PRWeb : No more free press releases

PRWeb will no longer offer free press releases per Lee Odden, publisher of Top Rank Blog.

PRWeb will now offer 3 options.

• Search engine optimized/SEO press releases for $80.
• SEO with social media for $120. Includes trackBacks, tagging, and social bookmarking. David Wallace of SearchRank, my source for this post, says using this level will improve your press releases’ performance significantly.
• Advanced online visibility with SEO and social media plus new tools and newly enhanced statistics for $200.

I agree with Dave that getting rid of the free service will get rid of all the spammy and ridiculous going through PRWeb.

You know I’m not a fan of using press releases to promote your blog, especially when you’ve just started your blog. The best marketers of your blog can be other blog publishers. They may turned off when seeing you toot your horn the day you launch your blog.

But perhaps a press release is appropriate on an occasion where you’ve had some unique blog successes that you’re looking to share with the offline media.

Others may argue for press releases for search engine optimization of your blog. But your blog, assuming you’ve done the right work, will tend to do well on the search engines already.