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Thanks for the comment merck.
"Just be happy with the visibility" is getting pretty old as newspaper subscription rates are at record lows. But as I said, I am happy with that. That's a cool thing. I'm not "just" happy with because I think that the journalism industry is ignoring something important.
There is a link economy that Google and the search engines have created and that we all live in. The way my website can rise above the others is from other websites linking to it in a way that gives it credibility. This newspaper story is credibility, but the lack of a link prevents me from getting benefits in that economy.
I'm just sharing with you the relative worth I put on the type of visibility we get from the press. Ignoring the benefits that website owners see in a hyperlink is important.
It's the web equivalent of not citing the source of a quote, and just like if you persistently failed to quote people, they care less about talking to you.
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Our halloween costume website has received a few press mentions so far this season, thanks to having a PR person on the case and resources like HARO (Help a Reporter, great service from Peter Shankman, check it out.)
It's exciting to see our name in print, and I know that every press mention is a great benefit to our business and brand. But at the risk of being accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth, I'm going to gripe for a minute here in hopes that awareness will improve the HARO information economy.
And here it is:
Is it me or are newspaper websites way stingy with their links?
Like this one:
Staten Island Advance - HOMEMADE HALLOWEEN DECK: Scare up some savings this holiday by with these do-it-yourself children's costumes
This is a great article, and some good coverage for us (and I'm not complaining about that.) But wouldn't it be useful to their readers to be able to click through on just one of the mentions of the website talked about in the article? They literally suggest that their readers go check out a website but they have to type in the URL.
Quid Pro Quo
I'm not pretending for a minute that I'm just looking out for the readers. Of course I'm interested in getting a link from a newspaper. Because that's a REALLY good link. But that's just the point. A newspaper felt that we were cool enough to talk about us, but from a search engine "PageRank" and "TrustRank" perspective it's lost.
This is what is in it for me.
I realize that the newspapers don't care about this, but they need to. I spend a good amount of time on the phone with reporters and even follow up with information, photos, etc. They get some pretty great articles (I hope they think so), some quotes, and some fun stuff to share with their readers.
I really don't want much in return. Just a little link.
Otherwise, HARO becomes less cool.
Learn From the Good Ones
They're not all bad. Here's a great one:
Boston.com - Trick or Treat Deals
And here's the best one ever: Hurricane Hannah (a few years old.)
What's ironic is that Time.com and Boston.com reporters surely have people falling at their feet. And somehow they manage to give a good experience to their readers AND give something to the website that helped make the story.
Thank you Time.com and Boston.com. I'm sure your readers thank you too.
I'll happily HARO you any time!