Link Building with Press Release Distribution

Press release distribution is a mainstay in ecommerce search engine optimization. Public relations consultants issue press releases for announcements or news, while search engine optimizers use them to acquire backlinks. But a digital PR consultant aims for both: announcements and links.

For fees ranging from $50 to $2,500 per press release, distribution services can get a release republished on other websites. Sometimes these are reputable news organizations. Other times, they’re low-traffic sites posing as news.

There are a few large press release distributors and dozens of smaller middlemen that syndicate to their own news circuits. Distributing a press release can be complicated due to decisions on the reach, the length of the announcement, and the number of accompanying images, logos, and videos

First-timers can waste a lot of money paying for services they don’t need. Smaller distributors are more willing to assist and provide advisory services. Larger distributors have less patience, especially for low-volume customers.

Search Optimized

“Press releases are a great way to boost ecommerce rankings, but you need to know how to use them,” says Maj Hussain, owner of Magic PR, one of the smaller press release distributors.

The process of search optimizing a press release and a web page is similar. Select a keyword and its variations and support them with related entities and semantic terms in the headline, sub-headings, and body text.

A press release is usually search-optimized for the same keyword and tactics as the page it links to and typically includes three components: (i) a news angle, (ii) optimized body and anchor text, (iii) and hyperlinks.

The example release below is a news angle optimized for an unbranded keyword (“Sebastopol Wine Tasting.”)

This release is optimized for “Sebastopol Wine Tasting,” an unbranded keyword.

And here’s an example of my own release for backlink acquisition optimized for a compound keyword: a brand (“Eric Schwartzman”) and a category (“SEO consultant”).

Maj Hussain of Magic PR suggests that ecommerce merchants start with a branded press release to establish authority, followed by product or category releases to drive traffic and link equity.

Branded releases promote the store’s name and link to its home page. Once the brand and home page rank, target your product listing pages, where the sales occur.

Press Coverage vs. Backlinks

The most powerful ecommerce press releases spur third-party editorial coverage with links to product-detail or category pages. A media-savvy digital PR consultant can help.

For newsworthy scoops, I’ve negotiated exclusives with a single editorial outlet. That site gets to break the story first in exchange for a prominent link in the article.

Google considers links from credible news outlets as authoritative and arranges its indexing system accordingly. I addressed the issue in July, explaining how the Google API leak suggests a three-tiered link storage hierarchy that places the most valuable, highly trafficked pages in RAM storage for faster access.

News articles with traffic are more likely to be stored on Google’s RAM tier.

But even if it doesn’t score original news coverage, a press release can still be aggregated by a group of websites that post it unchanged. If the aggregators are legit, this is a reliable method of acquiring backlinks.

Anchor Text

How you link from the press release to an ecommerce page matters. Qamar Zaman, founder of Kiss PR Brand Story, recommends linking “product name as anchor text to a product detail page and including a separate brand anchor link to the home page.”

He prefers no more than one link per 100 words, adding, “Naked URLs work very well, especially in ecommerce, because they drive engagement and link power directly to the page.”

Naked URLs start with https:// followed by the domain you’re linking to. The text of the URL remains in the body even if an aggregator strips out the link. Google may consider it active nonetheless.

“It’s also smart to use partial-match keywords or compound links that include both the brand and product name,” says Zaman. A compound ecommerce anchor could be the company name plus a product category, wherein both a store name and product category link to the same page.

Press Release Pick-ups

A press release is “picked up” when it is republished (“aggregated”) on another website.

Not all press release distributors have relationships with aggregators that can deliver high-authority backlinks. PR Newswire, Business Wire, and GlobeNewswire are three of the larger distributors. They satisfy the Securities and Exchange Commission’s fair disclosure requirements (Regulation FD), which are imposed on publicly traded companies to ensure no one investor has an unfair trading advantage based on selectively revealed information.

Publicly traded companies comply by using one of the distribution or “wire” services that discloses to the Associated Press, Dow Jones, Bloomberg, and Reuters simultaneously.

Distributors that comply with Reg FD  generally have superior distribution. But they’re more expensive and have stricter editorial guidelines, employing editors who review and approve releases before distributing them. I offer free training on satisfying Reg FD with social media.

Some of the smaller press release companies buy extended distribution through wires such as GlobeNewswire and then pad their pick-up reports with links from publishers with little traffic. The Associated Press aggregates press releases, but its backlinks are no-followed.

Aggregators have their own (undisclosed) rules and conditions. Many are low-quality, quasi-news sites that programmatically publish the same content. The sites frequently use the same templates with different mastheads. Smaller distributors often send their releases to these “news” aggregators to fluff up the number of pick-ups to justify their fees.

It is unlikely that Google will index press release pick-ups on these sites, much less store them on its RAM index.

The goal is press release pick-ups from known news outlets. “Press releases distributed through major outlets like Yahoo News and Bloomberg can attract attention from Google’s search engine and get those critical backlinks indexed,” Hussain adds. “The result is higher rankings, more traffic, and increased visibility for ecommerce sites.”

Google News

Press releases featured in Google News Top Stories or Google Discover can significantly boost rankings, but it’s not guaranteed.

“Press releases can show up in Top Stories, but they typically have to be picked up by major publications like MarketWatch or Bloomberg,” says Zaman. “A content creator with an established site has a better chance of getting into Google News than newer sites.”

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Press Release Pitfalls

Press releases must follow distributors’ guidelines. And that depends on the editor’s experience.

I recently had a release with the headline “Predatory Practices of Military Credit Card Issuers Exposed” rejected by an editor at one wire service, only to be approved with no changes by an editor at another. The rules are opaque and unevenly enforced.

The sites a release links to must be approved too. “Editors won’t approve releases that promote third-party brands without a direct relationship,” says Hussain. “But it can still work depending on how you structure the release.” Announcing a brand-specific sale or promotion at your online store is one way to get a brand name in the headline.

Another challenge of press releases (and all content) is link decay. You must continuously acquire quality backlinks as their value decreases over time, especially from lower-tier sites.

“Many smaller sites with low domain authority can initially get indexed, but over time, their impact on rankings fades,” says Zaman. “The key is securing high-authority placements and building links from topical, relevant sources.”

Ecommerce SEO

Despite these challenges, press releases remain a valuable tool for building ecommerce brand authority, securing backlinks, and boosting organic traffic.

• Start with brand-focused releases. Establish authority and recognition by targeting the home page.

• Target product detail and category pages. Focus on specific categories and product pages to drive direct traffic and conversions. Use compound anchors and naked links to target pages.

• Maintain link quality. Use tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz to assess the quality and authority of backlinks. Be wary of press release providers that bundle quasi-news pick-ups with one or two known outlets.

• Leverage major news outlets. Target top-tier publications to increase the chances of appearing in Google’s most valuable index tiers, securing high-authority, long-lasting links. Examine distributors’ news circuits carefully to determine how many reputable news sites aggregate their releases.