Member Avatar for TheAlex

Hello,

There are a few threads on here listing free submission sites, but all sites I've tried so far only allow anchor text links with a paid upgrade - do any good press release sites exist where targeted link text can be added for free, and are also followed?

Thanks.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jhonden

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Short answer for : today you should not expect reliable, free press‑release services to give editable dofollow anchor‑text links. Major distributors and reputable newswires have moved to nofollow/sponsored attributes or intermediate redirects to avoid passing PageRank — free “dofollow” lists are often out of date or include low‑quality directories. (send2press.com)

Why: Google explicitly calls out “optimized anchor text in articles or press releases” as a link‑scheme risk, and Google engineers have said press‑release links are generally ignored for ranking — so using releases purely to build exact‑match anchors is risky and unreliable. Treat releases as a visibility/PR channel, not a shortcut for SEO. (developers.google.com)

Practical checks and a safe workflow you can apply immediately:

  • Before submitting, open an existing release on the target site and inspect the live HTML (right‑click → Inspect). Look at the <a> tag for rel= values; absence of a rel does not guarantee value, and many providers use redirects. Example anchor to look for:
    <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example</a>
  • Also check whether the link goes through an intermediate URL blocked by robots.txt (some wires do this to prevent passing equity). If a vendor advertises “dofollow” links in a paid tier, verify on a published release first. Follow Google’s guidance on marking paid/UGC links if you control the publishing. (developers.google.com)

If the goal is genuine, lasting backlink value: focus on earned editorial links instead. Maintain a newsroom on your own site, pitch journalists directly, or use HARO/Qwoted to get quoted — editorial placements are the realistic path to dofollow, contextual links. Use press releases to win pickups, coverage and traffic; don’t rely on them as an anchor‑text link factory. (t-ranks.com)

Member Avatar for jhonden

Hello,

There are a few threads on here listing free submission sites, but all sites I've tried so far only allow anchor text links with a paid upgrade - do any good press release sites exist where targeted link text can be added for free, and are also followed?

Thanks.

Alex, why don't you do specific search at Google, put your quarries in quotes and you will get the most relevant sites handy.

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