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A few months ago I wrote a post comparing various online press release services. While nobody disputed their effectiveness at building links, there were questions as to how to measure the full value of Online PR.
For fun, I’m going to take a real release that we recently did and answer each of the questions that was raised.
(Full disclosure, this is a client of ours and he agreed to share these numbers)
Here’s what we did
We had recently launched a Blog for a client and decided to give it a little boost by sending out a press release. The product is very environmentally friendly so we wanted to make sure that we got additional coverage in the client’s own state plus those states that are pro environment (like California).
Of course, we followed the basic PR Optimization best practices like making sure that the title was catchy (but contained a keyword) and that the piece included a link back to the client. We used PRWeb for our distribution (we really like the $200 option).
What to Measure?
1) In the original post I used Headline Impressions as the main comparison metric.
In this example the release generated 61,468 headline impressions. Given that the release was focused across a few states, I would consider this number to be pretty good.
2) Links Built is the most obvious metric from an SEO perspective. Our press release generated 173 links.
But of course quality is more important than quantity. Many of the links generated from online press releases are of little to no value. They were from off topic, spammy scrapper sites.
But some of these links were fantastic!
The piece made it to both Google News, Yahoo News and Business.com which provided the client with tremendous additional exposure. Plus it got picked up by local news sites, environmental news sites, and industry specific sites.
So far we’re off to a good start. But as PRWeb commented (in my previous post), the metrics that are most meaningful are those from your own operations.
3) Increases in site traffic Site traffic was up 87% over the previous month. Most of this was the result of a big spike in referral traffic. This referral traffic was coming from sites that picked up the press release.
Of particular interest, this referral traffic was quality traffic. They spent an average of 4 minutes on the site, had 4.34 pages per visit and a low bounce rate.
4) Increases in Off line inquiries from both media and prospects. It’s not unusual for media releases to lead to other media opportunities.
We got in through the back door. Traditional PR companies go through the front door and “pitch” ideas to the media. With online PR you happen to be at the right place at the right time when reporters are researching a story.
This particular press release lead to an inquiry from the Governor’s office and a nomination for an Environmental Award!
5) Increase in conversions (e.g. sales). There was one sale that definitely came as a result of the press release (the visitor came from one of the referral sites that picked the release up).
Due to other marketing initiatives (both online and off line) it’s not possible to definitively measure whether the press release drove a marked increased sales. But empirical evidence (customers saying that they had seen the release on local news sites) suggests yes.
6) Increased ranking for the strategic keywords used in the release.
The release is currently showing on spots 6, 8 an 14 (through powerful sites that picked up the release) and the client’s site itself is in spot 18.
It’s been a few weeks since the release and we are searching for their keyword phrase not a branded term.
These results can be attributed entirely to the release itself
To make this a true test we picked a release that was targeting a new product. We have not otherwise targeted this keyword before with any link building or on-page optimization efforts - all of the above metrics can be entirely attributed to the release itself.
So was there any value to the online press release beyond traditional link building? The client sure thinks so!!!!
What do I think? Like anything else, it’s all about the content. Online PR created for link building purposes only will probably only build you links. Online PR that is quality content will lead to quality metrics.
As posted in SEO, Experiments.
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10 Responses to “Online PR - Is there any value beyond the links?”
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Weekly Round Up - Stories You Might Have Missed » Hybrid Search Engine Marketing | SEO Consulting to Help Rank Better Says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 am[…] Online PR - Is there any value beyond the links? - Search Engine People […]
February 20th, 2008 at 10:00 am
That was a good read - I’m still new to all this but getting links from Google News and Yahoo News must have been a huge boost.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:13 am
By showing the bottom line benefits of your client’s PR campaign, you were able to clearly demonstrate the holy grail of all forms of PR, both online and offline.
Too much of PR (and most other forms of marketing as well) equates activity and chatter with results.
By going beyond point #3, and demonstrating the ROI of your efforts in points #4,#5, and #6, you truly showed your clients something of value.
All clients should be so lucky.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Thank you for this wonderful demonstration about what comes from following best practices.
I agree with the other comments that your insight about what’s of value and reporting that to your client is not always available from other ‘professionals’ in this space.
A couple requests to help others to find this information:
1) they will be searching for “PRWeb,” not “PR Web” (these two keywords are incredibly generic).
2) Although our high-touch services are available from prwebdirect.com, most people like the lessor expensive do-it-yourself services at prweb.com. You may want to update your link.
Thanks again for sharing this information. Real-world examples cannot be beat.
February 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Paul and Rob, thank you!
Joe, I have fixed the url and spelling of your name
sorry about that - thank you for inspiring this post back with your comment back in Dec!
February 21st, 2008 at 9:39 am
Jennifer,
I am curious how you measured the 173 backlinks. We use PRWeb too (the $200 version most often) and I don’t see that metric in their reporting… I would have been surprised if they did.
I know you can do search for the exact title, but that does not mean each of those instances included your links or that Google is counting them.
We have lots of backlink tools, but none that I know of that can find links base on a PR title.
How did you do it?
February 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Hi Arnie, no it’s not from PR web. I’ll send you a note with more details. Cheers!
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 am
Jennifer - that would be great. Thanks.
March 9th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
What is a “headline impression” and can you tell me how you measure that? Thanks!
April 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Thank you Jennifer. nice article. Online PR campaign is the best way to publicize business.
In the press release Headline Impressions is the important metric.