In the world of communications, there is nothing new about the concept of an online newsroom. Though content might differ from one outlet to another, the basis is the same: to connect the outlet/organization with their audience.
However, modern society has seen the newsroom expand to a global hub, and since we all have social media at our disposal, the news stories reach more people than ever before and in record time. Due to the increased rate of consumption and larger audiences, there are many questions, challenges, and opportunities that come up. This article will help you understand how to navigate them, and we suggest you visit https://viafoura.com/ to see a great example of some tools you can use to do so as well.
Manage Your Online Newsroom Effectively
In this article, we’ll offer you 5 effective ways to manage your online newsroom.
Accessibility
This may seem obvious, but you need to take the time to check the accessibility of your site. This is a complicated topic to cover. Your newsroom should be live, but it’s a good idea to check to see if the hosting company can handle high volume traffic, updates of databases/servers, and any technical issues that may come up. This way, you make sure that your newsroom is always accessible by your audience no matter what happens.
There is much more to accessibility than technical and hosting capabilities. Your visitors should easily find what they are looking for and the person/team they would like to get in touch with. Some of the ways you can increase accessibility are to place a link to your newsroom on the homepage, follow SEO best practices, and give your newsroom an obvious name. In addition, make sure that your PR officers’ contact information is available both in the newsroom and on the press releases.
When you do this, you increase accessibility on your site exponentially.
Easy/Intuitive Navigation
Your visitors may enter your newsroom from a variety of different places. Typically, the number of visitors that actually type in the name of your newsroom URL to visit directly is very few. Visitors may be coming to your newsroom from a social media platform, another article on your website, a newsletter, and so many other places. Therefore, your visitors could have little to no context for your press release.
They may not realize where they can find other relevant and engaging content on your website. Make it easy for them by adding a menu, a search bar, and links to related content such as other pages and articles.
Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor to a website and consider what you would expect to find when visiting a newsroom or reading a press release. Try visiting the websites of other organizations to see how their navigation works and if it inspires you to make changes to your own. Talk to others in your organization, even friends and family, to see if they can offer some of their ideas of possible obstacles and how to overcome them.
Your visitors are supporting the primary goal of your PR and newsroom strategy. Take some time to look over the navigation in your newsroom from time to time to ensure that the purpose is being met and the newsroom is contemporary and meets today’s standards.
Shareability
There’s no denying that social media is an integral part of daily life in today’s world. This means that shareability is critical for the overall success of your newsroom. When visitors come to your newsroom, they expect to be able to easily find links to social media channels and buttons to share content to their own profiles easily. In order to ensure that visitors are aware of what to expect when going to your social media channels, make sure that content is included on your press releases and newsroom.
When you present social media content on your press releases and newsroom, it gives you the chance to create expectations of what can be expected on your social media channels and include additional content that might interest your visitors. It also allows you to show that you are an organization that is regularly posting or sharing interesting content.
In addition to including social media in all pertinent aspects of your press releases and newsrooms, there are several other ways that you can ensure that your content is easily shared. For example, when you release newsletters and mailings, make sure that a “Forward to a Friend” link works. This makes it easier for your audience to share with others, and content that an acquaintance share is much more likely to be read than something posted by someone random on social media.
Another way you can make it easier for your visitors to share your content is to include embed codes and utilize file-sharing sites, such as SlideShare or YouTube. People who have not been to your site yet may find it through these channels. Again, this provides you with an interesting way to connect with potential leads and visitors.
Branding
Branding, that is, the way you present context and put yourself out there on your site, makes a big difference. You want your visitors to be able to recognize your brand and story easily. Your newsroom’s look and feel should correspond with your main website to ensure your visitors have a consistent experience across all areas.
You want to make sure it’s obvious where they end up when they click on a link. This increases trust, provides clarity, and creates appropriate content for your visitors, which can be seen through improved bounce rates.
You should be providing your visitors with an intelligible, satisfying, and appealing way to consume the content you are providing. When you present your written information, you should also include some visuals because trying to read lots of text with no visuals and just a few paragraphs is tricky.
Improve your content by adding infographics, slideshares, videos, and images to make your visitors more enjoyable and informational. You can even create a gallery to group the visuals together so that visitors can view them that way and share them with other platforms.
You can use layouts and design elements to draw attention to your visuals, videos, and contact information. This way, your visitors will be able to recognize and absorb the various formats of content available on your website.
By using link buttons and providing a clear call-to-action, or CTA, you can provide your visitors an enjoyable experience and make it easier for them to act on what they’ve just read.
Spark Conversation
Just because you have many visitors to your website or newsroom doesn’t mean you are having a conversation with them. If you want to build relationships with your visitors, you need to be interacting with them. The conversation should be going both ways. Think about how easy it is for visitors to engage in a conversation with you when they visit your newsroom. If it isn’t easy, then you may lose the chance to connect with them. Take the time to ensure that all visitors can connect with you.
When appropriate, make sure that contact information for your organization and the team members involved is included in press releases and the newsroom. Be sure that it’s easy for visitors to react to press releases by including comment forms or links to social media so that visitors can comment there. Additionally, you can include a general contact form or information that visitors can use when they have comments on a press release.
Take the time to react to comments on social media channels and press releases and engage in conversations that your visitors start.
Conclusion
Today’s society has expanded the newsroom to a global hub. Therefore, you must adapt to this if you wish to remain relevant. By following these five tips, you will be able to effectively manage your online newsroom, gaining more visitors and followers.
Also Read: 10 Best Social Media Management Tools To Boost Your Online Success
