If you don’t have much money to advertise, using free PR marketing is one of the fastest ways to get your business off the ground. And thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it’s super easy to send out press releases and news releases. Even better… there are many websites that will distribute your press release for FREE!
A couple years ago I did a teleseminar just before World Hypnotism Day on how to use free publicity. In order to help everyone get their news releases out, I put together a list of the top ranking and high traffic free press release websites.
But things move fast in Internet time and I checked that list and found the sites I listed were no longer the top sites as measure by Google’s Page Rank rating or by Alexa’s traffic rating.
So, I put together this new list. I decided to sort it by Alexa traffic ranking instead of Page Rank because each Alexa number is unique. Then I wrote a little bit about each one so you can get an idea of how they might be different.
I also have noted if they require registration. When I have a little time, maybe I’ll add screen shots for each to this article.
The Metrics Briefly Explained
Google’s Page Rank goes from zero to 10, with 10 being the most authority (Google’s home page) and zero meaning brand new website. Page rank explanations can get complex, it’s easiest to remember a link from a higher page rank number is better.
For the Alexa rank, a lower number is better. A rank of “1” means the most trafficked site on the Internet. As of this writing the top 3 sites were Google, Facebook & YouTube.
Note: The Page Rank and Alexa data are as of July 23, 2010. They will change over time so you may wish to check them depending on when you read this.
One more thing… this is important. If you are planning to use PR Marketing, you don’t need to use all 10. PIck 2 or 3 for any given news release. A good strategy to use them all would be to rotate where you put out you releases over time.
Now, here’s the list!
Top 10 FREE News Release Websites:
1. PRLog.org PageRank = 6 Alexa Rank = 943
PRLog was founded to help small, medium and large businesses and organizations in their online activities. In addition to a Press Release Directory, they offer a Business directory and Product Directory.
Ordinary looking website, but they deliver good results because they allow inbound links and are well optimized for the search engines.
Also You can schedule when news release go out, and you get distribution to Google News and other search engines.
2. Free-Press-Release.com PageRank = 5 Alexa Rank = 1,885
Offers free press release service and also paid release services. They also have a pretty comprehensive Tools and Tips section on writing and distributing Online News Releases.
Easy press release distribution service. You get more features if you have a paid account. Also, you can place a banner on your news release, which points to your website.
3. 1888PressRelease.com PageRank = 5 Alexa Rank = 6,928
This service allows you to distribute releases to search engines, newswires and websites to help increase awareness of your product, company, or self for free.
They also have paid services to help you target journalists.
This site allows you to attach files, logos or images to your press release so they’re ready for journalists and others who need the information for publication. Paid accounts get extra services.
Registration required.
4. PR.com PageRank = 6 Alexa Rank = 8,284
PR.com is a unique website where companies can promote literally everything about their business in a one stop shop business marketplace.
PR.com is a directory of businesses, products and services, a press release distribution service, job search website, and online publication of articles, reviews and celebrity interviews.
Their free press release service is pretty bare-bones. They also offer paid services starting at $199.
5. PR-Inside.com PageRank = 6 Alexa Rank = 8.466
One of the view high ranking free PR sites based out of Europe. Located in Austria they provide free distribution of news and press releases.
Not visually attractive at all, they are optimized for search engines, and thus their Pagerank of 6.
Registration required.
6. ClickPress.com PageRank = 5 Alexa Rank = 12,498
Provides “global news distribution” and free tools for PR. All submissions are free and news releases remain in their searchable database permanently.
ClickPress content is distributed by a number of world-class news services, including: Google News, Moreover, NewsNow, Topix.net, MSN News, Ask Jeeves News, Lycos News, NewsKnowledge and the IPD Group.
7. PressBox.co.uk PageRank = 5 Alexa Rank = 12,952
One of the top free press release distribution sites in the United Kingdom. They have been online since 1999 (which is like 117 in Internet Years).
Based out of London, they have a large journalist following who use the site to find news stories.
The also offer copywriting services if you need help writing a release.
8. OpenPR.com PageRank = 4 Alexa Rank = 17,144
OpenPR is based out of Germany, and distrubutes worldwide. They are in the top 10 of “most popular sites” in press releases for Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
This site is run by journalist Roland K. R. Becker and his team of editors.
Their mission is “to give smaller companies the chance to go public with their news at any time.”
9. PRLeap.com PageRank = 5 Alexa Rank = 21,699
PR Leap is a leader in online press release distribution. Over 30,000 companies have used our service to send out press releases embedded with videos, photos, and files, to bloggers, journalists, and knowledge workers
Registration required.
10. NewsWireToday.com PageRank = 6 Alexa Rank = 23,797
A press release news distribution network. Their stated mission is “to ensure that every organization has access to the media, regardless of size and geographic location.” They have both a free and paid distribution services.
Site design is not the best, but it’s hard to argue with their page rank when it comes to link juice.
Registration required.
