I was interested to read an article by Jakob Nielsen on the use of press pages by journalists. The research included 3 studies taking place over several years. Sessions took place in the USA, Denmark, Hong Kong, and the UK.

Not surprisingly results revealed that journalists use the Internet as an important search tool. The top five reasons given are as follows:

- to find a press contact (name and contact number)
- to find basic facts about the company
- to seek opinion on current events
- to check financial information
- to download images to use as illustrations in stories

Journalists often work to tight deadlines and therefore this information should be easy to locate. Failure to provide easy to access information may result in the company not being featured. Further, it may also lead to journalists being reluctant to use the site in the future.

To view the report in full go to www.useit.com/alertbox/pr.html.

If you’re looking for a professional website with clear user-friendly content, please contact us on 0161 282 4525.

Thank you to the Manchester Evening News for publicising our new Website Surgery. It’s in the Business section of Tuesday’s newspaper.

You can read the full article at www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk.

If you have any web-related questions, we can offer advice on anything from setting up a website and selling on the web to blogs and search engine optimisation.

There are still places available at this week’s surgery. To book your place please telephone 0161 249 0901.