A recent competitive analysis has led me to believe that LevelTen needs to buy into this whole newswire service. Other than keeping up with the Volacci’s, I think this would be a great opportunity for us to reach potential clients and increase our SERP.

I have chosen the top two sources for major publications online such as Forbes.com and Businessweek.com.

PRNewswire

Pros:

• Interactive analytics
• Great distribution to publications
• Highly esteemed by journalists

Cons:

• Expensive
• Limited to three publications per press release before you're charged more
• Charged for logo placement

PRNewswire is very trusted and used source by traditional on online media. I chose the local distribution and was offered the following:

• $220 for the 1st 400 words (Your choice of 3 publications)
• $65 for every 100 words after 400
• $195 for the annual membership fee

Other perks included SEO, 24 hour editorial team (if you like to send out press releases at 2 a.m.) and an online member center for help and statistics.

Business Wire

Pros:

• High SEO visibility
• No cost for logo placement
• Unlimited categories
• Mobile app distribution

Cons:

• No 24 hour editorial team
• No over the top analytics
• Charged for mobile distribution

Business Wire is a commonly browsed source by traditional and online media. The same local distribution was chosen for the sake of consistency.

• $285 for the 1st 400 words (Unlimited publications can be chosen)
• $55 for every 100 words after 400
• $0 annual membership fee

I was shocked by the fact that they distribute via a mobile app (i.e. AP mobile) and I like that press releases are organized to be crawled for enhanced SEO (PRNewswire will tell you otherwise).

A smart PR professional would find a way to reach out to these media outlets through email or phone. Actually, journalists admit they do not prefer any certain newswire but instead rely on more trusted sources. Browsing through some of the content myself, I could see why. But when you’re a one-and-only internal PR person, sometimes it’s best to let a computer do a little work for a change.

I did happen to stumble upon a list of free PR distribution sites that I will most definitely take advantage of in the future. Take a look at Biznew’s Top Free Press Release Distribution Sites for more information.

What are your favorite sites for Press Release distribution? Do you use PR wires in your regular marketing activities?