Posted by George in Increasingly I find myself writing both press releases and articles for various clients, and with that comes the increasing number of times that I am compelled to explain the difference between an article and a press release. In light of this I’ve set out to explain, both simply and in detail, the differences between the two to avoid any confusion in the future. Let’s begin.
Articles
The simplest way to think of an article is to pick up a copy of Newsweek and read an article talking about what to look for when house shopping. If that analogy doesn’t work for you, try thinking of an article as an Ann Landers column, only one that’s about your business with advice given by you. The biggest misconception about articles is that they’re supposed to promote a particular company or business. On the contrary, an article should give information, even advice, but it shouldn’t be promotional.
At no time should an article refer to your business in any way other than as an example of a business or group of businesses that are a good source of whatever advice you’re giving. To put that in layman’s terms: If your company sells a computer part, but you’re not the only one that does, an article would be a good way to give advice on picking out the computer part from a good company, such as yours and possibly another quality company. While you could put links to your website from the article, with the exception of the author information, your company wouldn’t be mentioned in any promotional way.
Promotion is the bane of the article. Many of the quality sites where I like to send articles to be released to the public won’t release an article if they are promotional in any way. I find myself often editing articles written by other people that start out well, giving advice on a particular topic, but then stray into how their company can help with their need and what exactly they offer. That’s a big no-no with an article. As soon as you stray into promotion you’re writing something entirely different.
Press Releases
On the other side of the coin we have the press release. Unlike articles, press releases can be, and indeed should be, promotional in nature. Any time you want to say something about your company, be it a new product or service that you’re offering, a new website, or a new location that you’ve opened for your office, a press release is what you’ll be using as a medium to let the world know what’s going on in your company. A SEO press release is a great way to build links to your website while telling readers what’s happening, it is not a time to give advice on how to pick out that shiny new truck.
An easy way to remember a press release is simply to think of every time a politician or public figure goes in front of the camera to let us know why they did what they did and how it will effect both us and them, that’s a press release. Press releases are self-promoting vehicles used to get put your company in the spotlight for a very specific reason. While articles will last longer as they have advice that can be used repeatedly, press releases are a great source of instant exposure that can help give your business an added bump.
The Debate Continues
Hopefully this will clear up some of the questions that I receive about the difference between articles and press releases. A good SEO Services Company can help you do either one, and is one of the better ways to make sure that any articles and press releases that you do put out are both beneficial to your company and follow the guidelines of their respective style.
