Recently, I looked at the 20 most-viewed press releases on BusinessWire.com from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 4, 2011, to see what kinds of trends and facts might be inferred from them. For instance, what types of releases garner a lot of views: Big brand names? Photos? Raw content? Headlines?

Among these releases, here are some facts and figures:

• Cumulatively, these 20 releases account for 1,216,513 views, or an average of 63,076 views per release.
• 15 of 20 included their company logo; seven included at least one photo, and one included a video.
• On average, 59 percent of readers found the release directly on BusinessWire.com (while browsing headlines or via RSS feeds or headline delivery emails); 34 percent found it on another site, and 6 percent found it via a search engine. Less than 1 percent of traffic, on average, came via social sources.
• Links are a key factor in engaging readers with your news. Thirteen of the 20 releases included at least one hyperlink in the body of the release; those 13 releases got an average of 7,798 link clicks.
• Don’t underestimate social, especially the top sites. For the traffic that did arrive from social sources, 65 percent came from Facebook, 29 percent from Twitter, 5 percent from LinkedIn, and the remaining 1 percent from all other social networks.
• In terms of user engagement and sharing, readers on average shared each release on Facebook 147 times, on Twitter 103 times, and on LinkedIn 88 times.
• Business Wire readers are very interested in news about Apple and ExxonMobil.

So, without further ado, here are the 20 most-viewed press releases of 2011. Take a look and see what tips you might be able to get from them to make your own press releases more successful.

AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom

Cyber Monday: The Season’s Best Deals – No Fighting for Parking. No Waiting in Line. Just Lean Back, Put Your Feet up and Shop.

Statement by Apple’s Board of Directors

Statement by Steve Jobs’ Family

Adobe Delivers Technical Communication Suite 3

Comic Sans Pro Typeface Family Makes its Debut

ExxonMobil Announces Three Discoveries in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

HP Confirms Discussions with Autonomy Corporation plc Regarding Possible Business Combination; Makes Other Announcements

ExxonMobil Speedpass Customers Can Save 15 Cents Per Gallon

The Alliance for Consumer Education Names Senator Herb Kohl Honorary Chair

Clear Channel Radio Announces Acquisition of Thumbplay’s Cloud-Based Music Business

Letter from Steve Jobs

Fisher Investments MarketMinder Re-released

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple

Exxon Mobil Corporation Declares Second Quarter Dividend

Heinz® Dip & Squeeze® Ketchup is Available Nationally! Heinz and Chick-fil-A® Invite You to Celebrate with Free FryDay

Exxon Mobil Corporation Declares Fourth Quarter Dividend

Exxon Mobil Corporation Declares First Quarter Dividend

FDA Approves YERVOY™ (ipilimumab) for the Treatment of Patients with Newly Diagnosed or Previously-Treated Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma, the Deadliest Form of Skin Cancer

Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Phil Dennison is a senior marketing specialist at Business Wire. A version of this story that includes additional commentary and resources originally appeared on the company’s blog, BusinessWired.