How to Measure the Success of Your Press Release

You sent your release. Now what? Did it work?

The answer depends on what "work" means to you — and most businesses never define that before they hit send. Here's how to measure press release success properly.

Step 1: Set a goal before you send

Pick one or two primary goals:

• Media coverage — stories written by journalists
• Website traffic — visitors to a specific page
• Leads or sales — enquiries, bookings, sign-ups
• Search visibility — showing up when people Google you
• Credibility — assets for your sales and investor conversations
• Event attendance — RSVPs and turnout

Your goal decides which metrics matter.

Metrics that actually matter

Earned coverage

• Number of original stories (not just syndicated copies)
• Quality of outlets — a single relevant local or trade story can outweigh dozens of low-traffic pickups
• Whether your key message and website appeared in the story

Website traffic

• Visits from news sites (referral traffic in Google Analytics)
• Visits to the page you linked
• Spikes in direct and branded search traffic around the release date

Tip: Use UTM-tagged links in the version you post on your own channels and on wires, so you can see exactly which visits came from the release.

Leads and revenue

• Enquiries, calls and bookings during the release window
• New customers who say "I saw you in…"
• Add "How did you hear about us?" to your forms

Search and SEO

• Ranking for your company and founder names
• Backlinks from earned coverage (syndicated wire links are often nofollow)
• Google News appearances

Social and engagement

• Shares of coverage
• LinkedIn engagement on posts about the news
• Journalists or influencers sharing your story

Vanity metrics to treat carefully

• "Potential reach" — the combined audience of every site that republished your release. Rarely reflects real readers.
• Raw syndication counts — "300 placements" often means automated copies.
• Impressions without clicks.

They're not useless, but they're not results. We explain why in Is Paying for Press Release Distribution Worth It?

Simple tracking setup

You don't need fancy tools:

1. Google Alerts for your company name
2. Google Analytics for referral traffic and UTM campaigns
3. Google Search Console for branded search impressions
4. A spreadsheet logging every story, outlet, date, link and any leads that followed

Give it time

Some results arrive the same day. Others — SEO, credibility, sales conversations — build over weeks and months. See How Long Does It Take to See Results From a Press Release?

Learn from every release

After each campaign, ask:

• Which outlets responded?
• Which angle worked?
• Did timing matter? (See What's the Best Day and Time to Send a Press Release?)
• What would we change?

Over time, measurement turns PR from a guessing game into a repeatable system that also builds long-term awareness — more in Press Release Best Practices for Building Brand Awareness.

Quick FAQ

What's a good result for a first press release? One or two relevant stories, a measurable bump in website visits and a few new enquiries is a solid start for a small business.

Should I pay for a media monitoring tool? Only if you send releases often. For most small businesses, Google Alerts and a spreadsheet do the job.

How long should I keep tracking results? Check at one day, one week, one month and three months. Some results, like branded search and sales conversations that mention your coverage, take a while to show up.

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Want results you can actually see? Blastily tracks placements, traffic and leads, so you know what your Blast delivered. Start your Blast at blastily.com.