Press release backlinks: six beliefs, checked one by one
Releases get blamed for links they never promised and credited for reach they cannot deliver. Here are the six beliefs we hear most, set against what is documented.
Belief against reality
| Belief | Reality |
|---|---|
| Wire links pass full authority | Many feeds mark links nofollow or sponsored, and Google reads those as hints |
| Syndication means 300 backlinks | It means 300 copies, most on thin pages that few people read |
| Duplicate copies hurt my site | They rarely hurt you, though they seldom help either |
| A release makes the news | An editor decides that, and most releases are ignored |
| Optimised anchors are worth the effort | Exact-match anchors in releases are the pattern Google's spam policies single out |
| Nofollow means useless | Referral visits, brand searches and reporter pickup do not depend on the attribute |
Why the wire link is the weakest part
Wire services sell distribution, not link equity. Their business is getting one text in front of newsrooms and monitoring feeds, and the outbound link inside it is a convenience.
Google said in September 2019 that it would add rel=sponsored and rel=ugc, and from 1 March 2020 it treats nofollow as a hint. That change made the old yes-or-no argument obsolete.
In practice a hint can still be ignored. Nobody outside Google can say how much a release link counts, so plan as if it counts for little and treat anything extra as a bonus.
What a release can still earn
- Pickup by a trade journalist who writes their own piece and links on merit.
- A dated, citable record of the announcement on a respected domain.
- Branded searches from readers who saw the headline and looked you up.
- Quotes and facts that other writers copy into stories, with attribution.
- A clean URL you can show a client or an investor as proof of timing.
The pickup that matters
A story picked up by a real newsroom changes the picture. The reporter chooses the link, the anchor is whatever they write, and the page is read by people who care about the topic.
That outcome comes from the news value of your announcement, not from the number of sites on a distribution list. A new factory in a town of 9,000 will do better than a rebrand.
We cannot supply that. A marketplace placement is a different thing, which we cover in the order walkthrough. To pick sites sensibly, use the donor checklist. A worked budget sits on the launch example.
Our reading
Release for reach, placement for the link
Treat the two as separate budgets. Spend on a wire when the story is genuinely news, and spend on a placement when you want a specific dofollow link on a named site with real traffic.
- Never judge a release by its backlink count.
- Never judge a placement by its pickup.
- Check both in Search Console after four to six weeks.
Related questions
Do wire services give dofollow links?
It varies by service and by feed. Some partners republish with nofollow, others strip links, and a few keep them plain. Open three live copies of an old release and read the page source before assuming anything.
Is it worth paying for a wire if the link is nofollow?
Only if you want pickup, a record or monitoring coverage. If the sole goal is a ranking signal, a relevant placement on a site you chose is a more direct purchase, with the usual risks.
Can a press release get me penalised?
Releases with keyword-stuffed anchors, sent in bulk, fit what Google's spam policies call unnatural links. A single honest announcement with a brand-name link is an ordinary use.