Tool 1: Metrics: Using Google Analytics to Know Your Readers
Tool 2: Photos: Using Flickr To Create a Photo Community
Tool 3: Video: How to Upload and Embed
Tool 4: Social Media: Facebook 101
Tool 5: Syndication: Reaching Out to Readers Online
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Rural News Tool Box: Quick Links
Click the links below to view each tutorial.
Tool 1: Metrics: Using Google Analytics to Know Your Readers
Tool 2: Photos: Using Flickr To Create a Photo Community
Tool 3: Video: How to Upload and Embed
Tool 4: Social Media: Facebook 101
Tool 5: Syndication: Reaching Out to Readers Online
Tool 1: Metrics: Using Google Analytics to Know Your Readers
Tool 2: Photos: Using Flickr To Create a Photo Community
Tool 3: Video: How to Upload and Embed
Tool 4: Social Media: Facebook 101
Tool 5: Syndication: Reaching Out to Readers Online
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tool 5: Syndication
What:
Email news delivery
RSS
Widgets
Why:
In the Web 2.0 world, no longer can you assume that your readers will always come to you -- sometimes, you have to go to them. In addition to reaching out via social media, there are ways to “syndicate” your content and push your stories to your readers where ever they may be: On email, on their RSS readers or on other sites.
Here are some free tools for those three realms:
1. Email News
Email is the new homepage. Often the first stop when a person opens a computer, the email inbox is a great place for your headlines to be. Whether delivery is once a week, once a month or once a day, connecting with your readers via their email can create a lasting relationship.
Our favorite system for distributing email news is Constant Contact. It isn’t free, but its affordable (plans start at $15 a month). It’s also easy to use and is great for actually tracking your emails from send to open to click. You can create your own email layout, or use one of the many templates Constant Contact provides. Managing your email lists is easy and adding a signup box on your Web site for your emails is a snap.
www.constantcontact.com
2. RSS
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a technology that allows you to create a “feed” from your Web site that can then be be distributed across the Web. Most people read RSS feeds via a “reader” or aggregator. Our favorite at the moment is the Web-base Google Reader, on which you can subscribe to feeds and have the headlines of all your favorite news sources delivered to you on one page.
Allowing your readers to subscribe to your Web site is a must and anymore, creating an RSS feed is fairly simple. First, make sure your site is RSS friendly (most modern content management systems are). If it is, people can already subscribe. However, “burning” a feed and distributing it is easy as pie with a free online program called FeedBurner.
On FeedBurner, you can create, publicize and even monetize (!) your feed in a matter of minutes.
www.feedburner.com
3. Widgets
Widgets are quite simply, a way to package your content (often through RSS feeds) for publication on other Web sites. They’re also a great way to incorporate others’ content on your Web site. A simple widget will take an RSS feed and stylize it and make it easy to embed.
Here's an example:
With Widgetbox, you can create widgets for free, design them very easily and embed them in a snap.
www.widgetbox.com
Email news delivery
RSS
Widgets
Why:
In the Web 2.0 world, no longer can you assume that your readers will always come to you -- sometimes, you have to go to them. In addition to reaching out via social media, there are ways to “syndicate” your content and push your stories to your readers where ever they may be: On email, on their RSS readers or on other sites.
Here are some free tools for those three realms:
1. Email News
Email is the new homepage. Often the first stop when a person opens a computer, the email inbox is a great place for your headlines to be. Whether delivery is once a week, once a month or once a day, connecting with your readers via their email can create a lasting relationship.
Our favorite system for distributing email news is Constant Contact. It isn’t free, but its affordable (plans start at $15 a month). It’s also easy to use and is great for actually tracking your emails from send to open to click. You can create your own email layout, or use one of the many templates Constant Contact provides. Managing your email lists is easy and adding a signup box on your Web site for your emails is a snap.
www.constantcontact.com
2. RSS
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a technology that allows you to create a “feed” from your Web site that can then be be distributed across the Web. Most people read RSS feeds via a “reader” or aggregator. Our favorite at the moment is the Web-base Google Reader, on which you can subscribe to feeds and have the headlines of all your favorite news sources delivered to you on one page.
Allowing your readers to subscribe to your Web site is a must and anymore, creating an RSS feed is fairly simple. First, make sure your site is RSS friendly (most modern content management systems are). If it is, people can already subscribe. However, “burning” a feed and distributing it is easy as pie with a free online program called FeedBurner.
On FeedBurner, you can create, publicize and even monetize (!) your feed in a matter of minutes.
www.feedburner.com
3. Widgets
Widgets are quite simply, a way to package your content (often through RSS feeds) for publication on other Web sites. They’re also a great way to incorporate others’ content on your Web site. A simple widget will take an RSS feed and stylize it and make it easy to embed.
Here's an example:
With Widgetbox, you can create widgets for free, design them very easily and embed them in a snap.
www.widgetbox.com
Tool 4: Social Media
What:
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com
Why:
Social media is a great way to reach out to your readership and get your stories and content out to the masses in a fun and interesting way.
The sky is the limit in how you can use social media for your news organization -- the opportunity for creativity is endless. Some basic ideas: Allow people to "share" your paper's stories on their Facebook page, create Facebook groups to help identify users in your region, ask for feedback or story ideas, get breaking news to your readers via their cell phone or cover an event 140 characters at a time and display your Twitter feed right on your site.
But, for the purposes of this tutorial, we'll show you one quick and easy way to incorporate social media: How to create a Facebook fan page -- a quick, easy and free way to get your organization some face time on Facebook.
How:
In this tutorial, Drew Vetere walks you through, step by step, creating a Facebook page for your organization.
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com
Why:
Social media is a great way to reach out to your readership and get your stories and content out to the masses in a fun and interesting way.
The sky is the limit in how you can use social media for your news organization -- the opportunity for creativity is endless. Some basic ideas: Allow people to "share" your paper's stories on their Facebook page, create Facebook groups to help identify users in your region, ask for feedback or story ideas, get breaking news to your readers via their cell phone or cover an event 140 characters at a time and display your Twitter feed right on your site.
But, for the purposes of this tutorial, we'll show you one quick and easy way to incorporate social media: How to create a Facebook fan page -- a quick, easy and free way to get your organization some face time on Facebook.
How:
In this tutorial, Drew Vetere walks you through, step by step, creating a Facebook page for your organization.
How to Set Up A Facebook Page for Your Paper from Rural News on Vimeo.
Tool 3: Video: How to Upload and Embed
What:
Vimeo: www.vimeo.com
Why:
Just as it is with photos -- see tutorial No. 3 on Flickr -- hosting and displaying your own videos would be impossible without a 3rd party hosting and uploading system. Luckily, there is a whole host of options when it comes to sharing video and as it becomes more and more commonplace for people to share their own videos, the technology only gets better.
Using a 3rd party system allows your readers to have their own accounts and you can then incorporate their videos on your site, as well as having your own newspaper account.
We looked at several free video sharing sites and the top three were Blip.tv, YouTube and Vimeo. Vimeo came out as the winner for its simplicity and the quality of the videos as they're converted to flash. It also worked a little faster in compressing videos and the player is slick and easy to embed.
How:
In this tutorial, we walk you through how to set up a Vimeo account, how to upload videos to your account and then how to embed those videos on your site. You can also download a PDF of the instructions here.
Vimeo: www.vimeo.com
Why:
Just as it is with photos -- see tutorial No. 3 on Flickr -- hosting and displaying your own videos would be impossible without a 3rd party hosting and uploading system. Luckily, there is a whole host of options when it comes to sharing video and as it becomes more and more commonplace for people to share their own videos, the technology only gets better.
Using a 3rd party system allows your readers to have their own accounts and you can then incorporate their videos on your site, as well as having your own newspaper account.
We looked at several free video sharing sites and the top three were Blip.tv, YouTube and Vimeo. Vimeo came out as the winner for its simplicity and the quality of the videos as they're converted to flash. It also worked a little faster in compressing videos and the player is slick and easy to embed.
How:
In this tutorial, we walk you through how to set up a Vimeo account, how to upload videos to your account and then how to embed those videos on your site. You can also download a PDF of the instructions here.
Uploading and Embedding Video from Rural News on Vimeo.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Tool 2: Photos: Using Flickr To Create a Photo Community Around Your Organization
What:
Flickr: www.flickr.com
Why:
In all of our research, we found that if there's one thing that readers of rural newspapers love to contribute, and editors of rural newspapers love to publish, it's photos.
But, the bandwidth alone a paper would need to host contributed photos online would be enough to run you into the ground, let alone the development costs of setting up an uploader or organizer for those photos. Don't reinvent the wheel, just use a well-made one instead.
There are a lot of photo sharing sites out there, but in our research, the original, Flickr, still was the easiest to use, the best for establishing a sense of "community" within the program and the easiest to integrate directly into your site with quick and easy API.
How:
Alison Smith walks you through how to use Flickr and how to use it for your paper here:
Once you've established your Flickr group and get the contributions rolling in, here's an easy way to integrate it with your site:
Flickr: www.flickr.com
Why:
In all of our research, we found that if there's one thing that readers of rural newspapers love to contribute, and editors of rural newspapers love to publish, it's photos.
But, the bandwidth alone a paper would need to host contributed photos online would be enough to run you into the ground, let alone the development costs of setting up an uploader or organizer for those photos. Don't reinvent the wheel, just use a well-made one instead.
There are a lot of photo sharing sites out there, but in our research, the original, Flickr, still was the easiest to use, the best for establishing a sense of "community" within the program and the easiest to integrate directly into your site with quick and easy API.
How:
Alison Smith walks you through how to use Flickr and how to use it for your paper here:
How to Use Flickr from Rural News on Vimeo.
Once you've established your Flickr group and get the contributions rolling in, here's an easy way to integrate it with your site:
How to Create a Flickr Badge from Rural News on Vimeo.
Tool 1: Metrics and Traffic: Using Google Analytics to Know Your Readers
What:
Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
Why:
Of all the tools out there for tracking traffic and crunching metrics, Google Analytics stands out for its usability and organization of data. It's easy to use and easy to customize. In a matter of minutes, you can have trustworthy numbers displayed in a readable, understandable way.
Google Analytics gives you the tools to better understand your readers and how they interact with your site and that can help you make better editorial decisions, better optimize the layout and design of your site and maximize your revenue-generating capabilities.
How:
In this tutorial, Daniel Ryan walks us through how to set up a Google Analytics account and highlights his favorite two sets of data.
Some other fun and useful things you can do with Google Analytics:
Find out what stories are working, what stories aren't, via the Content section:
Find out how readers are finding your site via the Traffic Sources section:
Find out how many readers are coming and how long and deep they are reading via the Visitors section:
Give your advertisers solid data on where your readers are via the Map Overlay section:
Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
Why:
Of all the tools out there for tracking traffic and crunching metrics, Google Analytics stands out for its usability and organization of data. It's easy to use and easy to customize. In a matter of minutes, you can have trustworthy numbers displayed in a readable, understandable way.
Google Analytics gives you the tools to better understand your readers and how they interact with your site and that can help you make better editorial decisions, better optimize the layout and design of your site and maximize your revenue-generating capabilities.
How:
In this tutorial, Daniel Ryan walks us through how to set up a Google Analytics account and highlights his favorite two sets of data.
Untitled from Rural News on Vimeo.
Some other fun and useful things you can do with Google Analytics:
Find out what stories are working, what stories aren't, via the Content section:
Find out how readers are finding your site via the Traffic Sources section:
Find out how many readers are coming and how long and deep they are reading via the Visitors section:
Give your advertisers solid data on where your readers are via the Map Overlay section:
Five Quick Tips for Online Success, a Primer
In this overview Marnee Banks highlights what works in online news, focusing on five main areas:
Navigability
Organization
Headlines
Content
Multimedia
Navigability
Organization
Headlines
Content
Multimedia
Untitled from Rural News on Vimeo.
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