Randall J. Lopez 
Does your web website online paintings for the press and analysts that go to? How lots of money and time does your business enterprise spend promoting your net web page, your commercial enterprise, offerings, technology, and products to the arena? What occurs whilst an editor comes to your net site and attempts to discover information? Can they locate what they want, or do they click away instead of going to one of your competitors’ internet websites to get the information they want?
Over my 25-yr profession as a journalist and PR representative, I actually have seen many websites that did no longer paintings for the click. Wearing my creator hat, I even have skilled too many sites that made me shy away in frustration, not able to discover the facts that I needed. Your Press Room website online needs to be a critical thing of your PR, sales, and advertising plans. Unlike your group of workers, your online press room is open and operating for you 24/7. Editors and writers often paintings overdue at night, at the weekends, and on vacations when your PR and advertising teams aren’t available. Your web page and its press room have to be able to offer all of the info wanted.
First off, make your Press Room easy to discover – you may place a hyperlink on it shape the front page – labeling it as News, Press, or maybe Press Room. I have seen too many agencies that bury their pressrooms three or four clicks away. The most effective motive that I was an editor persevered to locate the press page becomes that I knew the data became there someplace. Press Releases – Obviously, you want to include hyperlinks in your press releases and announcements. However, ensure the list is updated. As soon as the discharge goes out, make sure it is also up for your net website.
Please do not require an editor to fill out a contact form to retrieve your press releases. Not only does an editor now not have the time for that, but they may also probably provide you with a fake call and call wide variety in any case. I actually have heard marketing people say that they don’t want the competition to access the clicking releases. If you have dispensed the clicking releases and got some coverage (which is the complete factor of PR), those releases and data must already be to be had on the web in any case.
Don’t post your press releases as PDFs. Editors and writers like that allow you to easily cut and paste data from your press releases, datasheets, and other online documents. Please post them as straight text on the net web page. Do not convert your content into JPG’s and snapshots – make it smooth for writers to get the right of entry to and “borrow” your content material so that it will promote your products and services. Not handiest does it make it less difficult for writers; it also makes your website plenty more seek engine pleasant, which means higher “organic” or natural search effects.
Finally, you could have heard of the “Long Tail.” This applies to press releases as nicely. Unless there may be a compelling case to do away with them, maintain all your antique press releases up for your web page and available via a press release archive. Also, like any other motive to preserve the one’s old releases online, the greater press releases – the extra content – the better search engine optimization you’ll get on your site.
You HAVE to have PR touch information. Make positive you list a PR contact or two for editors who have questions. It must be without problems located on your Press Room web page if you operate in various regions, i.e., the US, EMEA, Europe, then listing the press contacts for every area. If possible, list neighborhood cellphone numbers for every vicinity. If your employer is huge with many divisions and product regions, you may want to have a separate PR touch web page to make it smooth for a write or editor to locate an appropriate contact.
This is crucial. Make certain that there is a person to be had to reply to the emails or to pick out up the telephone for the clicking touch. I even have visible organizations that list a press contact email or phone variety which goes to an answering machine someplace that most effective receives checked as soon as per week or so.
For excellent PR, you want to be responsive. If an editor or writer calls, you ought to be able to reply within 24 hours or much less. This is essential; if the editor asks for some info or a file that is not quite simply available, reply lower back, tell them that to procure the inquiry and that you are working on it. Don’t go away from them thinking if all of us are at home. This is mainly essential for companies that use a pr@ address on their website.
As a part of the touch area, and maybe on other pages as properly, provide an RSS link and News Links so that the editors can sign up and get automatic updates to the press room and/or to recent press releases. Also, offer an editor sign-up shape to enable editors, writers, and analysts to get hold of updates and new press releases.
Photos, Images, and Video
Editors and writes love pictures and pics. Why do little many internet websites make it so tough to locate and download these pix to apply in an article? If your press releases are product orientated, encompass a small thumbnail with hyperlinks to choose product pix of various sizes and angles. Provide small gif or jpg images for net and blog use. Offer a massive three hundred dpi photo for print functions. You may also need to create and hold a standalone photo library consisting of employer trademarks, organization professionals and executives, pictures and charts, and product pictures. Most tech editors select standalone photographs of the product – without a person preserving it or using it. The video is also becoming very critical. If you use video to your PR and advertising blend, post a small thumbnail with a great description with a hyperlink to the video. This can include films of webinars, podcasts, product demonstrations and b-roll, presentations and control speeches, or even advertisements in your product.
Background Information
Your press room must encompass links to white papers, company backgrounders and company statistics, organizational records, profiles of agency leaders and control, a list of upcoming indicates wherein the corporation can be displaying or is available for interviews, and so forth. If appropriate, encompass different technical files, product descriptions, facts sheets, etc.
If you wish editors and writers strive out, assessment and then write approximately your products and services, make it smooth for them to locate that data. Also, consist of relevant person and reviewer courses for clean download. If you need to place yourself as the thought chief in your enterprise, you can create and publish articles, blogs, quick columns, etc. About the brand new trends, tendencies, and standards that affect your enterprise region. If you are in an enormously technical space, you can need to create and put up your own wiki or a definition of phrases crucial for your enterprise.
