Comments on: PR needs to work harder at website communication opportunities

By: Website communication: getting the strategy right | Public relations and managing reputation

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:30:51 +0000

[...] Previously, in this series of posts on corporate website content and its strategic importance to PR and marketing professionals, I have discussed why public relations may be placing too much emphasis on social media instead of corporate website content, and why we need to be better at website public relations. [...]

By: 10 ways in which social media is impacting on PR: ditz talks | Public relations and managing reputation

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:28:55 +0000

[...] certain sites, to who is influencing who from a thought leadership perspective on the web, to what media outlets are lifting their game to compete in this [...]

By: PR’s tactical focus for 2011 | Public relations and managing reputation

PR’s tactical focus for 2011 | Public relations and managing reputation — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:57:45 +0000

[...] I’ve written before in amplification of David Meerman Scott’s belief in the power of corporate websites for PR and their centrality in web communication (there’s a bunch of relevant information in this free [...]

By: Free report: PR at war, explosions @ social media summit | Public relations and managing reputation

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:57:02 +0000

[...] as I discuss in a series of posts from my blog that are included in this report, PR needs to work harder at website communication opportunities. Strategic communication, especially those elements with a digital bent, should be wary about [...]

By: Lee Traupel

Lee Traupel — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:21:12 +0000

Great post and insight;you are so right and I love your term: “chattering class” – this underscores (unfortunately) some of the content via Twitter. Although I think this is changing and improving. Followed you on Twitter and LinkedIn. If we can help you in any way please ping us.

Good on Ya Mate………

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 03 May 2010 07:08:44 +0000

Thanks Scott, Sean and Matthew.

Yes, search engines taking social media sources more ’seriously, the emergence of the importance of ‘local’ search people’s migration to mobiles/PDAs as mechanisms on which to interact via social media and the web, rather than computers, all adds to the web of complexity.

It may well be that at some stage the corporate website actually becomes more of a hub than it currently seems to be in many cases. But that depends, partially, on how credible organisations want their sites to be and how much work they are willing to put into offering content of substance and value.

We’ll see. But there is certainly an opportunity there.

By: Matthew Gain

Matthew Gain — Mon, 03 May 2010 06:59:15 +0000

Interesting post Craig. Some meaty issues included.

I am by no means an expert in the SEO space, but my gut feel is that to get the best results from search and provide the best value to your potential customers that you should be everywhere.

The search engines are increasingly ranking the big social networks highly in their results. Also people are increasingly searching within social networks, so if you aren’t there you can’t be found.

Regarding the corporate site, I believe this should be the hub where all you social networks spoke off of and also act as a window into your social media locations.

On the traditional media front, as you state there is still a real credibility that comes from a mainstream media article. As such, positive traditional media, where legally permissible, should also be republished on your corporate site, so as to add independent credibility.

It is unlikely many corporate websites will become a regular destination in their own right, but by incorporating social media it will have a live feel when people drop by and by incorporating traditional media can also add credibility to the organisation.

At least that is what I think.

By: Sean Williams

Sean Williams — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:48:37 +0000

Craig, this post deserves a more thoughtful response (which I will give later on), but first responses:

Organic search is falling in popularity in favor of both search-based, geographic advertising (I’m in Cleveland, searching for a plumber; I get sponsored search results based on those two data points) and Facebook/Twitter questions “anyone know a plumber in Cleveland?”.

Websites, even with RSS, depend too much on browsers — Jeff Pulver sees social media integration as the move from info repository to real-time Web…

More to follow — but you are right that rethinking Web content needs to happen… And thanks for the mention!
Sean

By: scott carbonara

scott carbonara — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:22:20 +0000

I agree with your assertion that corporate websites have taken a backseat to more shiny, leading-edge forms of communications. And this is unfortunate. Just like there are some people who will still rely on their local news channel instead of reading it online or watching national cable news, not everyone is comfortable relying on social media. A website can be as comfortable and tactile as a newspaper, and it shouldn’t be underutilized. One-size does NOT fit all.