Why You Need An Online Newsroom
An online newsroom can be an invaluable tool for organizing all of your public relations (PR) activities, such as your press releases and media pitches. Regular PR helps keep you in the eye of the media. Hopefully, sooner or later, more and more journalists will start to pay attention to you. Many might wish for some background information to determine who your company is and whether or not you are worth paying attention to. An online newsroom can help them determine that.
The benefits of creating an online newsroom
In addition to being a focal point for all of your PR, you can also get credit with the search engines for your keyworded content. If you use a press release distribution service, you won’t get any search engine optimization (SEO) credit because the links in the service will be “nofollow” links. But if you publish the content at your own site, the search engines will be able to see it, and human beings searching for more information about your company, including journalists, will also be able to find you.
A good online newsroom also creates the perception that there is a lot going on in your company. The most important thing is that you keep it fresh and up-to-date. Publishing press releases regularly will help.
Making it easy for journalists to do their jobs
Your online newsroom can make it easy for journalists to do their jobs and also start giving you the kind of media pickups you really want.
The first thing to include is your About Us information. This can be:
- your mission statement=why are you in business?
- who are the main people in charge of your business?
- what is the contact information for your business?
- who is the main contact person for journalists to get in touch with if they have any questions?
Your most recent press releases
Copy and paste each new press release to a new page at your site or blog. List the headlines at your online newsroom and then create a hyperlink to each page.
Your media pitches
Start with the media pitches that got picked up. Copy and paste each pitch to a new page at your site or blog. List the headlines at your online newsroom and then create a hyperlink to each pitch. Include who accepted the pitch.
For pitches that have not been accepted, include them in a separate area with information to that effect, and who to contact if they want to pick up the pitch.
Media pickups
You should get a good number of pickups if you are using a press release distribution service. List the top ones, especially if they are prestigious national publications.
An image library
Create a link to a page containing high-resolution images of your logo, images of your products, key staff members, and so on. Make sure every file is named and has a caption. Don’t put all your images on the online newsroom page, because it will slow the load time.
A video library
List links to your most important videos. Upload them to YouTube. Copy and paste the embed code for each video. Create a page for each video. Link the title of the video to the page where the video will appear. Don’t embed the videos in the online newsroom, because it will slow the load time.
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