|
Who
Stepped Up
Website Newsrooms Essential To Great PR: I recently had a conversation with a gentleman who's been in public relations for more than two decades. Lots of information and ideas were flowing and then we got on the subject of website Newsrooms. When I explained how I manage them for clients he said, "I don't do that IT stuff." Wow! Get me a phone! I'd like to order one ticket to the future for my colleague, please.
Public relations agencies and public relations consultants need to be updating client website Newsrooms and not outsourcing the work. Why?
- Newsrooms are the bread and butter of a timely and informative website
- Technology has made updating website Newsrooms fifth-grade easy
- It eliminates outsourcing and leaves more money in the pockets of you and your clients
- It keeps your value to the client high and relevant
- It saves your IT folks for the big, fun stuff
Newsrooms are the bread and butter of an informative website
One of the most important sections of a website is the Newsroom, which should contain a minimum of a News Release section and a Media Coverage section.
The benefits of the News Release section are:
- Businesses and organizations always have a ton of legitimate things to write about.
- Post those items as consumer or media news releases.
- This highlights your expertise in a particular area.
- It also updates your website and makes it look fresh and timely.
- Plus, it adds a new, relevant page for search engines to find.
- SEO is the name of the game on the Internet. Gone are the days of loading your business name with four AAAAs and listing high in a phone directory. The new game is: who has a correctly built website and knows how to optimize it by adding new pages that are correctly coded for high search engine results.
The benefits of the Media Coverage section are:
- Demonstrates your organization’s relevance to customers.
- Allows a credible third-party to talk about your product, service, issue or cause -- not just clients talking about their own accomplishments.
- Shows reporters who may want to use you as an expert resource that you've been quoted by other media and indeed are an expert in your field.
- Updates your website, making it look fresh and timely.
- Adds a new page for search engines to find; Google likes big, relevant sites.
Technology has made updating website Newsrooms fifth-grade easy
We've all pretty much come to the conclusion that the Internet is not a fad. That's great news for PR agencies and PR consultants who know how to update websites. If you don't have that ability yet, don't hyperventilate on me. It's so simple I could teach a fifth-grader to do it in less than an hour.
The only tool you need is Adobe Contribute, which costs around $160 and is a game-changer. This tool allows you to instantly edit the text on most websites. It also allows you to add pages, photos and graphics. And, the public relations consultant needs absolutely no IT/webmaster experience. It is one of the most powerful PR tools I've come across in a long time.
It eliminates outsourcing and leaves more money in the pockets of you and your clients
Updating the Newsroom on your own saves time and money for you and your clients by cutting out the webmaster or IT person. Their feelings won't be hurt (more on this below). This also removes one more person from the communications loop. Keep your operation tight, efficient and profitable.
It keeps your value to the client high and relevant
If you're not consistently relevant to your clients, you'll find yourself in a vicious cycle of clients constantly coming and going through your front door.
One important way to stay relevant is through the Newsroom. You're only going to get so many bites at the media apple, and in-between those bites, you need to be providing value … not just waiting around. Those who wait around get kicked around.
It saves your IT folks for the big, fun stuff
When you update client websites with day-to-day items, you save your IT folks and webmaster from being tortured. What's gold for us is junk for them. They hate being burdened with little things and would rather be challenged with the big stuff. Plus, they're not trained in public relations and a website is a 24-7 PR tool.
All Rourk Public Relations' clients have stepped up and embraced active Newsrooms. Here are three Newsrooms to browse through that help make my point:
L. Steven Emmert
Tidewater Bariatrics
Bay Capital Advisors
Each of these clients takes their Newsroom seriously and each has enjoyed the fruits of continually gaining inches and relenting none on the public relations front.
Websites are either alive or stagnant. A Newsroom adds timely, relevant information. How is the world seeing you?
About Rourk Public Relations
The Rourk Public Relations agency is expert at PR, public relations consulting, media relations, branding, marketing, advertising, web marketing, and web design. It provides public relations consultants and help to clients in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Hampton Roads, and throughout Virginia.
|
