I am planning to hire a press release firm to publish a release for one of my blogs, what are your thoughts about the benefits of such a service in terms of backlinks, rankings
Eric is right. Few people read press releases anyway. Just do the training and it will work. Not fast, but slow and STEADY. Save your money for better things, like ppc.
There's really no need for it to be honest. Don't overthink things. If you stick with the training step by step and put all your focus on learning and creating quality content with good SEO, your site and traffic will grow organically.
Press release authority links are a thing of the past. A lot of their backlinks are not organically made and can therefore hinder the rankings of your site.
You only want backlinks that are relative to the topic of your site and not just random links pointing back that do not help the reader gain the insight and information they are looking for.
All the SEO training you need is here on WA. No need to pay someone who may do more harm than good.
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What are press release benefits for seo?
I am planning to hire a press release firm to publish a release for one of my blogs, what are your thoughts about the benefits of such a service in terms of backlinks, rankings
I can answer this one from experience due to using one for my author site many years ago.
I actually acquired access to post these press releases myself through a deal with the service (I won't name) with the actual access.
I found that they provided a lot of SEO juice within a week or so.
HOWEVER
yep, there is a however.
They are placed on pages on those large sites that no one will ever see.
No one. So expect zero traffic as a result of the releases themselves.
Over time, the sites themselves (Fox, NBC, CBS etc) will begin removing those links as well. I checked mine out of boredom (you get a spreadsheet usually with the links listed) and out of more than a hundred sites having the PR placed on them I could only find three still live.
I'm guessing Google probably has been allowing this link scheme to continue because of the amount of money that flows to them from these large news sites.
However, I wouldn't be surprised one day to read that they begin penalizing if they ever decide they could care less about these news sites because their own news site is in competition.
So for immediate juice, I found it worked.
Long term, not so much.
Regards,
Jason
Eric is right. Few people read press releases anyway. Just do the training and it will work. Not fast, but slow and STEADY. Save your money for better things, like ppc.
There's really no need for it to be honest. Don't overthink things. If you stick with the training step by step and put all your focus on learning and creating quality content with good SEO, your site and traffic will grow organically.
Press release authority links are a thing of the past. A lot of their backlinks are not organically made and can therefore hinder the rankings of your site.
You only want backlinks that are relative to the topic of your site and not just random links pointing back that do not help the reader gain the insight and information they are looking for.
All the SEO training you need is here on WA. No need to pay someone who may do more harm than good.
See more comments
I need a reliable and easy-to-use banner management WordPress plugin.
Most of the time,
a good theme offers the possibility of a banner...
better than an extra plugin...
🎶
Hello Mark,
Thank you for your question.
I used to use something several years ago called "My Simple Ads", I have a feeling it is not available now. At the time, it worked well, it was great for affiliate banners or if you are selling advertising on your website.
I was actually talking to my Webmaster the other day about banner ads and AdSense etc. He was saying that you can use something called Google Ad Manager, I don't know much about it, but it may not be a bad option to use.
Sorry, I can't be more helpful, however, I think I may look at the Google Ad Manager, myself, as it sounds quite useful. I believe you can also mix AdSense in with the ad manager.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Roy
That would be good, Marc, I would be interested to hear how get on.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Roy
What is "banner management" program? What is involved in "banner management" anyway? I've never heard of it.
It is a plugin that helps integrate banners on your blog. It should also have the option to manage sizes and placement.
Marc.
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Anyone knows a good banner management plugin for wordpress?
I need a reliable and easy-to-use banner management WordPress plugin.
Most of the time,
a good theme offers the possibility of a banner...
better than an extra plugin...
🎶
Hello Mark,
Thank you for your question.
I used to use something several years ago called "My Simple Ads", I have a feeling it is not available now. At the time, it worked well, it was great for affiliate banners or if you are selling advertising on your website.
I was actually talking to my Webmaster the other day about banner ads and AdSense etc. He was saying that you can use something called Google Ad Manager, I don't know much about it, but it may not be a bad option to use.
Sorry, I can't be more helpful, however, I think I may look at the Google Ad Manager, myself, as it sounds quite useful. I believe you can also mix AdSense in with the ad manager.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Roy
That would be good, Marc, I would be interested to hear how get on.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Roy
What is "banner management" program? What is involved in "banner management" anyway? I've never heard of it.
It is a plugin that helps integrate banners on your blog. It should also have the option to manage sizes and placement.
Marc.
See more comments
How can I notify Google to mark my posts as news-related posts? I run a currency news blog, so the posts are very time sensitive.
Hey Marc,
There's never any guarantee that you'll show up on Google News, but there are a couple of things you can do to help things along.
Firstly, go to Google Publisher Centre (just Google it).
They have a tool that allows you to submit your RSS feed (best if you're looking for every single article to potentially appear on Google News), or you can also submit indivudal urls (if you only have the occasional news item).
However, as I say, there is no guarantees, but by using the tools at Google Publisher Centre you certainly stand a better chance of being included.
Secondly, I would set up a Google Alert for specific keywords you wish to be picked up for.
So, say as an example, here in the UK the big news at the moment is the battle for the next Prime Minister.
Therefore, if my site was UK politics related, I would set up a Google Alert for "Rishi Sunak" and a seperate Google Alert for "Liz Truss" (the two prime ministerial candidates).
You can set a Google Alert up for hourly, daily, weekly, etc.
This would ensure that any news items relating to the two candidates would be sent to my email whenever a new blog post or news item is published.
What I would want to do here is to study the Google Alerts to see if the same blogs or news sites are appearing each and every time.
This will give you an idea of those who are regularly appearing on Google News for YOUR selected keywords.
Your aim then, as with everything marketing related, is to build a relationship where possible with these regular Google News websites.
Obviously building relationships, whether online or offline, should never be entirely focused on what you want, in fact, it should always be a case of WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM.
This could be something as simple as contacting 3-4 websites in your "news niche" and sending an email discussing one of their news articles, and asking if they would mind you linking to them or quoting them in your next posts.
Basically, the idea is to build and maintain relationships with these sites that regularly appear on Google News.
This may eventually lead to guest post opportunities, them linking to you, etc.
The crux being that if Google News sees that there is regular interaction between YOU and a website that is regularly featured in Google News, this makes you more of a known quantity in their eyes.
The aim is to eventually get into Google News on your own merits.
As with most things online, this won't be an immediate thing, but once you've submitted via Google Publisher Centre and built relationships with those who regularly feature on Google News, you have a much better chance of appearing there yourself.
Does that make sense?
Partha
Partha this is fantastic. My blog is not only relevant to product and preparation, but to current news and as a journalist, I wondered about linking to news articles. Contacting the author is not as easy ...and as a former news reporter, most don't actually write the stories themselves...so should I link to relevant data and articles within my posts? If this drives SEO can it hurt?
are you using schema data to indicate that it is a news article...https://schema.org/NewsArticle
or doing a press release
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht
Inspection tool google search console.
Possibly this can help
https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-index/
See more comments
How to notify google about news posts?
How can I notify Google to mark my posts as news-related posts? I run a currency news blog, so the posts are very time sensitive.
Hey Marc,
There's never any guarantee that you'll show up on Google News, but there are a couple of things you can do to help things along.
Firstly, go to Google Publisher Centre (just Google it).
They have a tool that allows you to submit your RSS feed (best if you're looking for every single article to potentially appear on Google News), or you can also submit indivudal urls (if you only have the occasional news item).
However, as I say, there is no guarantees, but by using the tools at Google Publisher Centre you certainly stand a better chance of being included.
Secondly, I would set up a Google Alert for specific keywords you wish to be picked up for.
So, say as an example, here in the UK the big news at the moment is the battle for the next Prime Minister.
Therefore, if my site was UK politics related, I would set up a Google Alert for "Rishi Sunak" and a seperate Google Alert for "Liz Truss" (the two prime ministerial candidates).
You can set a Google Alert up for hourly, daily, weekly, etc.
This would ensure that any news items relating to the two candidates would be sent to my email whenever a new blog post or news item is published.
What I would want to do here is to study the Google Alerts to see if the same blogs or news sites are appearing each and every time.
This will give you an idea of those who are regularly appearing on Google News for YOUR selected keywords.
Your aim then, as with everything marketing related, is to build a relationship where possible with these regular Google News websites.
Obviously building relationships, whether online or offline, should never be entirely focused on what you want, in fact, it should always be a case of WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM.
This could be something as simple as contacting 3-4 websites in your "news niche" and sending an email discussing one of their news articles, and asking if they would mind you linking to them or quoting them in your next posts.
Basically, the idea is to build and maintain relationships with these sites that regularly appear on Google News.
This may eventually lead to guest post opportunities, them linking to you, etc.
The crux being that if Google News sees that there is regular interaction between YOU and a website that is regularly featured in Google News, this makes you more of a known quantity in their eyes.
The aim is to eventually get into Google News on your own merits.
As with most things online, this won't be an immediate thing, but once you've submitted via Google Publisher Centre and built relationships with those who regularly feature on Google News, you have a much better chance of appearing there yourself.
Does that make sense?
Partha
Partha this is fantastic. My blog is not only relevant to product and preparation, but to current news and as a journalist, I wondered about linking to news articles. Contacting the author is not as easy ...and as a former news reporter, most don't actually write the stories themselves...so should I link to relevant data and articles within my posts? If this drives SEO can it hurt?
are you using schema data to indicate that it is a news article...https://schema.org/NewsArticle
or doing a press release
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/press-release-template-ht
Inspection tool google search console.
Possibly this can help
https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-index/
See more comments
Today my application to Pepperjam got rejected without any clear reason. Does anyone of you have any experience with them and how to meet their requirements?
Hey Marc,
Most sites like Pepperjam won't accept websites to affiliate with them unless they have lots of highly focused content.
You'll find that Amazon and Adsense are the very same when it comes to a website's content.
See screen print below for a suggested search...
Is there a way to contact them/ If noting else you can contact Jeanine in WA who is our rep for affiliate programs.
Hi,
Honestly, I never knew we had a rep for affiliate programs! How can I reach her? Do you have an email address?
Thanks,
Marc.
You are welcome. It looks like it would be of great help to add more niche related content to your website so that it will be viewed more favorably with an opportunity for acceptance into the program..
Hi - I don't personally have any experience with them, but their registration process notes the following reasons for rejection -
Incomplete contact information, failure to disclose promotional methods, unacceptable content, and the inability to verify your website, email address and phone number.
I presume you filled in all these details?
Most affiliate programs also expect to see a reasonable amount of current content that is attracting traffic, a Privacy Policy and an Affiliate Disclosure.
I looked at the 2 sites on your profile page and one is not live, and the other has had no new content for 10 months.
Hi Diane,
Thank you for your reply. It is another relatively new website. It has four blog posts. I guess it is because it is new that it got rejected.
Thanks :)
See more comments
Why my application was rejected on pepperjam?
Today my application to Pepperjam got rejected without any clear reason. Does anyone of you have any experience with them and how to meet their requirements?
Hey Marc,
Most sites like Pepperjam won't accept websites to affiliate with them unless they have lots of highly focused content.
You'll find that Amazon and Adsense are the very same when it comes to a website's content.
See screen print below for a suggested search...
Is there a way to contact them/ If noting else you can contact Jeanine in WA who is our rep for affiliate programs.
Hi,
Honestly, I never knew we had a rep for affiliate programs! How can I reach her? Do you have an email address?
Thanks,
Marc.
You are welcome. It looks like it would be of great help to add more niche related content to your website so that it will be viewed more favorably with an opportunity for acceptance into the program..
Hi - I don't personally have any experience with them, but their registration process notes the following reasons for rejection -
Incomplete contact information, failure to disclose promotional methods, unacceptable content, and the inability to verify your website, email address and phone number.
I presume you filled in all these details?
Most affiliate programs also expect to see a reasonable amount of current content that is attracting traffic, a Privacy Policy and an Affiliate Disclosure.
I looked at the 2 sites on your profile page and one is not live, and the other has had no new content for 10 months.
Hi Diane,
Thank you for your reply. It is another relatively new website. It has four blog posts. I guess it is because it is new that it got rejected.
Thanks :)
See more comments
What is the best donation plugin for WordPress that has many payment options?
Hey Marc,
Was thinking of offering this option on my hobby site, and this is the plugin I've been contemplating installing, simply because it makes it easy to use PayPal (which most people prefer) for security reasons.
Hope you find this helpful.
Hi Triblu,
Thank you for your response, do you know alternatives of Paypal. Cant use Paypal in my country.
Marc.
Hey Marc,
It would be best if you Google search for an alternative, so that you can review them to see which one might be best for use in your country.
See screen print...
Though, you may have to scroll down past the Google paid ads. In my search results, there were four of them
I use Forminator plugin. I originally found it looking for a forms plugin to create contact and opt in forms on my site. Forminator will also do calculations, allow you to create interactive quizzes and polls and does payments as well.
It's a great plugin and the developers keep it up to date, which is important. They are the same developers of Smush plugin, if you're familiar with that one. You can find more info here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/forminator/
I always look for plugins with multiple functions in order to keep the plugin count lower on my website :)
Best, Shannon
I have no idea but interested in any experienced answers. Thank you for asking this question.
:-)
Richard
See more comments
What is the best donation plugin for wordpress?
What is the best donation plugin for WordPress that has many payment options?
Hey Marc,
Was thinking of offering this option on my hobby site, and this is the plugin I've been contemplating installing, simply because it makes it easy to use PayPal (which most people prefer) for security reasons.
Hope you find this helpful.
Hi Triblu,
Thank you for your response, do you know alternatives of Paypal. Cant use Paypal in my country.
Marc.
Hey Marc,
It would be best if you Google search for an alternative, so that you can review them to see which one might be best for use in your country.
See screen print...
Though, you may have to scroll down past the Google paid ads. In my search results, there were four of them
I use Forminator plugin. I originally found it looking for a forms plugin to create contact and opt in forms on my site. Forminator will also do calculations, allow you to create interactive quizzes and polls and does payments as well.
It's a great plugin and the developers keep it up to date, which is important. They are the same developers of Smush plugin, if you're familiar with that one. You can find more info here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/forminator/
I always look for plugins with multiple functions in order to keep the plugin count lower on my website :)
Best, Shannon
I have no idea but interested in any experienced answers. Thank you for asking this question.
:-)
Richard
See more comments
I can answer this one from experience due to using one for my author site many years ago.
I actually acquired access to post these press releases myself through a deal with the service (I won't name) with the actual access.
I found that they provided a lot of SEO juice within a week or so.
HOWEVER
yep, there is a however.
They are placed on pages on those large sites that no one will ever see.
No one. So expect zero traffic as a result of the releases themselves.
Over time, the sites themselves (Fox, NBC, CBS etc) will begin removing those links as well. I checked mine out of boredom (you get a spreadsheet usually with the links listed) and out of more than a hundred sites having the PR placed on them I could only find three still live.
I'm guessing Google probably has been allowing this link scheme to continue because of the amount of money that flows to them from these large news sites.
However, I wouldn't be surprised one day to read that they begin penalizing if they ever decide they could care less about these news sites because their own news site is in competition.
So for immediate juice, I found it worked.
Long term, not so much.
Regards,
Jason