What is URLwire? 
I started URLwire in 1994 as one of the methods used to help Jeff Bezos announce and attract attention and links for the debut of Amazon.com. 

That sounds glamorous, but it wasn't.  I did it from the kitchen table in my three-room apartment on a dial-up modem.  URLwire has been going ever since, helping educational, useful, and unique sites attract natural links. I've been helping great content obtain links since before search engines existed. Since before the search engines realized the value of those links.

URLwire is a discreet and highly regarded news service for announcing genuinely meritorious Web content to the right people.  Sites announced on URLwire must offer useful, unique, or educational content, or show off the capabilities of the web in some way that is obvious and real.  My URLwire contacts are looking to be impressed or intrigued by an overall experience a user will have when visiting your web site. URLwire has readers in 17 countries, and reaches hundreds of librarians, researchers, site seekers and editors looking to be informed of quality web content. I announce your site privately to my personal contacts and publicly here on the URLwire.com site.  I also announce your site via several other venues, described in detail below.

URLwire is not a press release distribution service, and is not automated.  It is sent by me, one at a time, to editorial contacts who look forward to it.  My subscriber/member list has continually evolved and improved over the years, and each month I continue to add and remove subscribers that I feel are of the caliber that make sense for my clients. 

What is the main mission of URLwire?
The mission of URLwire is to help your high quality content attract high quality links from trustworthy sources, like online site reviewers, bloggers, editors, writers, vertical web guides, social linkers, etc. 

Here's an example of URLwire's potential.

URLwire is not a link spam tool for helping you chase search engine rankings, and URLwire was around before there were search engines.  Yes, it is possible that your site's search rankings may improve after using URLwire, but it isn't URLwire alone that makes that happen. You must be producing useful and linkworthy content in the first place, or no amount of publicity and links will help you.

That last sentence was very important, so let me repeat it...

You must be producing useful and linkworthy content in the first place, or no amount of publicity and links will help you.

Who pays for URLwire and what does it cost?
The people who want to announce the site pay the fee, which is $495. A detailed service description is available here. 

How do I start the process of announcing a site?
If you know you want to proceed, click here. If you want additional information, continue reading below or send me an email and tell me about the site you're wanting to announce. I'll reply as soon as I can.

Why did I create URLwire?
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. Mass wire services send out thousands of press releases a day.  URLwire announces a few sites each week. 

Who does URLwire reach?
Your content's subject matter determines who I contact. 

I personally do the vetting/research and identify the exact people who are URLwire subscribers and also looking for the subject specific and purposeful web content in your subject area.  For example, if your content is about Jazz music, the people I contact and announce your content to can be from widely read online publications like like Yahoo New and Notable or USA Today Useful Sites, or from niche links pages devoted to jazz

The key is to match your content to the exact people that will care about it.  No matter the subject, if your content is of high quality, then there will be people on the web who will care about it.   As an example, over 300 librarians across the U.S. are URLwire subscribers, and they represent some of the most trusted sources of site collections in the world.  Some of you understand what that means to your organic rankings.  If you don't you need to read this.

I also tag your site announcement so it will be found by those doing tag searchers (technorati and del.icio.us., etc.) and I provide chiklets directly to your site's URL so social media users have the opportunity to share your site with the exact people who would be interested. 

Below is just a sampling of thousands of online venues where editors, librarians, and content seekers are looking for high quality web content to write about and link to. 

Sample URLwire member/subscribers: Yahoo New and Notable Sites - NYPL Best of the Web - Forbes Best of The Web - Boing Boing - IRN Internet Resources Newsletter - USA Today Web Guide/Useful Sites - Exploratorium's Web Picks - Librarians Internet Index  - Cool Tricks and Trinkets - Parents Best Web Sites - Guardian Web Watch - Education World -  The Scout Report - AOL StudyBuddy - BestHistorySites - PC Magazine Top Sites - Lockergnome -  - NetDetours - About.com- FreePint - NetGuide - WebUser - Suite101 - Zoo.com - .net

Busy Educator's Guide to the Web - Classroom Earth Best of the Web - Berit's Best Sites for Kids - Surfing the Net With Kids - Ask for Kids - Child & Family WebGuide from Tufts University - FamilyTree Best of the Web - Kids Web

Best of PhysicsWeb
Useful Web Links for the Materials Industry
Sleep Disorder Sites
Dulcimer and Folk Music Links
Jazz Music Links
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Links

I want to receive URLwire, how do I sign up?
There are many ways to receive URLwire, described in detail here. Quickly, if you want to hear about all of the sites I announce (5-7 per week max), you can simply subscribe to the URLwire feed here or subscribe to the private URLwire group at Google. If you just want sites about a specific subject, send email to subjects@urlwire.com or eric@urlwire.com, and tell me exactly what you want, then only if I have a perfect match will you ever hear from me. I match it myself. No bots and no scripts. 

How does URLwire differ from large wire services?
1). I limit the number of sites I'll announce to a few per week
2). I am extremely selective about what I feature on URLwire
3). I am overly selective about who I contact on your behalf
4). I'll make another announcement for you if you aren't pleased with the response

I know my subscribers and what they want, and I don't pollute them with off topic announcements. URLwire is not for sending news about your IPO 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 and pursue links for it.

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

Step One - Private email
The first step is sending individual announcements about your site via email to my private contacts. This will take anywhere from one to three hours depending on how many contacts I identify that are appropriate for your specific site announcement.  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.   I also look for the key influencers who are not already URLwire members but who cover and link to sites in the same subject area as your site. Any given launch alert is typically a fit for 300 or more 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.

Step Two - Web
Next I'll post your announcement on its own page on the URLwire web site, and create a headline link and summary to it on the URLwire home page above and on the URLwire headline page.  Your announcement will be crawled by the various news bots and search engines almost immediately.  Google News and Yahoo News, for example, crawl URLwire site announcements within minutes of their appearing. URLwire has millions of annual page views. This is achieved as a result of thousands of sites around the world linking to my headline page or story pages over the many years URLwire has been here.

Step Three - Blogs, Feeds, Twitter and other Social Media
I place your site announcement on the URLwire Blogs and RSS feed. I'll also Tweet your URL via URLwire's Twitter option, tag your announcement so it will be found by tagging sites like technorati, and I'll enable the well known share chicklet (below) on your site announcement so social linkers and bookmarkers have the opportunity to share, digg, bookmark and otherwise spread your site's URL.  (this one's purposely not enabled)

Step Four - News Bots, Private Groups and Syndication
I place a brief summary of your content announcement on the private Google Group for URLwire.  My announcement of your site will also be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and MSN very quickly, and I've had instances where Yahoo News picks up my announcements in less than five minutes. I also have arrangements with key news syndication services and newsbots, like Moreover, NewsHub, and WebProWire, and to provide them with my content announcements.  This gets your site announcement headline and link on thousands of other sites and into the Web's largest news indexes.

Why does URLwire produce so many versions of the site announcement?
URLwire is not a press release distribution service. Most site reviewers do not want a press release anyway.  That's why I don't automate URLwire. I provide each of my members with my site announcements in the exact format they want.  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 Google group? Got it.  Twitter? No problem.

Who writes the site announcement?
You write the initial copy, and I'll make suggestions if I feel it will improve the reception. If you prefer that I write the entire announcement, I will but I charge an additional fee.

What sites have used URLwire to announce their launch?
Literally thousands over the 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. 

Do the people who receive URLwire like it?
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. 

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!"
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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!"
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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

Can't a Public Relations firm do what URLwire does?
Many Public Relations firms hire me to announce their client's sites.  They know I have many years of contacts and relationships in the online world, while they have contacts in the off-line world.

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. I'll reply as soon as I can.

Eric Ward
Phone: 865.637.2438 - but please try email first.

You can read about my other services at  EricWard.com