

Most of my press release customers are new to press releases, so I get to break them in on what they are all about and what a press release can, might, or will or will not do for them. There are some wrong ideas out there about press releases, so allow me to name a few in order to clear certain notions about them:

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