69 replies to this topic

[Jill]

I just really don't believe those numbers. My clickthroughs simply didn't jibe with the numbers PRWeb gives you.

[Haystack]

It isn't explained very well, but as far as I can tell, the read numbers likely include the number of page views your headline receives on sites syndicating articles using rss. Personally, I don't really consider that a read. It's closer to an Impression. For example, I put out a press release last week that has a .1% click through rate if you quantify the number of verified click throughs to 'reads' ratio. Had the 67,000+ 'reads' been people who'd actually opened the article rather than possibly scan a headline, I'm sure the CTR would be significantly higher than that.

[BobetteKyle]

(however, with PR Web Direct, you also get
your release posted in a separate area just for the
PR Web Direct releases).

Thank you for that added information. It was going to be my next question because when I scanned the $80 PRWeb and the $119 Web Direct, they looked the same.

[Default_Character]

(however, with PR Web Direct, you also get
your release posted in a separate area just for the
PR Web Direct releases).

Thank you for that added information. It was going to be my next question because when I scanned the $80 PRWeb and the $119 Web Direct, they looked the same.

I was confused at first because they do look the same...
also, PR Web is all automated via a web form; with PR
Web Direct, you email them the info and someone calls
you and sets it up.

Also, if you do it, give PR Web Direct $120, not $119. Otherwise you
only get two "stars" (the $80 PR Web also gives you two stars);
with $120 you get three "stars". This places your press
release before all of the two star people and lower.

Haystack mentioned the "impressions" vs. click throughs.
I agree... I'm not sure how many actual views there were.
If you pay more $$$ to PR Web/Direct, I think you get
more in-depth stats.

But... if I search via Google using part of my headline, I
see over 1400 pages my press release now appears on.

This is an experiment for us. It may be just as cost-effective
to submit a free one! We figure that if we get just one sale
out of this, it'll be worth it.

[Crichey]

That's exactly how I looked at it, although I used the free service so I was just out my time writing the release. I look at them as just one tool in the box.

[BobetteKyle]

I have a release going out tomorrow through PR Web Direct. Will let you know how it goes.

I was reading through some of the FAQ and ran across this: "Since Google is an independent spirit we cannot guarantee that Google will ultimately include your story." The 'independent spirit' part made me laugh because it hit the nail on the head!

[BobetteKyle]

OldNewby, Ed, and Jill I am thinking you are right about "reads" really meaning something like "impressions." My release went out about 4:30 a.m. central time this morning. When I look at my stats, I can literally see the reads jump ... each time I refresh the screen it increases by hundreds. NO WAY are that many people actually reading the full release.

It has been picked up by Google, Yahoo, and MSN (haven't checked the others yet) and has good placement in the news sections for some keywords.

Since I'm zombied out and have a headache from watching football and two baseball games all at the same time last night, I'm not much good today. So, I'm gathering data for an analysis. Will probably write an article about it.

Anecdotally, I was talking to Bob Baker (author of Branding Yourself Online, Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, and Unleash the Artist Within) Saturday about PRWeb. He's used both the free and paid services on and off. In March, he used the free service to distribute a press release, "What's Wrong With American Idol?" It now has a reasonable presence in the search engines.

[Tom Philo]

I got a call from PRWebDirect.com - sister site of PRWEB.com - and found out that on the bottom right of PRWebDirect.com home page they randomly list news outlets that subscribe to their feeds.

The PRwebDirect side caters to those who want to oursource writing and or editing of releases as well as distribution of them. PRWeb.com is geared toward those who want to do it all themselfs. Same channels, but PRWeb is less expensive since only a quick review of the release is done before approving it.

Thus big firms will go to PRWebDirect and the rest go to PRWeb.

So, the numbers seen reflect the number of feeds delivered to various outlets and the number of times a PR was seen (guessing a page of releases that includes yours is counted as a read as well as a individual read).

I would only really count the times people printed, forwarded or looked specifically at your release as a valid indication of positive interest. The first number is then a rough guide as the number of times a feed was delivered, the times a release was seen on a site that has RSS on it (which means bots hitting that site are likely counted too). Thus I would discount that first number by at least 85% to get close to a real number of actual people who actually saw - "an impression" - of a release. So if you see a count of 100,000 likely only 15,000 real people saw it, rest are bots. (Based on a stat comparison of bots/vs people coming to sites where I have log access to.) But then 15,000 is pretty good number.

However, factoring in countries, states, etc where it is seen but the likelyhood of doing any business with those people who see it is nil, you may lose another 80%, you are getting down to maybe 3,000 valid potential users.

Over time I expect that % to climb to 98% since press releases are very short lived and bots will be the only ones going back to check pages overall.

But if just three people use your service / buy something because of it, get an article about you written or just listed in your local newspaper etc, I would consider it well worth a $30 investment.

To have lasting value always include URL to your site in the body of the release, as well as Company, POC, phone, address; directions to your business etc.

They have started masking e-mails from being seen in the body so if you want to list e-mail address you must put it in a format: name @ domain . TLD - a space after each part, else it gets auto-filtered and will not be displayed.

[Cartman]

I have a release going out tomorrow through PR Web Direct. Will let you know how it goes.

I was reading through some of the FAQ and ran across this: "Since Google is an independent spirit we cannot guarantee that Google will ultimately include your story." The 'independent spirit' part made me laugh because it hit the nail on the head!

Just wondering what kind of luck you had with your recent press release through this company.. Thanks!

[BobetteKyle]

The press release was distributed on 10/19 (two weeks ago yesterday).

I ended up going with the paid service, contributing $142, which gave it three gold stars and #9 overall rank for releases distributed that day. I used their PRWebDirect service, which meant the release got a little extra editing attention...the editor added categories and improved my summary before listing it. Live people were also very accessible. An editor called me, plus I called twice about various things and quickly got someone who could help both times.

Because I found the PrWeb versus PrWebDirect thing confusing, even though OldNewby explained it in this thread, at first I accidentally submitted the release to the free service. Got that taken care of before it was actually distributed, though. One interesting note...the "do it yourself" version was rated 4 out of 5, but the PRWebDirect version was rated 5 out of 5.

24 hours after distribution, the release had 80,492 "reads" and 190 pick-ups. I checked the stats just now and they are currently 148,900 "reads" and 434 pick-ups.

Purpose of the release was three-fold: (1) to raise awareness of and boost traffic directly to one of my sites via a mention in the press release, (2) to boost traffic indirectly via a viral PDF I distributed with the press release, and (3) to market my book and other planning tools.

I'd say short-term - within a week - I recouped my money (give or take a smidge) through incremental advertising revenue, plus an added indirect sale or two through my book sales site (the site I mentioned in the press release is informational in nature - no sales possible directly from the site). Since press releases are not generally for generating immediate, direct sales (better for long-term growth and brand/company recognition) the short-term return is okey-dokey with me.

As for presence in the search engines, right now Google returns 156 results on a search for the press release title. Yahoo returns 128. These include (a) the press release itself on prweb, emediawire, and my site, ( b ) news sites that happened to be showing the headline last time the bots came round, and ( c ) sites that republished the entire release (some of which live-linked to my site, some did not).

Next time I am going to go with the free service so I can get a feel for the difference in results.