NewsCactus Blog

In our experience, corporate executives and their business communication cohorts are familiar with the concept of posting press releases on their website. Typically the releases are archived and sorted by date with the most recent on top.

What they don’t realize is in Web 2.0 expectations are higher. People are looking for a multimedia experience: photos, audio and video, and a way to share the news (known as social media tags).

We have found the NewsCactus online newsroom solution to be particularly effective at securing top search placement for our clients’ news and announcements. Search for words in titles of NewsCactus newsrooms and you’ll find the stories in the first page of Google search results in nearly every instance.

In addition to being a valuable search engine optimization and placement tool, an online newsroom is really necessary to effectively communicate with journalists in an all day, every day news cycle.

Consider how valuable an online newsroom with a corporate backgrounder, high-resolution images and corporate logos would be if you were to encounter a crisis situation, not to mention the availability of current information from you regarding the crisis. Media could basically help themselves as they did research and wrote articles about the situation. This would free up valuable time and energy for your key executives and corporate communications team members.

A newsroom allows companies to tell more of their story without relying on media gatekeepers of days past. It’s what we at NewsCactus call self-publishing. Instead of the dry text-only press release, you can provide digital photographs, audio or video files, as well as links to other pages with additional supporting information. And best of all, the information is archived, completely searchable and available for anyone in the world, any time. All at a monthly cost that’s less than most one-time multimedia news release distribution services.

There are many reasons why you should have a corporate newsroom that’s more than a chronological listing of press releases. In our minds, the two most important reasons are to obtain increased search engine placement and to tell your own story.

The first place most people now go for information is the Internet. Have you ever conducted the “sucks” search? Go to Google and type in the name of your company, CEO, or product, and then the word “sucks” and see what comes up. You’ll be amazed at what people are saying.

Online research and monitoring is vital to controlling your own key messages.

Companies and organizations that fail to utilize the internet to promote products, services and team members are missing a valuable piece of the marketing communications puzzle.

Online communication tools include Web sites, newsrooms, blogs, and a host of social media sites. Many companies utilize newswire distribution services. Some post press releases on a Web site. Others omit utilization of a powerful distribution tool known as Really Simple Syndication, or RSS.

An online newsroom or blog that provides an RSS feed allows you to self-publish. In essence, you bypass media gatekeepers of times past and enter the arena on your own accord.

As with all communications mediums, there are pitfalls.

You Should Post Frequently

An inactive newsroom or blog has the appearance of ‘no one’s home.’ It’s a great tool. Once you’ve got it, you should publish something at least weekly.

Hone the Skill of Writing for the Web

Remember that people are busy. Who do you know who will sit down to read an 800 word essay on a Web site? Keep it brief; break it up with headings, sub-headings and bullet points.

Know Your Key Audiences and Keywords

As with any effective communications campaign, you should have key messages developed for target publics. Consider the words people would enter into their online search engine to locate your news. Would they search for widgets in Wisconsin, or white widgets? When you write, incorporate keywords in meaningful ways, especially in news release headlines.

Recognize That Some Will Resist

Many believe e-mail to be today’s main communications staple. Have you considered how many spam e-mails you receive each day, how many e-mail filters there are on the market, or how many people fail to effectively manage their e-mail inbox?

Using RSS turns the tables by giving the recipient the ability to select communications channels. We live in an age of consumer-driven communications channels that requires professional communicators adapt and adjust tactics.

Now instead of communicating to hundreds or thousands of e-mail subscribers, you can communicate to hundreds of thousands of Web surfers plus those who subscribe to your RSS feed.

Internet market share is there for the taking. It’s available first to progressive self-publishers. Don’t be afraid, embrace technology and start publishing online today.

Journalists today rely on the Internet to provide research for stories. According to numerous studies, they almost always consult a company’s Web site as an initial, primary source of information.

Although many companies provide basic information or a section for news releases, the best Web sites and those appreciated most by the press, provide access to easy-to-find, in-depth and up-to-date information.

However, making information available on your site is only the first step to developing an effective online media relationship. Just as important is ensuring the information is timely and easily accessible. The best way to do this is to create and maintain a dedicated online newsroom that’s easy to find from your home page.

A newsroom provides journalists with a single location in which to find information. Experience teaches that a newsroom in itself isn’t a magical key to press coverage. Understanding what journalists need and expect to find is paramount when designing an online newsroom.

When journalists visit newsrooms, certain information is considered must-have, including:

Contact Information

This is often considered by many journalists to be the single most vital piece of information on your Web site. Journalists have expressed extreme frustration when direct contact information wasn’t readily available on company Web sites.

Although listing contact information for a public relations representative may lead to unwanted or unimportant calls, it is much more important to provide that information to journalists. Neglecting to add contact information to your Web site creates an obstacle for journalists, which is the exact opposite of what you want. It may also discourage reporters from visiting your site again in the future.

When providing this information, generic e-mail addresses, such as PR@yourcompany.com, instills little in your company. Reporters are weary of such methods since no name is provided for follow-up and they don’t know when they will receive a response. Direct e-mail addresses and phone numbers have proven to be much more effective.

Remember that the online newsroom exists primarily to make it easier for journalists to write about your company or organization.

News Releases

Using the NewsCactus online newsroom, clients have complete control over their news releases. Distribution can be immediate or scheduled for the future and is handled through RSS feed, which has several advantages over e-mail.

Although a newsroom should go beyond merely archiving past press releases, this is still an important step. Many journalists will review old press releases for more information when they research story leads, so it’s important to make them available, and searchable, online.

Research/Study Data

Although it may not seem important to list this information on your Web site, it is an excellent opportunity to provide more information about your company. Including research data, preferably both in-house and third-party findings, not only makes the company seem more transparent and unbiased, but may also help establish your company and its executives as authorities in the industry.

Corporate Background

Even for large and recognizable companies, a corporate background is a great tool to add to your newsroom. Journalists will often use this and corporate financial sheets to fact check stories. Background information you include in your newsroom can be anything that relates to your company, such as an industry background or news stories about events that affect the industry as a whole. Hard information and statistics can go a long way in telling your company’s story.

Executive Team Information

These should include photos and biographies for the entire executive team. Although not as important as contact information, executive biographies and photos are appreciated by journalists who may use the information and photos to add a more human angle to their story.

Photos and Multimedia

This is a basic item every company should be sure to include in its online newsroom. Although several publications have their own photographers, smaller content producers, such as bloggers, often have to rely on company provided photos to illustrate their stories.

Adding product photos, executive photos, downloadable logos, pictures from special events and other images can increase the amount of coverage or visibility your company receives. Be sure to include both low- and high-resolution images and to specify file size so the user knows what to expect.

This is also an excellent opportunity to include sound clips, video, animation or any other pieces of media you have on file.

Links and Related Sources

No matter how much information you provide in your newsroom, you could always provide more. After all, we live in an information age.

When reporters work on stories that require multiple sources, it can be advantageous to help them with their research by pointing them towards other sources of information. Always remember that the easier you make it for the press to write stories about you, the more likely it is that they will.

Archived Coverage

Archive every past news story about your company in your newsroom, including unfavorable news stories. Why, you may ask? This gives you a chance to address any negative issues previously reported. Providing such editorials or linking related stories can lead the reporter to write from a more favorable angle or write an entirely new story if the bad news has already been covered.

Provide a search function to make it easier for journalists to find stories based on subject, headline, news source, date written and any other qualifiers.

Special Events

This is an excellent way to show how that your company is involved with the community. Special events provide great opportunities for news coverage, especially when your company works with local media, other businesses or nonprofit groups. Dedicate a section of your newsroom to special events, future and past.

Upcoming events should include information about the event, times and dates, contact information and a list of partners. Past events should also include follow-up summaries and photos of the events.

White Papers

If your company produces white papers, you should include them in the newsroom. Authoring white papers will lend credibility to your company and again, can position you as experts. White papers can help both new and experienced reporters by providing them more in-depth information on various topics.

Awards and Recognition

Your online newsroom should have a section dedicated to any awards or recognition your company or any of its employees receive. The most obvious benefit of demonstrating recognition by peers, industry or third-party observers is that it adds credibility.

Press Kits

Press kits are still excellent tools for providing more information to journalists writing stories about your company and should always be included in your online newsroom.

Distributing your press kit online can be done easily and economically. Electronic media kits aren’t nearly as resource exhaustive as their physical counterparts.

Information in press kits should be more detailed and work to support news releases. Make sure to include executive biographies, fact sheets, photos, multimedia, downloadable logos or illustrations.

The NewsCactus service allows subscribers to upload as many PDF press kits as desired.

One of the many advantages of an online newsroom is that it frees public relations representatives from fielding unnecessary calls by reporters asking questions that could easily be answered in a Frequently Asked Questions page or elsewhere in your newsroom.

Help the media help themselves by providing a wealth of online information and making it easy to navigate. The more information you provide and the easier it is to find, the more exposure and visibility your company is likely to enjoy.

When creating an online newsroom, the bottom line is to create a reliable source of up-to-date, accurate information for the press. Simply put, it will improve your media relations.

I’m participating in a conference presented by Ragan Communications and the Public Relations Society of America titled “Social Media for Communicators — A Web 2.0 Summit for Internal Communications, Public Relations and Marketing.”

A common thread of discussion is blogging. What is it? How do you do it? What are best practices?

The theme of the conference seems to be the idea that the Internet today is about two-way communication. Gone are the days of producing a fancy corporate Web site and calling it good for several years.

People today expect timely information, responses to industry trends and crises, and the opportunity to watch, listen and interact online.

Because of my experience in creating the NewsCactus online newsroom tool, I keep going back to the utility offered by the service. It really is similar to a blog a company can use to communicate with a key public, which in this case is the media.

In so doing, the company opens a dialog with journalists (and other interested parties) where it provides media rich content, additional links and drives the conversation.

NewsCactus uses RSS just like blogs. It also provides the tools communicators need to post timely information just like Blogger or WordPress or any other blogging tool. Once set-up, there’s no need to wait for IT to update content.

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that companies that do not use an online newsroom are leaving out one of the easiest, simplest and most effective tools for communicating with journalists.

In fact, I believe online newsrooms will replace phone calls, faxes and e-mails as a journalist’s preferred method of receiving pitches from corporate communicators.

Dr. Azimi is in the business of extreme dental makeovers and routine dental care. His new website launched a couple months ago sporting a Flash design with heavy reliance on glossy images and special effects. There are many businesses, particularly in luxury niches, where Flash websites are the norm.

In instances where HTML text is not used on a website, it is very difficult to secure good search placement. However, using the NewsCactus online newsroom solution as part of an overall website strategy circumvents any search placement issues because of the way NewsCactus newsrooms are designed.

NewsCactus newsrooms use specific design features to help secure top search placement, like the way the news release page is named, backend keyword and description fields, and RSS technology for distribution on the Web.

Dr. Azimi relies on his online newsroom to distribute information about his practice. In fact, when you do a Google search for “downtown las vegas dentist,” the first dental practice you find (currently ranked number six on the page) is Dr. Azimi’s. He’s the only dental practice with a listing on the first search page. If that’s not good search placement for a very popular search term, what is?

How to test online newsrooms for search placement

This brings me to another point: if you want to know how effective a company or organization is at online placement of press release information, look for their news releases in their newsroom and begin searching for words and phrases included in their announcements.

In most NewsCactus instances you will find a link to the online newsroom on the first page of the search results. If you don’t, please contact us with the specifics and we’ll check into it, and if necessary, take back our bold statement.

Happy searching!

Consider this: many companies need, or choose, to develop websites using Adobe Flash technology. Because of the way Flash sites are created, they are notoriously bad for organic search engine placement.

Now for those of you who don’t know: organic placement happens because your site has all the right keywords; paid placement occurs when you engage in an online campaign, like a pay-per-click or banner advertising campaign. But I digress…

Another reason to utilize an online newsroom like NewsCactus is to take advantage of the keyword rich content that the newsroom will naturally contain. The content, in HTML, is fabulous food for those surreptitious search spiders.

Online newsrooms not only help secure top search placement, they provide a place on your website where you can have plenty of copy and loose the flashy stuff. Journalists are more interested in content than bells and whistles.

A key advantage to employing an online newsroom is you’re able to spice up your website, knock yourself out with the latest technology, pimp your site . . . whatever you want to call it, and still provide the searchable content necessary to secure top organic search placement.

For years we have engaged in Web design, interactive development, blogging, etc. We’ve worked for clients and for ourselves on Blogging Vegas.

Now it’s time to focus on sharing the wealth – what we’ve learned from communicating online basically since the Web came into existence.

We plan to bring our expertise to bear on this blog, which for now is generically called the NewsCactus Blog.

Your captains: Pete Codella, APR, owner of Codella Marketing, and Dave Rosowsky, owner of Image Domain and WebPencil. We are co-founders of NewsCactus, the most cost-effective online newsroom service on the market, and the only one developed by an Accredited public relations professional.

For us, this blog will become our vehicle to comment on industry trends, share ideas and expertise, and help others better understand the possibilities afforded by interactive, online communication.