What is URLwire?
URLwire is a web site announcement network I started back in 1994 as a way to help Jeff Bezos announce the debut of Amazon.com. I've been going strong ever since. I'm selective, picky, never advertise, and I'm not interested in announcing sites that don't try and do something useful, unique, or educational.

I created URLwire because mass wire services are not selective about what they announce and who they send it to, and cannot reach the key online contacts who specifically write about, review, and link to new web content. I know this is so because I also write about and review web sites for several publications and the DMOZ directory.

What is the main mission of URLwire?
I created URLwire just for those people like me who are looking for unique and purposeful web content to write about and link to. The mission of URLwire is get coverage (and editorial links) for your site from online site reviewers, bloggers, editors, writers, etc. Examples of these types of contacts are below. These are the people who every week write about and link to new web content. These are the people who if they review your site can help get it in front of a large audience of online readers. Key Point: Every URLwire member has requested it and given me an profile of the types of sites they want to know about.

Who does URLwire reach?
Did you ever wonder how to bring your site to the attention of right editors at places like Yahoo Picks of the Week or USA Today Hot Sites ?  These and many others are URLwire member/subscribers. 

Most people don't realize there are hundreds of site reviewers in every imaginable subject area on the web, and URLwire is the only service that personally finds and sends them alerts of new web content based on the interests they give me.  How do I know about all of them?  Simple.  This is all I do all day every day, and have for over ten years. 

Below is just a sampling of the hundreds of online venues where editors are looking for high quality web content to write about and link to.  All are URLwire member/subscribers.

Yahoo Picks of the Day/Week - 
Forbes Best of The Web - 
USA Today Web Guide/Hot Sites - 
The Scout Report - 
Education World - 
NetGuide - 
Child & Family WebGuide from Tufts University - 
Exploratorium's Web Picks - 
Librarians Internet Index -
Guardian Web Watch - 
Berit's Best Sites for Kids - 
Busy Educator's Guide to the Web - 
Netsurfer Digest -
Surfing the Net With Kids -
Parents Best Web Sites -
Kids Web -
Lockergnome -
MyLook - 
BestHistorySites - 
Best of PhysicsWeb - 
Suite101 - 
About.com - 
NY Public Library Best of the Web - 
FamilyTree Best of the Web - 
Classroom Earth Best of the Web -

How does URLwire differ from large wire services?
Quality, not quantity, plus I'll send your fees back if you aren't happy. I am extremely selective about what I feature on URLwire, and only announce a few sites each week.  Compare this with a mass service taking in 4000 or more announcements a day and you see the difference. 

My member/subscribers like that I know who they are and what they want, and I don't pollute them with off-topic announcements.  A Yahoo Pick of the Week editor is looking for a good site, not for news about your new offices or CEO.  If you have news about something other than the content of your site, you should use a fine service like Market Wire or Internet News Bureau or PRWeb to distribute it.  I recommend them as they are excellent services for this type of news.  Only use URLwire when your news is about the content on your site. The quality of the site ultimately determines whether or not I will announce it.

How are sites announced on URLwire?
The URLwire News Network announces new web sites via multiple channels... 

(1). Private email. Every URLwire member/subscriber has personally asked to receive URLwire and given me an interest profile.  For each site launch I announce, I personally sort, cull and sift through my entire membership of URLwire subscribers, matching your site announcement with the stated interests of my contacts.   Any given launch alert is typically a fit for 300 or more of my contacts.  My contacts only hear from me when I have a site that matches their stated interests.  And URLwire is purposely not automated.  It's sent one-to-one from me personally to my contacts. 

(2). Web.I post an online version at my URLwire headlines page. In fact, whether or not any external media contact or site reviewer covers your site launch news, I have nearly 6 million annual page views to URLwire stories.  This is achieved as a result of thousands of sites around the world linking to my headline page or story pages.  The URLwire headlines page has a pagerank of 7/8, so your announcement on that page helps you as well, because I link directly to your site from that page.

(3). Syndication, search engines and news bots. My announcement of your site will be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and MSN within a day or two, and I've even had instances where Google News picks up my announcements in less than 1 hour.  That's correct. An hour. I also have arrangements with the key news syndication services and newsbots, like Moreover, NewsHub, and WebProWire, and to provide them with my launch alerts.  This gets your site announcement headline and link on thousands of other sites and into the Web's largest news indexes.

(4). I also provide URLwire as a Blog and as an RSS feed, so services like MyYahoo, MyMSN, CompleteRSS, Feedster, syndic8, NewsIsFree, etc. will offer access to my latest site announcements. No other news service has this type of online integration, nor the relationships built with key venues and editors. 

(5). There''s a private Google and MSN space for URLwire.

(6). Via Social Bookmark services including del.icio.us and others.

URLwire is not about Press Releases
URLwire is more than a press release distribution service. Most site reviewers do NOT want a press release anyway.  Everybody can have a different way they prefer to receive news. That's why I don't automate URLwire.  I provide each of my members with my site announcements in the exact format they ask me for.   If they want a short email with a special subject line, no problem. If they want a weekly digest, I send it that way.  If they want an RSS version, I have it. Blog?  Yes. Via private newsgroup? Got it. 

What sites have used URLwire to announce their launch?
Thousands over the past ten years. A sampling of sites that hired URLwire to announce their launch includes Amazon.com, Weather.com, Wine.com/Virtual Vineyards, Dell, Rodney.com, Infobeat, The BBC, Kellogg's, MoMA, Law.com, Visa.com, and sites for Ziff-Davis, The New York Times, The Discovery Channel, Microsoft, AOL, About.com and The AMA, and PBS.  Many other now-famous Web sites were originally launched through my URLwire service. 

Who are the site reviewers who subscribe to URLwire?
As mentioned earlier, here are just a few of the countless online venues where URLwire has editorial contacts looking for sites to review: Forbes Best of The Web, Exploratorium's Picks, USA Today Web Guide/Hot Sites, Education World, NetGuide, Yahoo Picks, Berit's Best Sites for Kids, ZEAL, BackWash, Busy Educator's Guide to the Web, Netsurfer Digest, Surfing the Net With Kids, Parents Best Web Sites, Lockergnome.

What do these site reviewers think of URLwire?
They love it. They are interested in my announcements because they know it's something they haven't seen, will be a match for their interests, and a top-notch site.  But don't take my word for it.  Read their quotes here. 

Communication is only as good as the urgency your contact has for your message. Mass reach services that distribute identical press releases to thousands of outlets don't have a sense of urgency.  This doesn't make them bad, just different from URLwire in how we operate. For a niche service like URLwire, less is more.  As a columnist myself (ClickZ.com, Ad Age), and as a site reviewer for DMOZ, I am especially sensitive to the process of connecting the right site launches with the right people. I get unsolicited news releases every day, and I know it's not the way to make friends. 

Does URLwire work?
Rather than me tell you, I'll let my clients tell you.  Here are three quotes and a longer testimonial.  A few more URLwire testimonials are also available.

Jim Osgood - OfficeFinder.com
"Eric, URLwire got our site covered and linked online in places we'd tried for months to get in without success. And, URLwire did it in one day. Thanks!"
.
Rob Ford, FavouriteWebsiteAwards
"URLwire is a great service which has proven results. Two projects I have been involved with that you have featured have both gone straight into the Yahoo directory and been listed on their Pick of the Day page. Thanks a bunch, Eric!"
.
Amy Strycula, CoolShopping.com - Cool Shopping Sites
"We've been using Eric's URLwire service since 1995, and on more than one occasion had to work closely with our hosting service to keep our servers up under the high traffic loads that resulted".
"The Silence is Deafening" - a Reverse Testimonial for Eric Ward

Who pays for URLwire and what does it cost?
The people who want to announce the site pay the fees. There are two announcement/fee options: 

Site Announcement Option One: $395
Site Announcement Option Two: $695

For detailed descriptions of exactly what each options provides, contact me. 

Again, if I don't get your site covered or syndicated online within 7 days, and if your site announcement is not indexed by Google, Yahoo, and MSN within a five days or less (usually it only takes a day), I'll send your fees back. 

I do turn down many of the Web launches I am asked to announce because many Web sites are simply terrible, or not the type that attract media coverage. If I announced every site that contacted me, URLwire would become useless to my contacts. I'd rather send one new site announcement that was outstanding than 1000 that weren't. 

Can't a PR firm do what URLwire does?
Many PR firms hire me to announce their client's sites.  They know I have ten+ years worth of contacts and relationships in the online world, while they have contacts in the offline world. Give your PR firm the "Yahoo test". Ask them to give you the name of any Yahoo Pick Of The Week editor.  Ask them who reviews educational sites for USA Today Online or parenting sites for About.com. Ask them to name the five largest online Web radio shows. Ask them who Chris Pirillo is. This is not intended to knock them down, but rather to illustrate the challenge. They know their niche, I know mine.

How do I start the process to announce a site?
If you know you want to proceed, click here. If you want additional information, send me an email and tell me about the site you're wanting to announce, and I'll reply ASAP.

I want to receive URLwire, how do I sign up?
Visit my contact page. In your email, tell me what types of sites you are interested in knowing about, and then only if I have a perfect match will you ever hear from me. I match it myself. No bots.  As a writer and speaker I am also especially sensitive to all our needs for privacy.  My contact list is not kept on a computer connected to the net, and it's not for sale.

Thanks for your time.

Regards, 

Eric Ward

Phone: - but please try email first.

You can read about my other services at  EricWard.com