Articles Or Press Releases, Which One Is Better?
Author: Chris McElroy AKA NameCritic

This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get from
clients. It isn't that one is better than the other. Both have
their purpose. However, the purpose for each is far different
and you should not get article marketing confused with press
releases.

Of course good copywriting is essential to both a press release
and article marketing. And both are optimized to contain your
keywords for seo purposes. But the relationship between article
marketing and press releases ends there.

Article Marketing is the distribution of well-written,
informative articles to article directories in the hopes that
they will get syndicated by or reprinted on other websites and
blogs. Article marketing helps with link popularity for this
reason.

Article Marketing helps with branding you as an expert in your
field and can drive traffic directly to your website if readers
like the article.

Press Releases are written to announce a newsworthy event. They
are distributed to news websites, news agencies, news blogs,
newsletters, etc. They are not the same as an article.

Most press releases I see submitted aren't newsworthy at all
however. People are using press release distribution to send out
articles. They have article marketing and press releases all
mixed up.

I read press releases that sound like sales letters all the
time. Pure self-promotion is not a press release at all. It's a
sales letter sent out through a press release distribution
center.

People who see these know the difference. News agencies who
could be printing or redistributing your press release to a
wider audience can see the difference at a glance.

If you do not know how to write news, you do not know how to
write a press release. Unfortunately, many of the people on the
web who offer to write press releases for money don't really
know how to write press releases either. They know you don't
know the difference between a press release and an article or
sales letter either, so they get away with charging money for
the service.

Go to any press release website. read the press releases.
You'll see more than 50% are self-promotion or just articles. If
it doesn't read like something you would read in a newspaper, it
isn't a press release.

You can do a press release in the first person or from the
company perspective, but you have to be announcing something
that is newsworthy. Something new happening. Something that
people will want to know about. A merger, an acquisition, a
partnership, a new website launched, (Can only be done once!), a
new blog launched, are all things that can be newsworthy and
must be presented as a news item, not as a "Come Visit MY
Website Please!" article.

Press releases do even better if written as a reporter would
write about your announcement. The Reporter, (press release
writer), can even interview you and others at your company for
quotes to use in the press release.

People are hungry for news. A press release should only be
distributed if there is news to announce. Yes you want to
optimize your press release for the search engines but SEO is
not the number one purpose for distributing a press release.

Announcing something newsworthy is the first reason. You only
optimize it because it is being distributed on the web and that
is the secondary purpose for the press release, not the first.

If you want good results for the money you spend on a press
release, do them sparingly and only when you have something
newsworthy to announce. You'll get more bang for your buck, more
traffic, more people reading about you, and you'll make back
your investment every time.


About The Author: Chris McElroy has been involved in Internet
Marketing since 1995. More info on article marketing can be
found at http://www.articlecontentprovider.com/articles.html and
more about press releases at
http://www.articlecontentprovider.com/press-release.html