Zombie Journalism

Dispatches from the living amongst journalism's walking dead

Tag: how-to

How News Brands Should Set Up Google+ Pages

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On April 5, 2012

In Social Media

Google made Brand Pages available last fall. Much like Facebook Pages, this allowed for companies, organizations, causes and the like to have a customized G+ presence that’s separate from a personal profile.

A properly set-up Page will help your news organization not only connect with users on Google+, but also help your stories and profiles get found more easily in Google searches.

To sign up for a Page, you first need a personal Google+ account to serve as an administrator. You’ll need to be logged in to that account in order to follow the directions to set up a Page. Mashable has a very helpful slideshow walking through the Google+ Brand Page signup steps, if you feel like you need that level of detail. Otherwise…

 

Setting Up Your Profile

1. Sign up for your Page (only after making sure no one else has set one up for your site already)

2. Choose your category. It is suggested that media sign up as “Products or Brands”, but you might also opt to be a local business. The local business Pages differ in that they tie your G+ page to your newsroom’s location, which could be a bonus if you have public space (like a community media lab at Digital First newspapers).

Note: If you sign up as a local business, you have a few more hoops to jump through. If it gets to be too burdensome, you could always be sure to put your physical address and contact info on your About page.

3. Set up your name and website. You’ll also be asked to pick a sub-category of your main category (above) here. If you signed up as a Brand, you can pick Media, if you signed up as a Local Business, you’ll likely want to pick “Other”.

4. Set up your photo and tagline. The tagline is only 10 words – so be informative and search engine-friendly (i.e. “Local news source for XX, XX and XX” is eight words). The name and tagline shows up in Google searches for your paper’s name and, if you use good keywords, would show up in searches for “‘city name’ news”.

How the Denver Post shows up in search

Remember your account photo will show up as a small rectangle apart from your page to your Circles and in Google searches. So, it should be immediately noticeable as a news brand account – so maybe it should be your logo or something similar.

5. Set up your Introduction: Check out the Google search example for the Denver Post (above). The next line of text that shows up after the tagline is from the beginning of the Introduction, which also appears under the About tab when people go to your Google+ Page. Write the beginning with this in mind.

Some examples:

New York Times: “Welcome to NYTG+, The New York Times’s hub on Google+ for news, conversation and community.”

Boston Globe: “The Boston Globe is Boston’s leading newspaper. Our new website is subscription-only, but links from Google+ (as well as other social networks and search engines) provide free access to the article. ”

San Jose Mercury News: “The San Jose Mercury News provides the latest business, sports, entertainment and breaking news in Silicon Valley and beyond.”

In this space, you might also want to add the address and contact info for your news outlet, what you intend to do with the Page, how you’ll moderate comments and ask for feedback on how to use Google+.

6. Add Recommended Links: Here’s where you’ll want to highlight your other social media accounts and some particular work from your staff on your site. Link to your site’s Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest or whatever other social accounts you use here. Feel free to also add links to your most popular site sections, notable staff blogs, big stories or series you’ve published and links to your mobile alert and/or newsletter subscription sign ups.

For a good example, see how the New York Times set up their Intro and Recommended Links.

And with that, you’re all set. Now, let’s get to posting updates and creating Circles.

How Journalists Should Set Up Google+ Profiles

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On April 5, 2012

In Social Media

A properly set-up profile is what makes Google+ effective for an individual journalist looking to establish a brand online or cement their brand in a Google search. You need to have the right info on display to ensure people can find you in a Google search by looking for your name or some keywords like what you cover or where you work.

Looking for how to set up a Google+ Page for a news brand?

First, signing up. To do this, go to plus.google.com. If you have a Gmail, YouTube or Picasa account already, you can sign in with that Google login info here and be on your way. If not, click on “Create an account” and it’ll walk you through the steps.

Should you sign up for a work-only Google+ account separate from your personal account? That’s up to you — and your employer’s social media policy. If your employer says they own your social media accounts and followers, you’ll definitely want to set up a separate account. For Digital First Media employees, this isn’t an issue. One downside to setting up a different account is that you’ll need to toggle between both accounts when you use any Google tool, which can be a pain.

Setting Up Your Profile

1. Set up your name and profile image: Be sure to use your real name and a photo of yourself. You’re a journalist and you want to be found, right?

2. Write your Introduction, Occupation and Work History with search in mind. Your account will show up apart from your profile in Google searches, like so:

Your occupation and first listed employer will show up right after your name in searches, so make sure your occupation is descriptive (say Business Reporter, Tech Reporter, Crime & Court Reporter, for instance, if you have a set beat) and your employers are in the right order.

The beginning of your introduction also shows up in search, so keep that in mind. In your introduction, you can be as personal and descriptive as you want to be. I’d recommend describing what you do, what subjects you cover and what geographic areas your work covers – at the very least.

As for where you’ve lived and work history – you don’t have to get detailed if you aren’t comfortable doing so. Keep in mind, however, that it might help a past source or reader know you’re that same guy they knew back at your old employer if they find you here.

3. Set and verify your work email account: This seems trivial, but could be huge. On your profile setup, it will list your Gmail account, but it also has an option for a work account. This is where you need to add the same email address that is linked to your byline on your website, which should help to link your story and G+ profile in search, like so:

Elise Foley's Google Plus Results

Once you’ve entered and saved your work address, a link should show up to the right of it asking you to verify the email. (This might not show up right away, so check back later if it isn’t there right off.) Click it and it will send you an email to verify the setting. A checkbox will show up next to the email address if it has been verified.

Yes, this is my work email, don't abuse it

Update 7/5/12: Google+ now has one easy spot to verify your professional authorship. 

4. Set your privacy settings: You can set the visibility of each area of your profile separately. You’ll want to make sure your Introduction, Occupation and Work History are public for search. Make sure you’ve checked the box at the bottom for “Help others discover my profile in search results.” The rest is up to you. (See it)

5. Link your other online accounts: On the right side of your About page, you can and should add link to your other social  media, blogging, curation and writing accounts. What you might consider adding here: Twitter, Facebook (if it’s got a public element), your personal website (if you have one), any blogs you write and your Delicious/Diigo account/public Google Reader shares, etc. (See It)

Below this is “Contributor To”, where you can connect to all the places where your work is displayed online. If you have a reporter/author page on your news outlet’s website, add it here. If not, add a link to an on-site search for your byline.

Recommended Links is where you can add any other links you might want to highlight, like information resources relating to your work, go-to sources for your reporting, favorite sites, etc.

And with that, you’re all set. Now, let’s get to posting updates and creating Circles.

10 ways journalists can look like Twitter newbies

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On January 8, 2010

In Surviving, Twitter

I read a lot of Twitter feeds from reports and news outlets in my area (and at my paper) and I frequently see lots of little mistakes here and there that just make we mince and think, “Oh, those haters on the Internets are going to have a field day making fun of this newb.” Admittedly, I may even be one of those haters some days.

You don’t have to be some online expert to look like you belong on Twitter – just avoid doing the following and nobody will know you’re a dog (or just an old-school journalist) on Twitter.

1. You sign your tweets

In my book, this is the biggest sign that someone is a journo without a clue. Do you seriously need a byline on your tweet? If it is your own account, your name and picture should already be on it. If it is your news outlet’s account, I repeat: Do you really need a byline on a tweet? You only have 140 characters to work with and you’re wasting them if you feel the need to sign your name to the sentence you just blasted out.

2. You ask the Twittersphere to respond by direct message

Probably the most frequent error I see. If you put an inquiry out on Twitter, do not ask people to reply by DM. Just ask them to reply. Why? Because if you aren’t following the person who wants to reply to your plea for sources, they can’t get through to you. Ask for replies or put your email out there instead.

3. You put out general links instead of specific links

I know you really, really want people to read your blog or website, but you don’t have to make it a chore. If you want to promote a certain post, send the link to the post. If they like your blog, they’ll bookmark it or subscribe by RSS – they don’t need your site’s home page force-fed to them on Twitter. Especially avoid saying, “New post about blahblahblah at yourhomepage.com! Check it out!” Someone might come across that tweet in a Google search two weeks from now and that post/story may be off your front page by then. Don’t waste people’s time. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly or tinyurl if you need to fit in a long link.

4. You don’t post links at all

The absolute worst. Don’t say, “I’ve got a new story/blog post about X up online now. Check it out!” Everyone who sees your name on Twitter doesn’t know your website or your news outlet. You’re part of the stream that could be coming from lots of Twitter sources – and you’ll quickly be forgotten if you do this. Right after they laugh at you.

5. You never reply to anyone else

Twitter is not a tool for you to blast out links to your work. It’s a space for interacting with your followers and asking questions of those you follow. Even if you only reply by direct message to friends’ inquiries, you need to reply when you are asked a question. you should also take the time to read others’ tweets and reply once in awhile. You might even learn something!

6. You don’t follow anyone

Slightly worse than #5. Everything said there applies. Don’t know anyone on Twitter yet? Go to Twellow and search by your beat, city or interests and start following some people. Go to Muck Rack and follow other journalists or news organizations. And re-read #5 – if people reply to you, follow them. Make them the beginning of your Twitter circle

7. You never re-tweet

This is a clear sign that you only use Twitter to push out your own content and don’t read anyone else’s. If someone says something interesting, if they reply to you and you want to share it or they pass out a link you’d like to pass on, hit re-tweet. It takes less than a second to pass on someone else’s tweet to your followers. Have you never read a tweet from someone else worth that one second? If you aren’t using a Twitter client with a re-tweet function, there’s also a button to re-tweet on the web form (just hover over the tweet with your mouse and you’ll see it).

8. You use your news outlets main website as your web link in your profile

Sure, it’s a minor point – but it makes you look like a journalist without a clue. If someone wants to contact you off Twitter, this link doesn’t help. If you have a blog or a profile page on your paper’s site or on your own, link it there. If you have a Google Profile, Facebook page, Linked In account or anything at all that reflects you, put that link there. Think about it, would you ever believe a source whose contact information was so incomplete? Which leads me to…

9. You don’t have a profile picture

If you use the default icon on Twitter, 90% of users will just assume you are a spammer or simply someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Again, would you trust a source without a face or some sort of recognizable image? It doesn’t have to be “you” per se (though it would help your cause), but it shows you made the basic bit of effort to complete your profile.

10. You exclusively tweet just about your published work

I’m not saying you have to get personal or tell everyone what you ate for lunch, I’m just saying you need to loosen up a little. Tell your followers who you’re meeting with today, what you’re working on or what’s going on at a event you’re covering. Feel free to add comment or answer questions on the news of the day (within all the usual ethical limitations of course) or re-tweet info from other users. Or, if you’re really feeling comfortable, go ahead and get personal. Readers and sources can like journalists when they seem like real people.

Facebook primer for journalists added

By

On June 4, 2009

In Social Media

In case you didn’t notice, I’ve added a new Resources link to the site. I’ve linked to some of the basic social media primers I’ve been creating to help Enquirer staff get acclimated to Facebook and Twitter – with more to come.

The Facebook for Professionals manual, in particular, should come in handy if you’re new to Facebook and want to know more about its setup or if you’ve been using it primarily for personal reasons and want to make a privacy wall to start using it to make professional connections.

The two charts are diagrams of Facebook and Twitter home pages to explain what’s there and how it works.

In the future, I hope to add more intro information for RSS readers, Digg, Publish2 and more. Stay tuned.

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