We’ve been using PRWeb for different clients for quite some time now — we like the ease of use, the multimedia capabilities, and ability to add search-friendly links. There’s another thing our agency likes: the web traffic.

Traffic Spikes From Press Releases on PRWeb

PRWeb lives up to its direct-to-consumer model by sending a good amount of traffic to our client’s sites, which we use in our reporting back to them.

Using Tealium Social Media, we track both “click-throughs,” direct clicks on embedded links in the press releases, and “view-throughs,” which counts the number of visits from people who read the releases on PRWeb.com and come to the site without the benefit of a direct link.

For one particular client, we received an average of 121 visits (click-throughs + view-throughs) per release on PRWeb during the first quarter of this year. Those numbers will slowly increase over time due to the long tail of PR.

One thing we don’t like about PRWeb, however, is the coverage and distribution. Unless you upgrade to the Business Wire option, it just doesn’t seem like PRWeb releases get picked up by many outlets.

In March, we decided to use a different service, Marketwire, and analyze the difference in traffic.

Our first Marketwire release generated only five click-throughs, but 54 view-throughs for a total of 59 visits. Not bad, but much less than PR Web. We did a second release and the results were worse: one direct click and eight view-throughs for a total of nine visits. However, anecdotally, it seems like Marketwire did a better job of distributing the release to different blogs and news outlets, including MSNBC.

So which is better? Depends on your PR goals and objectives, as well as what your clients expect of you. We use both. PRWeb releases are a proven source of traffic, and a boon to search engine optimization efforts. We also want maximum coverage for important news announcements, which is why we’re trialing Marketwire. One tip to keep costs down: use the local city circuit on Marketwire to get good distribution at a cheaper price.

What are you experiences with different online distribution services?

The Long Tail of PR -- View-Throughs on Press Releases and Articles, Blog Posts Generate Traffic for Weeks to Come

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