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Make Your Web Site Press Friendly, So Journalists Cover Your Org

Make Your Web Site Press Friendly, So Journalists Cover Your OrgWeb usability guru Nielsen’s latest Alertbox post emphasizes the imperative of press area usability for journalists, finding that plenty of the Web sites reviewed don’t provide adequate info for media (traditional or “citizen journalists”).

He cautions that poor site usability and missing info in online press areas can turn journalists away from covering your organization or force them to get their information from third-party sources (definitely not your messaging and likely to be incorrect). A shabby online press area is a lost PR opportunity.

Once journalists get to your site (you have to make sure they can), they need access to:

  • Easy-to-find online newsroom: Make sure you have a clean site with a clearly-labeled section called “Press,” “Media” or “News,” where journalists can get quick answers to their questions.
  • Press contacts: Being able to contact a real human being is essential for journalists researching stories. Deadlines mean that information is needed within hours or minutes, so most people would be reluctant to use an email address or contact form with no guarantee of a speedy response.
  • Basic facts: Reporters often need to confirm dates, spellings and more. To help reporters get that information quickly, make sure your sections are clearly labeled.
  • Your org’s perspective and actions on your issues: This is the stuff that differentiates your organizatons from colleagues and competitors. Make it easy-to-find, succinct and clear.
  • Financials: A core credibility meter.
  • Images to use in articles: Also, video and audio for online media. This is the stuff that enages readers which is a journalist’s ultimate goal.

Learn more here, then get to work:
10 Ways to Make Your Online Press Room Perform for Your Nonprofit

P. S. Don’t miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on key nonprofit communications topics featured in the Getting Attention e-alert. Subscribe today.

Photo: Thomas Hawk

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Nancy Schwartz on January 28, 2009 in High-Impact Websites, Media Relations and Press, Nonprofit Communications | 1 comment
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3 Foundation Web Experts Share Tips & Tales for Funders & Nonprofits

3 Foundation Web Experts Share Tips & Tales for Funders & NonprofitsNothing better than learning from the best in the trade, as I had a chance to do at the Communications Network conference session on Web sites.

I loved what Mitch Hurst (in disguise at top left), new media team leader at the Mott Foundation, had to say about the way Mott re-designed its site architecture to reflect how users think about and seek their content, rather than how Mott has structured its own programming.

Yahoo! Looking out, rather than in, when speaking with external audiences is the only way to go. But far too few nonprofit orgs do so.

Hurst shared his experience of "killing the silos:" Making the shift from a 2006 site that delivered content by Mott-defined program areas through working foundation-wide to ID 12 key issues addressed by those programs (but nearer how the rest of the world thinks about those arenas), and making those issues the paths into the current Mott Foundation site (see the Focus menu at top right of the home page.

Not surprisingly, building the team to involve staff foundation wide as communicators (a real cultural change) was a critical success factor. Mitch, you’re stealing my rap (AKA, everyone’s a communicator)!

More here on great lessons from the Commonwealth and Wallace Funds.

P.S. Learn how to craft a compelling story for your org in 8 words or less. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don’t dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

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Nancy Schwartz on October 6, 2008 in Case Studies, Comnet08, High-Impact Websites, Web 2.0 | 1 comment
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Shouldn’t It Be Easier to Act via Social Actions? — Website Audit

Shouldn't It Be Easier to Act via Social Actions -- Website AuditWhen blogger queen Britt Bravo asked me and three other nonprofit marketing mavens to evaluate the recently-launched Social Actions website (and underlying communications approach), I jumped.

After all, I do audits all the time in my marketing strategy work and site strategy is another of my fav assignments, serving as assurance of a positive site audit down the line. But what really intrigues me is the the wonderful vision of Social Actions founder Peter Dietz, the confusing reality of the current site and the gap in between the two.

Here’s Peter’s vision:

"We automatically gather fundraising, volunteer, petition and other sorts of opportunities from 25 partner websites. We have built technology that provides an internet-wide search of these opportunities and helps online publishers embed links to them in their content. Our goal is to make it easier for people to overcome any reluctance or hesitation in taking action on issues they care about."

But, digging into the site my first reaction was, "Where’s the easier, Peter’s key differentiator?" What’s great is that the tool makes it possible to benefit from the data and search capabilities of multiple volunteer/action resources. What’s not so great are the communications approach, and how the interface actually works.

Here are a few ideas on revising SA’s communications strategy and website to engage users and make it easier for them to act:

  • Use clear, consistent and accessible messaging so I stay focused, not confused.
    • The home page refers to 30 actions at top right, and to 24 just below. Disconnects like this undermine credibility and detour my attention away from key content.
    • Although I understand that actions is one of the few words that encompasses all of the opportunities accessible via the site, the broadness of the term makes it difficult for a first-time user to envision what those action choices are. They should be clearly articulated right on the home page.
    • "Actionable aggregated opportunities" is jargon to the nth degree. Plain speak should be the rule.
  • Focus messaging, and the home page, on action opportunities.
    • Too many competing elements. I don’t know where to look.
    • Other ops (like serving as a Social Actions publisher or hiring a consultant) should be secondary. After all, the targets for each offering are very different.
  • Feature a profile w/photo of folks who have found their dream action op through Social Actions, right on the home page. Stories will show that the service is rich, real and relevant.
  • Give me a choice of action and/or issue arena front and center on the home page, leading me to a search menu of action ops.
    • C’mon, make it easy. There are so many things competing for my time and attention.
  • Make finding the right action clearer and easier.
    • When I click "find an action" I get a list of four choices, all of which are equally weighted. Where’s the easy in this?
    • Feature one main path in (Social Actions, the aggregator), with others offered as secondary alternatives
  • Tell me where I am in the site, wherever I am, so I can easily get to the next place I want to be. And let me browse, please.
    • The site’s information hierarchy (how content is arranged) is a mystery, as there are no visual cues like drop-down menus or breadcrumbs. I can’t browse, or dive into what I want.
    • So, when I’m on one page, I can’t easily see the options in moving to related content or  horizontally across the site.
  • Keep me interested with more graphics and photos, less text.
    • Relieve my eyes and give me something beyond dry description. That’ll keep me interested, and bring more life to what you’re doing.
    • Use font size, colors and other graphic elements to highlight what’s most important, and de-emphasize what’s not.

Take a look at Social Actions yourself, and see what you have to add. Please share your suggestions in Comments below.

P.S. Learn how to craft the shortest and most compelling story for your org. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don’t dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

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Nancy Schwartz on October 2, 2008 in Case Studies, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 1 comment
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New NetSquared.org Home Page Strong Model of Easy to Use Design for Diverse Audiences

New NetSquared.org Home Page Strong Model of Easy to Use Design for Diverse AudiencesTake a look at the new NetSquared home page for a useful model of user-friendly site design.

As I stress repeatedly in my writing and training about writing for the Web, effective communications is all about making it easy for the user. This holds for offline communications too, but most important online with trillions of choices available to online readers at the click of a button.

One vital way to make it easy for your users is ensuring they quickly find what they need online. For  organizations reaching multiple audiences on multiple programs and goals, this is a real challenge. One approach I’ve seen is providing pathways for various user groups by job title/position. That might seem like a natural but research has found that people don’t self-identify primarily as a "fundraiser" or "policymaker."

Instead, online readers come to a site to focus on what they want to do there — register for a conference, absorb some information, or share a comment. NetSquared does a beautiful job of inviting site visitors to step into clear action paths (join, build, share) that make sense for one-time visitors and return audiences who want to pursue various modes of involvement over the course of multiple visits.

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Nancy Schwartz on May 1, 2008 in Case Studies, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 1 comment
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How to Get Your Annual Report Read Online

How to Get Your Annual Report Read OnlineLet’s see a raise of hands for you nonprofits that publish a PDF download as the Web version of  your annual report. Thought so…way too many.

Remember, PDF’s are just a downloadable/printable version of something you’ve designed for print in most cases. Back to Nonprofit Marketing 101: Most design for print readers doesn’t work online. It’s just like putting on a blindfold.

If you really want audiences to see and digest the report, make it easier for them to do so. Take a cue from the University of Richmond(UR) with it’s new online catalog.

Higher ed marketer Bob Johnson, who brought this great model to my attention, lauds UR for making it easy for catalog readers to find what they want, right from the first page. It’s the equivalent of a table of contents, but in a narrative form that is a better fit with online reading habits while effectively highlighting the key points of entry for students.

Johnson points out UR’s request for feedback right on the home page. To me, this emphasis on feedback show’s how UR values its base (students) — and that comes through to the end-user. In addition, this interactive discussion enables UR to fine-tune the online catalog to work as best as possible for the students,and that’s who it’s for, right?

Think about who your annual report (and other marketing content) is really for, and create an online version that makes them want to dive in.

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Nancy Schwartz on April 23, 2008 in Annual Reports, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 1 comment
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Easy, Free, Useful Tool for Effective Online Writing

Easy, Free, Useful Tool for Effective Online WritingLast week I trained 25 nonprofit marketers on Writing for the Web, one of my favorite training topics. Nothing is more important in writing for the Web (or email or blogs) than writing succinct, focused, easy-to-digest copy, so I drilled down on how to do so. Try it. It’s harder than you think.

How serendipitous to discover this free (for Word users) tool this morning, which assesses how pithy and powerful your online writing really is. Word’s Readability Analysis Tool tracks:

  • How succinct and simple your writing really is (these qualities are crucial for online readability) — counting sentences per paragraph; words per sentence; and characters per word.
  • Other key “readability” markers:
    • Passive sentences (active tense a must)
    • Flesch Reading Ease Score which rates copy on a 100-point scale; higher scores indicate easy of understanding.  Aim for 60-70 at a minimum.
    • Flesch – Kincaid Grade Level scores copy according to school grade levels. A score of 7 means that a seventh grader will understand your writing. Aim for 7 or 8 to ensure a broad range of readers.

Here’s how to get the Tool on your Word 2003 toolbar:

  • On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
  • Select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
  • Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK.
  • On the Standard toolbar (the bars with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands, at top of screen. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10), click Spelling and Grammar to pop up your readability report.

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Nancy Schwartz on April 15, 2008 in Branding and Messages, Copywriting, Email and E-Newsletters, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 4 comments
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Nonprofit Web Sites that Work — 3 of My Favorites

Nonprofit Web Sites that Work -- 3 of My FavoritesWhen I guided 30 nonprofit communicators to strengthen their writing for the Web the other day, I showed them a few great models (dos), and lots of don’ts.

Somehow the don’ts scream out; but there are so many effective sites (and other nonprofit communications models) that deserve more attention. So I wasn’t surprised when they asked me to share more effective nonprofit Web site models.

Here are three organizations that get the Web medium and how their audiences use it:

1) DonorsChoose, where donors can choose the school project they want to fund, is a great example of a site that puts the full capacity of the Web to work in executing its program. Take a close look: This isn’t communications about the org’s work, it is the org’s work. Here’s why the site works so well to engage donors and gift givers:

  • Home page features GIVE NOW in large, orange large type, profiles one project (you can scroll through more) and showcases a news item (Stephen Colbert today). A user can do much of what she wants right here. Easy. Respectful.
  • Site architecture is simple and straightforward. Users don’t have to spend any time figuring out what’s behind Door #3.
  • Each of the two target audiences — donors and teachers — have a clear way into what’s relevant, right from the home page and from the menu bar on every page.
  • Design is bright, light and clear.

2) The Human Rights Campaign’s(HRC) site is a great example of advocacy communications — clean, clear and focused. Compare it  with other advocacy org’s with busier sites (The Humane Society is one) that provide too many options for users, and you’ll see how focus has impact. Here’s what the site does well, right on the home page:

  • Clear calls to action — articulated in the left menu bar (volunteer, donate, attend an event, take action). Compare that to the Humane Society’s issue-focused navigation.
  • Up front positioning statement — Humane Society does a good job here too.
  • Relates HRC’s work to leading news stories, engages every time. here’s how to make an impact in 2008 elections.
  • Invites users to drill down for more specific info/actions by locale or issue area.
  • Reinforces HRC’s graphic identity. It’s logo and colors are striking and, although they won’t be everyone’s favorite, are easily recognizable. That’s an advantage in nurturing an active base of citizen advocates, donors and partners.

3) The Wildlife Conservation Society’s(WCS) site succeeds in providing multiple pathways into the diverse programs of a complex organization in an effective way. The WSC site:

  • Frames its most well-known programs (its parks, including the Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium) within its research focus.
  • Makes its research agenda interesting and accessible, to spur prospective volunteers and donors to jump in.
  • Headlines key wildlife conservation issues, ensuring audiences are updated on what’s new.
  • Builds and maintains brand recognition by using the same banner bar in this main site, and in all sub-sites like the Central Park Zoo.

Remember, it’s not about your budget, but the way you think through your site goals and design. I’ve 5k sites that are far more effective than some 35k sites; and some 40k sites that exceed the impact of some 100k sites.

What are your picks among high-impact nonprofit Web sites? Please comment below to share with Getting Attention readers.

P.S. Here’s how to Shape Your Nonprofit Web Site to Generate the Actions You Need

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Nancy Schwartz on April 3, 2008 in Case Studies, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 1 comment
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Last Chance — Let Me Guide You to Craft Web Content that Engages Visitors, and Motivates Them to Act — April 1 Workshop, NYC

Last Chance -- Let Me Guide You to Craft Web Content that Engages Visitors, and Motivates Them to Act -- April 1 Workshop, NYC Update/March 27: Just a few seats left for this next-Tuesday workshop in NYC. I’d love to have you join us. Inexpensive but a great investment of time and focus. Promise. Register now.

Join me Tuesday morning, April 1st (no fooling) in NYC to learn how to write and format high-impact Web content.

You’ll learn why some nonprofit Web sites capture attention, motivating visitors to really dig in, while others don’t engage users for more than a moment. Learn to unleash the power of your pen (or keyboard) to craft content that really works. You’ll have the opportunity to put what you learn into practice and get input on making your web content even stronger. We’ll cover a variety of topics, including:

  • Defining and attracting audiences
  • How online readers digest content
  • Writing to meet these patterns and achieve your communications goals
  • Using site architecture, navigation and design to make your content shine
  • Optimizing your content with keywords so users can find your site via search engines.

Register today. Only a couple of slots still available.

See you there.

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Nancy Schwartz on March 27, 2008 in High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications, Professional Development | 0 comments
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Guiding CASA New Orleans Towards a More Effective Web Site — NTC Day of Service

Guiding CASA New Orleans Towards a More Effective Web Site -- NTC Day of ServiceOne of the great innovations of the Nonprofit Technology Conference(NTC) is its matchmaking of conference participants (mostly nonprofit staffers like you, in marketing or technology) with local nonprofits to solve concrete problems. What a great contribution to the community you’re visiting, and a wonderful opportunity for NTC attendees to meet residents in our field (all too often conference attendance takes place in a bubble).

I was lucky enough to be matched with CASA New Orleans, which shepherds children and youth in foster care or group homes through the judicial system. Like many organizations, CASA feels its held hostage by its current Web site (brochure ware, 1995 style), but didn’t have a sense of how to make it better within its limited resources (both $ and the human resource to build and maintain the site).

Partnering with e-communcations expert Norman Reiss in a two-hour mind-meld, I worked with CASA’s Tanya Franklin (pictured above) to get a sense of communications goals (recruit and retain volunteers and donors, and to build general awareness of the org and its value to the NOLA community, and to provide a resource that will address the basic questions asked again and again to the time-strapped staff.

First, we gave Tanya a quick tutorial on what to think about — goals, target audiences, content possibilities, site promotion, etc. We then outlined a next-stage site designed around these features and strategies:

  • More timely content that will engage current donors and volunteers to return to the site on a regular basis
  • A clearer site architecture that provides a clear way in for each target audience — donors, volunteers, partner orgs — in addition to access to content by type (e.g. success stories, about us).
  • Automating functions like event registration with a tool like Acteva or EventBrite
  • Repurposing newsletter content (there’s a ton of great articles and news in the last year alone, in the print newsletters for the web, and vice versa
  • Transition of one or both of the org’s print newsletters to e-news, driving traffic to site content with a teaser.

We advised Tanya — as I advise you — to stay away from any Web 2.0 tools until CASA has the marketing fundamentals down cold, then wrapped with a quick review of what it’ll take to build this more powerful site, and to keep it going.

Tanya left with a much clearer understanding of the direction forward, and a sense of how to get the resources she needs to make it happen. Couldn’t have spent two hours in a more satisfying way.

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Nancy Schwartz on March 21, 2008 in 08NTC, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications | 0 comments
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Use these 4 Powerful Online Strategies from Mike Huckabee

Use these 4 Powerful Online Strategies from Mike HuckabeeNonprofit marketers, listen up. Candidate Mike Huckabee is showcasing some powerful online communications strategies. Take a look at what he’s doing right to build online audiences (and awareness) to learn to put these techniques to work for your organization:

  1. Shares lots of user-created videos via his blog. These videos are provocative, informative and funny — a trifecta. They also provide interesting apples-to-apples comparison with other candidates; showing rather than telling which always works better.
  2. Reaches out to key bloggers twice-monthly, and not just the stars. Huckabee has invited bloggers to participated in regular conference calls (listen in here). He’s become known for good listening, and has succeeded in building loyalty among this critical (and widely courted) group of influencers.
  3. Delivers a user-focused Web site, easy-to-use for key functions (participating, giving, learning more).
  4. Encourages independent action including MeetUp, and Huck’s Army (a hugely active independent Huckabee forum), giving up the quest for control he can never achieve anyway.

Together, these strategies have led to a massive increase in traffic to the Huckabee site, far greater than that to Obama’s or Clinton’s site. Even so, Huckabee needs to do a much better job making it easy for site visitors to learn about his responses to key issues such as Pakistan. As it is now, his site just doesn’t give users the tools to judge him. When he does, he’ll find site traffic to build at an even greater pace.

Caveat:
Huckabee doesn’t touch Ron Paul’s supporter-led online fundraising coup of November 5th, which raised 4.3 million in a day. Perhaps this more organic effort — led by Paul’s supporters, not his handlers — made the difference. After all, us communications folks are constantly framing social networking as controlled by users, not by content producers. Any thoughts on the root of Paul’s success in motivating action/giving (other than it wasn’t generated by Paul’s staff)? Please comment below. I want to understand this phenomenon.

Disclaimer:
No, I’m not a Huckabee supporter. But I’m eager to showcase strong communications models, no matter the source.

Hats off to TechPresident for the tip.

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Nancy Schwartz on November 27, 2007 in Campaign Marketing Models & Tips, High-Impact Websites, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking | 1 comment
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