Traditionally, we sent out press releases as individual e-mails.  That was fine when the volume of our press releases was more limited but now that we are publishing hundreds of press releases each day it has caused a problem with some of our subscribers (who are already receiving press releases from other sources). 

To help these subscribers cut down on the volume of press releases they receive each day we have consolidated all the news releases into one compact daily news digest, sent out first thing every morning. 

Sample News Release Digest

Subscribing couldn’t be easier

Read our official announcement

If you put out a $140 or $200 release you will be able to add your press release into one targeted media digest and if you use the $360 package you will be able to include your press release into two targeted media digests.  In addition, you can also purchase inclusion into additional targeted media digests for $50 each.

You can add additional targeted media digests

Selecting targeted media digests couldn’t be easier

Once your release has gone out it will be included with that day’s targeted media digest and will be sent out to hundreds of regional media outlets and trade publications based on your selection. 

Draft Mode

All PRWeb news releases are hand-reviewed by our dedicated editorial team to ensure each release meets our editorial standards. Traditionally, customers upload a final copy of their news release when they are ready to submit it for editorial review and distribution.

Save your press release as a draft before submitting

With draft mode, you can now create a news release in our system and save it as a draft without submitting it for review. When you are ready, you can go back, finish it up and submit it to our editors. Note: if you save as a draft, then it will not go to an editor for review and won’t be distributed until you have specified that it should be submitted for editorial review and distribution.

ALT Tags

ALT tags help images perform well in keyword driven searches. For instance, if you are distributing a picture of your cat without an ALT tag, it would be difficult for a search engine to know that the picture is of your pet cat. Adding an ALT tag that reads “my cat” will help explain to the search engine that the picture is indeed about your cat. ALT tags also make your site more accessible to text readers used by the visually impaired.

To help explain the steps involved in uploading your release and provide you with an indication of where you are in the process, we now offer an enhanced navigational device to guide you.

Enhanced navigation shows you where you are in the process

Scheduled Distribution

You can now synchronize your communications more effectively by choosing the time of day you want your news release distributed.

Priority Distribution

If you need your news release out fast, simply select priority distribution when you choose your distribution package. With priority distribution, your news release is immediately sent to an editor for review. Provided your release meets our editorial standards, we’ll publish it right away through our distribution network. Note - priority distribution is available between the hours of 4AM (PST) and 6PM (PST) and is contingent upon editorial approval and processing time for any additional services ordered.

In response to numerous customer requests for more resources for first-timers we have put together a quick start menu that serves as a central portal for some of our resources.

PRWeb Quick Start Menu

From the quick start menu, you can:

1. See tips, tools and templates for writing press releases
2. Sign-up for our free new user orientation
3. View our editorial support services

The quick start menu is accessible to all PRWeb users simply by clicking on that ‘Quick Start’ button on the far left of the top navigation area.

If you have any additional items that you think would help make Quick Start a better resource we’d love to hear about them.

A large portion of PRWeb customers are small business owners or independent consultants who want to publicize their business, but do not have a great deal of experience with crafting press releases.  Another portion of our customers have experience crafting press releases but aren’t familiar with various strategies for making them search-optimized.

Based on these customer needs, we will now be making the following services available to all customers who purchase a PRWeb distribution package:

• News Release Drafting - A PRWeb editor will work with customers to draft a news release based on their requirements and targeted for their specific audiences, including journalists, bloggers and consumers, that will achieve top results in search engines.
• News Release Revision - PRWeb will copyedit news release for spelling and grammar and give them a refined, professional tone to optimize the messaging across all PRWeb distribution channels.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Analyzing key words and phrases in the customer’s release, an editor will enhance the news release with search optimized language, driving increased traffic to the release. Additionally, the key word links will help search optimize the customer’s own website.

These three services including Easy Submit, offer customers an array of useful editorial solutions to ensure their news gets the visibility it deserves. 

Selecting editorial services is easy.  After you choose your distribution level, you will be taken to a screen that asks you to select distribution enhancements:

We are pleased to announce the rollout of 6 new PRWeb news widgets that are available in the Netvibes listing of premium widgets in the Netvibes’ Ecosystem - their directory of widgets. In addition to a top news widget, there are PRWeb widgets available that focus on technology, politics, lifestyle, business and arts and entertainment news.

In addition to Netvibes, these widgets are also available for iGoogle, Opera, Windows Live, Apple Dashboard, and Windows Vista.

Common Craft caught our eye with their series of educational videos on Web 2.0 technologies like RSS and social bookmarking, which managed to explain some pretty abstract concepts in an easy and entertaining manner.

Working with Common Craft was a tremendous experience for us and we are happy to introduce ‘PRWeb in Plain English’:

File Library - PRWeb has improved its news content management capabilities by adding the File Library Console to the PRWeb platform. PRWeb users can now upload all file types into their File Library for easy and ready access. The File Library utilizes a “drag-and-drop” user interface to make managing your files and attaching them to your press releases quick and easy to do.

Improved BlogThis - The BlogThis feature has been enhanced to enable inclusion of the embedded video from the press release in the blog post being created about the release. BlogThis will also now identify categories used by the blogger and allow them to be assigned to the corresponding blog post. PRWeb has also made the BlogThis tool available to all bloggers, whether or not they are PRWeb account holders.