Publish a press release when you have something new and true to say, not on a calendar. There is no universal right frequency: a business building authority might publish a few substantial releases a year alongside other content, while one with recurring research can publish on the research schedule. Empty monthly releases written to hit a quota add nothing, and they teach readers, journalists and search systems that your announcements can be ignored.
Why is there no right frequency?
A release is useful when it adds information to the public record: a new fact, event, dataset, product, relationship, result or expert interpretation. How often that happens depends on the business. A software company shipping major features might have real news every six weeks. A family law firm might have two genuinely newsworthy events in a year. Both are normal.
The question to ask before each release is simple: what new information does this add? The post on whether your news is worth a release works through it with examples. If you cannot answer the question in one sentence, the release can wait.
What cadence fits each goal?
The right rhythm depends on what you are trying to achieve.
| Goal | What the cadence looks like | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Build search and topic authority | Regular expert pages, research and case studies on your own site, with occasional major releases when something material happens | Monthly releases published to fill a slot |
| Launch a product or service | Several pieces around one launch, each with different information | Syndicating lightly rewritten copies of the same announcement |
| Publish original research | A predictable schedule: a monthly index, a quarterly report or an annual benchmark | Changing the method between editions so results cannot be compared |
| Announce material company news | Whenever it happens | Manufacturing announcements just to have something to distribute |
Building authority
Authority comes from a body of useful information, not from the number of releases. The stronger pattern combines evergreen expert pages, research, case studies, useful news, product updates, quarterly data and occasional major releases. The releases are the occasional part. Consistency matters, but usefulness matters more.
Launching something
A launch can justify more than one piece of content, provided each contains different information. A reasonable sequence is:
- pre-launch research or a statement of the problem;
- the launch announcement itself;
- a technical explanation of how it works;
- a customer case study; and
- post-launch data.
Not all of those need to be syndicated releases. The technical explanation and case study often work better as pages on your own site. The product launch post covers what the launch release itself must include.
Publishing research
Recurring reports are one of the few good reasons to publish on a fixed schedule. A quarterly price index or an annual customer survey gives journalists something to expect, and each edition can be compared with the last if the method stays the same. The research and data post explains how to present it.
Why do empty monthly releases hurt?
A release published only because the month needs one usually has nothing new in it. That costs more than the distribution fee.
- It adds nothing to the record. Search engines and AI systems have no reason to use a page that repeats what is already known.
- It dilutes your useful releases. A journalist who scrolls past five empty announcements may not read the sixth, which had real news.
- It pushes towards repetition. Publishing the same release again with small changes is on every list of things not to do, and a quota makes it tempting.
- It treats distribution as a ranking tactic. Syndicated links are nofollow, and more copies of thin news do not build authority.
What does a sensible year look like?
Here is one possible year for Northwind Clinics, a fictional group of six physiotherapy clinics in Manchester. It is an illustration, not a target.
| Month | Release | Why it qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| February | Annual report on patient waiting times across its clinics | Original data, same method as last year |
| May | Opening of a seventh clinic in Stockport | New location, date, services and jobs |
| September | Appointment of a new clinical director | Senior hire with a start date and responsibilities |
Three releases. In between, Northwind publishes guides on its own site about common injuries and recovery times, and updates its waiting-time page each quarter. If nothing material had happened in September, there would simply have been two releases that year.
When should a release go out?
There is no single right hour for every release. Consider:
- the time zone of the journalists you want to reach;
- market opening hours, if the news could affect a listed company;
- any embargo date agreed with partners or media;
- the launch date, so the release and the product arrive together;
- competing major news that would bury yours;
- regulatory rules on when certain announcements must be made;
- where your customers are; and
- whether you can answer media enquiries in the hours after it goes out.
The last point is easy to forget. A release that goes live while the spokesperson is on a flight wastes the moment when interest is highest.
Frequently asked questions
Is one press release a month too many?
Not if each one contains real news. It is too many if some of them exist only to keep the schedule. Count the releases that passed the "what new information does this add?" test, not the ones that went out.
Does publishing more often help SEO?
Not by itself. Publishing more often does not make the information more useful, and syndicated links are nofollow, so they are not votes for your rankings. More releases with thin content add pages, not authority.
Should I publish on the same day every week or month?
Only for recurring data, where readers benefit from knowing when the next edition arrives. For other news, publish when it happens and when you can respond to enquiries.
Because media:on packs are paid once, with no retainer or membership, there is nothing pushing you to publish on a schedule. Before your next release, run it through the dos and don'ts checklist.
media:on Editorial. Written and reviewed by the media:on editorial team, who edit every release before it files.