What is the Standard for the Distribution of News Online?

I recently tried to submit two press releases I had created for my client using free press release distribution services. It was interesting to see how the majority of free services force users to switch to Premium or Paid plans. For example, some of them do strange things to the release date, saying that “most press releases are approved with in 48-72 hrs depending on the queue”. Others take the SEO ideas off the press release: “URLs will NOT automatically become clickable active links for free. You may pay for each”. I’ve also received a few rejections along the way ranging from “Your release does not fit the requirements for publication”, “Placed on editorial hold.” to “Your press release has been declined (not deleted).”

In my list I have a couple of trusted paid services like PRweb, RealWire (thanks, Belinda) and PRLeap. However, not every start-up company is able to pay $60-$200 per release. “Is it worth to pay so much money?” they asked me.

To help them make a decision, I asked the What are the benefits of using paid press release distribution services? question on LinkedIn and I’ve got plenty of practical tips from real-world experts and the reason to remember the “you get what you pay for” phrase. Enjoy!

P.S. Interesting enough, at least to me. Here are my first press releases I created and submitted to PRweb ages ago when the service was free:

August 4, 2004  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/08/prweb146130.htm
March 3, 2005 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/03/prweb213793.htm