Expert: Use SEO to attract the media

New research has suggested that companies making good use of search engine optimisation (SEO) to increase online visibility may be more likely to receive coverage in the media.

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, journalists tend to begin researching news articles by conducting an online search for a specific company.

Firms should also consider ramping up the usability of their websites, as even those companies that manage to successfully receive attention from a journalist through SEO could yet lose the story in question if their website is difficult to use.

Some of the journalists interviewed by the Nielsen Norman Group said they would be more likely to drop a story if they could not find the information they needed on a company's website.

Jakob Nielsen, usability expert and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, said: "Journalists don't have time to wade through deep, complex navigation trees or sift factual wheat from marketing chaff.

"In particular, pages must present information in well-organised chunks that are easy to scan."

Previous research by the company conducted last year found that users tasked with finding out what a company does from the relevant 'about us' section on its website were less able to do so compared with five years previously.

This was due to the prevalence of "marketese and blah-blah text", Mr Nielsen said.