Good Online Press Centers: Key to getting a reporters' attention
By Barry Forward
A successful Web site needs to create interest, maintain
customer attention and generate the desire to purchase a product
or service, motivating customers to follow through with an
order. An online press center or virtual newsroom -- where you
inform users about new products and announce events -- allows
journalists and your customers to see that you're a professional
in your industry. It will also help deal with emergencies and
offer you opportunities to lend your voice to issue that affect
your business.
A virtual newsroom is a must for small businesses who want to
raise their profile and build their reputation. Journalists
often use the Internet to source stories and conduct research
into a news story. If your Web site comes up as an authority on
an issue, the journalist will check out your Web site and be
impressed if there is an online press center that contains the
information needed to write a story. It also establishes your
business reputation if you take the time to build an online
press center, because not only journalists will access it.
There are several key things to consider when your setting up
the online press center section of your website. Your online
press center should at the very least include the following
elements:
- News release(s)
- Photos and illustrations
- Fact sheets
- Backgrounders
- Biographies
Biographies provide a quick summary of the relevant background
of an individual, with the objective of building credibility.
Visuals that might be included in an online press center include
a downloadable logo -- the identity of your business -- and
downloadable online photographs of your key executives.
Photographs are especially useful as they put a picture to a
name and can be used by the press to accompany a news story.
In addition to background information and fact sheets here are
some additional suggestions for creating a "virtual newsroom"
that works:
- Offer real names and contact information including
street addresses and telephone numbers right up at the top of
your online press center. Nothing drives a reporter crazy more
than having to drill down into the news section of a website
only to find an e-mail address to some non-descript media center
such as media@yourcompany.com
- If you have a brochure or
defined press kit make ALL of it available online. You'll be
providing reporters with most of the information they want and
the calls that do come through will be from informed reporters
- Reporters love calendars of events. But they have to be updated
regularly. If you're not prepared to make these changes weekly,
if not daily, don't bother including a calendar section
- An
archive of news releases on a Web site sorted by date and title
is extremely useful for journalists and customers, as it places
news in context
Now that you have your press releases online remember to make
sure they get posted to your site before or at the same time you
release them using traditional methods.
Barry Forward is the Executive Vice-President of Reputations Inc
and has an extensive background in public relations. He has also
launched several companies, including high tech ventures and
products. You can read more PR related articles like this one at
http://www.prmadeeasy.com/freeforall/freeINK.asp.
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