Frequently Asked Questions

Our website is accessed by corporate executives, small business owners, and marketing directors looking to outsource their public relations initiatives.

Web users around the world access the website to find which public relations companies offer the best public relations services or products.

Buyers of public relations services benefit from our seventeen years of research.

We identify and rank the best public relations products and services and understand how to filter out products or services that do not live up to the expectations. Our recommendations save buyers time by guiding them to top performers that have a track record of meeting the expectations of their customers. Exceptional providers featured in the list benefit from exposure and an opportunity to reach buyers looking for public relations services or software.

Due to the nature of our service, there are a number of vendors which offer effective public relations services which may not be featured in our rankings.

Our rankings consist of the vendors which we have found to achieve results on a consistent basis. As our listings can only contain a limited number of vendors, we have opted to display the best based on our internal processes for research and analysis. There certainly is a train of thought that would indicate that no single company fits all service or product requirements.

These companies simply meet their objectives, in our opinion, consistently and thus are ranked as the best in our rankings. We certainly urge buyers of public relations services to perform their own research in order to determine which vendor is the best fit for their project, but to utilize topPRagencies.com as a resource for their own research.

In some cases there may be vendors which we have not been introduced to which may provide admirable public relations services or products.

We currently rank public relations companies in over eighty countries based on the information made available to us by vendors and through general research in the public relations industry. While we certainly take time to research new companies, the public relations industry is constantly changing as new companies enter the industry in order to compete in a highly competitive industry. public relations companies that believe they offer exceptional value making them worthy of being featured are welcome to introduce themselves to us.

We use our SmartRank algorithm to create our lists of recommended public relations services and products.

Learn more about how our SmartRank algorithm works here.

Buyers looking for public relations services can use our recommendations free of charge.

We do not charge anyone for access to view our rankings.

Our transparent SmartRank technology enables us to use an algorithm to determine which public relations companies are the best.

The SmartRank algorithm uses multiple data sources and multiple points of comparison to propose which public relations services or products have shown consistent top-level performance across the board.

The algorithm bases each PR firm's placement within the rankings on the combination of different facts including how a company is reviewed online by buyers, sentiment analysis conducted based on how they are referred to online, information gathered through third-party information brokers, and our own research.

The SmartRank algorithm uses a large number of factors to determine placement within the rankings.

Review Factors

Number of Reviews: The total number of both text and video reviews. Vendors with a greater number of total reviews with fare better.

Average Rating: The average rating of the reviews a vendor receives. Vendors with a greater average will fare better.

Reviewer Quality: An analysis is conducted on who the reviewer is. Reviews by employees or executives at well known companies are given more weight by the algorithm.

Insight: Vendors with reviews that elaborate more on the experience will fare better.

Relevance: The relevance of the review to the topic of sharing their experience with the vendor will get more weight.

Type of Review: The type of review and the balance of text versus video reviews is taken into consideration. Buyers should be able to read reviews while also having the option to watch video reviews.

Age of Reviews: Newer reviews are given more weight as the value of an opinion decreases over time. Vendors often change processes and can improve or deteriorate over time. Vendors with more recent reviews will fare better.

Time-Related / Numerical Information: Reviews are given more weight when they provide information about time or statistics.

Category-Relevant Language: Reviews are given more weight when they provide information about time or statistics.

Organic Reviews: Reviews that have not been incentivized are given more weight in the algorithm.

Reviewer Contributions: More weight is placed on reviews written by recurring reviewers that have made additional contributions to the website.

Emotional Language: Less weight is placed on reviews that were emotionally influenced as reviews that use less emotion are looking at the service from a logical perspective.

Duplicate / Similar Reviews: The algorithm takes into consideration whether the review is unique or seems to be a copy of another review.

Sentimental Factors

Website Metrics: Third-party tools are used to determine the quality and quantity of links to the vendors website. Vendors with a more established presence online will fare better.

Brand Metrics: The algorithm looks to how the brand is represented and referred to online. Vendors with a stronger and more positive brand reception will fare better.

Engagement Factors

Profile Engagement: Vendors which answer questions on their profile will fare better.

Review Engagement: Vendors which respond to and interact with reviewers will fare better.

Contributor Program: Vendors which have contributed to the topPRagencies.com blog will fare better.

Self-Prescribed FAQs: Vendors which have created their self-prescribed questions based on what they are commonly asked will fare better.

Quarterly Profile Updates: Vendors which login and update their profile on at least a quarterly basis will fare better.

Negative Reviews Resolved: Vendors which work with negative reviews to resolve the issues they have with the product or service will fare better.

Profile Factors

Key Facts: Vendors which have submitted all of the necessary key facts for their profile will fare better.

Claimed Profile: Vendors which have claimed their profile will fare better.

Review Requirement: Vendors get an additional benefit in the algorithm if they have received at least three written and two video reviews.

Additionally there are factors that could negatively influence a vendor in our algorithm.

No Reviews: Vendors that have no reviews at all will be penalized in the algorithm.

Platform Abuse: Vendors that have been found to be exploiting the algorithm may be temporarily or permanently penalized in the algorithm.

Fake Reviews: Vendors that have been found leaving fake reviews either positively or negatively will be penalized.

Our SmartRank algorithm is published on our website.

Both buyers and sellers can see the factors that influence how companies are weighted in the rankings. This provides an even playing field for all public relations companies and also provides buyers with clear insight into why one public relations company might be recommended while another is not.

Users can review any vendor they have either used for their public relations initiatives or they have worked for in the past.

We allow for both employee and customer reviews.

You can search for the company you wish to review here.

When leaving a review each user is required to authenticate through LinkedIn.

In addition to LinkedIns own authentication processes, each review that is written or recorded is filtered further through an algorithm to identify the possibility of the review being written either by the company being reviewed or a competitor.

Of course.

If your experience with a public relations company has been negative, you can leave a negative review. We ask that you provide details about what was specifically negative about the experience to help the vendor improve. Vendors are also encouraged to response to reviews or work out issues that their buyers have had.

At this time we do not provide reviewers the opportunity to update their review directly.

You can request the removal of a review here. We do not remove reviews except in circumstances where the removal of a review is a benefit to buyers. We do not acknowledge or respond to requests for the removal of a review.

You can contact our support team to get help with leaving a review.

By default we display the most recent reviews received in addition to the most help and most critical reviews.

Users can filter the reviews by rating, the year they were received, or the type of review. Additionally, users can change out the reviews are sorted by either the most recent, highest reviews first, or lowest reviews first.

If you would like to share the specific review simply click on the title of that review to be directed to its unique page and URL.

Copy the URL from your address bar and paste it in the social media post.

From time to time we remove reviews that are written on false pretenses or are proven to be malicious in intent.

Its not uncommon for public relations companies to write reviews for their own company or for competitors to obtain a competitive edge. We analyze different trends on how different vendors attempt to do this and may retroactively remove reviews if we find a pattern.

Of course.

On each company profile public relations companies are able to respond to the reviews they receive. They are also able to answer questions on their profile and offer some frequently asked questions to help buyers.

To have a profile on topPRagencies.com you must first register.

To begin the registration process, click on the Register link at the top right of the screen. You will be asked for information about your company during this process.

Having a profile on topPRagencies.com and being included in our directory is free.

To learn about marketing opportunities including an enhanced profile with additional promotional benefits, click here.

We provide companies on topPRagencies.com the ability to include key facts about their company, their logo, a description for the company, and the URL to their website.

Companies can also upload common questions and invite their customers to leave reviews.

We recommend being as honest as possible.

When adding information to your profile, it should be factual and accurate as of the time youre updating your profile. Also disclose what sets your company apart from others in your industry.

Companies that have registered on topPRagencies.com can log in using the credentials they set when registering.

Those credentials can be reset at any time from the log-in page by requesting a new password. It will be delivered to the email address that was used during the registration profile.

Alternative, companies can also claim their profile using an email address at the same domain as their posted website.

In other cases where this cannot be achieved, a representative of the company can contact the support team for assistance. Additional verification may be required.

Most commonly potential customers find public relations companies through our rankings.

From our rankings the users can access the vendors website directly to contact them.

Additionally, registered public relations companies are included in our directory by default. Users looking through the directory can access the company profile and can be directed to the vendors website through this method.

Enhanced profiles have the ability to upload additional information about their company in the form of whitepapers, webinars, infographics, videos, case studies, and their certifications & accreditations.

Those interested in upgrading to an enhanced profile can learn more here.

Our registration process outlines how to be involved in the rankings.

Additionally, you can review the process for being included in the rankings by logging in and selecting the upgrade option.

You can contact our support team from an email address located on the same domain included in the profile page.

The winner seal is included in your member area after logging in if you are one of the vendors included in our rankings.

After logging in, you can access your badges by selecting Badge & Seals under Resources in the navigation menu.

We offer different promotional tools for recommended public relations companies to make use of.

This includes being able to include their retargeting code on their profile to build their advertising audience, the ability to submit a professional article to the topPRagencies.com blog, and have a press release submitted highlighting their achievement in the industry.

Sponsored public relations companies have access to different promotional features as mentioned previously in addition to an enhanced profile.

Enhanced profiles have new elements to add to their profile including case studies, webinars, and adding a video to their profile.

To sign up, you can log in to your profile and choose the upgrade option.

Alternative, if you do not already have a company profile, you can register your company by clicking on Register at the top right of the page and sign up for a paid sponsorship during the registration process.

You can fill out our contact form.

Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected].