Publishing & distribution guide
NewsPass vs Press Releases : A better way to build website Authority
By Best Press Release Services · Published
A press release is useful when your business has something to announce. A product launch, a funding round, a new location or an important research finding can all give journalists and customers a reason to pay attention.
But many businesses buy press releases for another reason: they want backlinks, brand mentions and a stronger presence online.
If that is your main goal, it is worth looking at how your money is being spent. Distributing one announcement across dozens of websites gives that announcement more exposure. Publishing different, useful articles on relevant websites gives you more opportunities to show what your business knows.
That is where Sitetrail NewsPass becomes an interesting alternative.
Affiliate disclosure: We are a Sitetrail affiliate and may earn a commission if you purchase through our links.
Building authority through original content
A distribution report might show 50 websites carrying your press release. Those copies can help people find the announcement, but they still tell the same story.
An original article gives you room to explore something in more depth. You can explain a problem, share practical experience, discuss a development in your industry or offer a useful perspective.
For example, an accounting software company could publish an article about managing cash flow during seasonal slowdowns. Another could examine common forecasting mistakes. A third could explain what growing businesses should look for when changing accounting systems.
Each article gives the company a chance to demonstrate its expertise. Written for suitable publications, those pieces can also reach different groups of potential customers.
This is the stronger case for building authority through original content. Readers have several useful reasons to take your business seriously, rather than several places to read the same announcement.
How NewsPass works
NewsPass provides subscription access to participating publications, with a dashboard for choosing outlets, submitting articles and tracking publication status and live links. You supply the content, so it is particularly relevant to businesses and agencies that already have writing resources. See how NewsPass works.
The opportunity is to be more selective about what you publish and where you publish it.
A technology business might need publications that cover software, security or business operations. A property business will have a different audience and a different set of subjects to discuss. An agency working across several industries needs enough choice to find suitable outlets for each client.
Publication relevance matters here. An article that answers a real question for the right readers has a better chance of being useful than content written simply to secure another link.
Before subscribing, look through the available publications. Read some of their articles. Consider whether the subjects, presentation and readership fit the business you want to promote. The size of the list is useful only if it includes places you would actually want to publish.
NewsPass plans and pricing
Sitetrail currently advertises these NewsPass plans:
| Plan | Monthly price | Monthly submission credits | Listed publication access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $199 | 50 | 7 publications |
| Silver | $399 | 100 | 15 publications |
| Gold | $599 | 200 | 100+ publications |
See the current plans and terms. Submission credits are not a guarantee of published articles.
Which package should you choose? Start with your needs.
The lower tiers offer a great entry point for smaller businesses. If you have a focused audience and the publications you want are available on Basic, it may give you enough room to get started. Silver offers more choice and capacity as your publishing needs grow.
For agencies managing lots of clients, Gold becomes more attractive. Different clients need different topics, publications and publishing schedules. A broader selection of outlets makes it easier to find a suitable home for each article, while a single subscription spreads the platform cost across those campaigns.
Agencies publishing at high volumes can make substantial savings with the Gold plan, while the lower tiers offer a great entry point for smaller businesses. The calculator on Sitetrail’s homepage helps you identify the best package for you.
What could an agency save?
Consider an agency arranging 100 placements a month at an existing cost of $100 per placement. That is $10,000 in monthly placement spending.
We entered those figures into Sitetrail’s calculator and selected its 65–79 DA/DR target range. The calculator recommended Gold and showed:
| Agency example | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Existing placement spending | $10,000 |
| Gold subscription | $599 |
| Estimated placement-cost savings | $9,401 |
That is approximately 94% lower placement spending in this example. Research, writing and editing costs would still need to be included in the agency’s overall budget.
Your figures may be different. Enter your own placement volume, current costs and required publication tier to see how the plans compare. The calculator is most useful when it reflects work you actually expect to carry out.
Planning a regular publishing programme
There is also a practical advantage to having a regular publishing programme: you can plan around the questions your customers are asking.
You do not need to wait for a major company announcement before developing a worthwhile article. Your team may have experience that helps readers make a decision, understand a change in the market or avoid a common mistake.
Start with that experience. Choose a subject you can contribute something useful to, then find a publication whose audience would benefit from it. Where a publication requires a news angle, build the article around a genuine development or finding.
The content still needs to meet the selected publication’s requirements. NewsPass requires original material and applies editorial conditions; it is not permission to submit the same article everywhere. Check those requirements before committing time to production. NewsPass editorial requirements.
Backlinks and the results that matter
Backlinks will remain part of the appeal for many buyers. A relevant link can help readers find your business, explore your work or take the next step after reading an article.
But the presence of a link does not tell you how much search traffic or business it will generate. Google recommends qualifying paid links with rel="sponsored" and also accepts nofollow. A publishing subscription should not be treated as a promise of higher rankings. Google’s guidance on paid links.
Judge the work by what it achieves. Are the articles reaching suitable audiences? Are people visiting your website, making inquiries or referring to your expertise? Are you building a body of published work that you would be happy to show a prospective customer?
Those are more useful questions than how many URLs appeared in a report.
Choosing the right service for your business
Press release distribution still has its place. If you have a significant announcement, a distribution service and relevant journalist outreach may suit that job. You can compare those options in our guide to the best press release services.
For an ongoing programme of original articles, NewsPass deserves consideration. Its appeal is the ability to develop different stories, choose relevant outlets and keep publishing as your business or client portfolio grows.
The potential to build authority comes from making those articles useful. With good subjects, thoughtful writing and suitable publications, you can demonstrate expertise from several angles and give readers more reasons to remember your business.