Digital PR glossary

Press release

A press release is a formal written announcement that an organisation sends to journalists, and often publishes on a newswire, setting out its news with a headline, key facts, quotes and contact details. It is written for wide distribution, whereas a digital PR pitch is a short, personal note offering one journalist a story.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

Where did the press release come from?

On 28 October 1906 a West Jersey and Seashore Railroad train, run by a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, fell from a drawbridge near Atlantic City and 53 people died. Ivy Lee persuaded the railroad to give reporters its own account rather than stay silent. The New York Times printed that statement word for word on 30 October, and it is widely regarded as the first press release.

How is a press release different from a digital PR pitch?

A release is the record: what happened, who said it, the figures and the method. A pitch is the reason one journalist should use it today. In digital PR the pitch does most of the work, with the release, data and images linked underneath for the reporter who wants the detail.

Audience: a release goes to many outlets at once, a pitch to one named journalist
Format: a release follows a set structure (headline, dateline, lead, quotes, notes to editors), a pitch is a few lines of plain email
Angle: a release tells the whole story, a pitch picks the one angle that suits that outlet's readers
Links: links in a release you distribute are placed by you, links in coverage are chosen by the journalist

What does Google say about links in press releases?

Google's spam policies list links with optimised anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as an example of link spam when they pass ranking credit. In July 2013, as Google updated its link schemes guidance to name press releases, John Mueller said links in releases should be nofollowed and treated like advertisements. In June 2018 he said Google tries to ignore links from press releases and advised against relying on them to build links.

Publishing a release is still fine. Google's site reputation abuse policy names wire service and press release sites as examples that do not breach it. The SEO value comes from the coverage a release or pitch earns, not from the release itself.

Example

A payroll software company surveys 2,000 UK finance teams. It posts the release and full method on its newsroom and a wire service, with the links marked nofollow. It then pitches one finding to a trade journalist who covers payroll, who writes a story and links to the survey page. That editorial link is the one that counts.