Ironically enough, this email came to us from the PR director of a publicly held technology company: "...I've been trying to get management to back a redesign of our Web site
for several months. I have all the fundamentals on the site, contact info, etc., but our design is so poor, I can tell you it definitely hurts our PR strategy."
The e-mailer, who shall remain anonymous, is in a Catch-22 that confounds many communications pros in tight times. Cash needed to upgrade a site and better serve PR goals is
withheld because corporate "bankers" refuse to spend without a guaranteed return on investment. They forget, says the e-mailer, that "a Web site is the focal point by which media
and investors identify you."
Many corporate Web sites are languishing these days rather than becoming active communications tools. A recent study by Web-usability guru Jakob Nielsen revealed that
journalists find basic information on corporate Web sites only 60% of the time (PRN, April 9). Nielsen attributes the sorry state of online PR to tunnel vision. "People are going
down the wrong road, applying their knowledge of old media to the Web," he observes. "Of course, you will think your site is usable because you can use it. But can others?"
Focus on Content
Third parties who come in and run your site ragged are among Nielsen's most effective tools in gauging a site's effectiveness. Using them costs basically zilch. For example,
get five journalists who cover your industry in the same room to retrieve information they might use to write a story. Watch them and get them to talk to you. Are they finding
what they need quickly or with some effort? Do they seem perplexed or flustered with certain areas of your site? "It gives you an instant feeling whether or not a page works,"
says Nielsen.
Large-scale studies are even more effective. "Get 25 people [unaffiliated with your company] and give them assignments to find specific information," proposes Nielsen. "Count
the percentage of people who find it and how long it takes, [then] track the metrics." It's also helpful to have them hit competitors' sites for the same information to see how
you stack up. Nielsen suggests doing such testing outside your company to keep comments neutral. Running these surveys at least once a year, if not quarterly, can highlight
usability issues before they turn into serious problems.
Privacy is Paramount
"Cookies," though somewhat controversial, allow companies to recall when certain computers access their sites, are an effective way to track movements on a Web site. However,
their use is sometimes decried by those who perceive them as an unwelcome intrusion. Jim Sterne, author of World Wide Web Marketing and a frequent lecturer on Web usability, notes
that "every page of your site should have a link at the bottom to your privacy policy, which tells visitors exactly how you are using their information and what you plan on doing
with it."
Journalists will shun you faster than spam if they sense you are spinning story ideas, not helpful information, on your site. According to Sterne, journalists will gladly swap
their names and email addresses to register at your site if they feel they are getting value. He suggests selling them on the benefits of cookies in your online press room (if you
don't have one, you may as well host your site on an Etch-a-Sketch.) Offer registered media reps exclusive company information, or email them industry statistics your company
gathers or exclusive interviews with executives. Cookies are conduits to fruitful relationships with members of the press, says Sterne, so long as the relationship stays mutually
beneficial.
Sterne recommends that companies have as much data as possible online, seamlessly organized to encourage journalists to "dig deep" for information. Information buried there
tends to challenge reporters' creative instincts and helps them write a unique story. Case in point, when IBM gobbled up Lotus Corp., letters exchanged between the two company
heads were posted on the Web, allowing reporters an inside look at the transaction without spending time in interviews. "It's a matter of creating an information-rich experience
so that anyone writing any kind of story can find the material they need," says Sterne.
A Paragon of Web PR
Feedback from journalists played a big role in overhauling 3Com's Web site three times, according to corporate Media Relations Director Brian Johnson. He says privacy concerns
defined his every move, so much so that he scrapped plans to give registered reporters custom pages targeted to their beats. "We [didn't] want to create the appearance of asking
journalists to sacrifice privacy under any conditions."
Instead, Johnson installed a "search" box in the online press room to enable journalists to quickly retrieve archived releases. Pages are tracked to determine which get the
most traffic and adjustments are made to those less traveled. Johnson solicits feedback from media contacts and believes that for every journalist who alerts him to a problem,
there are 30 others who didn't.
Despite all the attention to his company's site, Johnson cautions that the Web merely complements traditional duties of PR pros; it does not supplant them. "I'm going to sell
my story through relationships and great ideas," he says. "And if the Web helps me do that, then God bless."
"Can't Miss" Web Design
Promote your Press Room. Place a "what's new" or "company news" link prominently and indicate special features for journalists. Archive press releases, and post the latest ones
in real-time. Double-space releases and embolden key phrases (most surfers scan text).
Provide a Search Function. If your press room doesn't have a search capability, plenty of online services do it for free or a nominal charge. Check out Searchbutton.com,
FreeFind.com,and Atomz.com.
Diversify ROI Research. Solicit feedback through email newsletters, company chat rooms, and pop-up surveys. Install a "click here to criticize our site" button. Or survey
visitors through a pop-up. Suzanne Cornforth, president of Paschall & Associates, cautions that if you do use pop-up surveys, do so sparingly, on every 100th user or so --and
keep them short and sweet. Ask multiple questions on different surveys.
On E-mail. E-mail contacts like [email protected] are ill-advised
for journalists who are too time-strapped to wonder if their e-mails will return
answered from the abyss. Provide personal email addresses and make contact information
obvious. Keep responses to journalists fast, focused and full of practical data.
Irrelevant information will only annoy them and forfeit your credibility as
a contact.
Sources: http://www.targeting.com; http://www.useit.com; http://www.paschallpr.com/webnews.html