Dos and Don’Ts of Internet Public Relations

DO you want to increase your corporate profile and consumer base? Or maybe improve your customer relations? A first step towards developing a good corporate Web site is to hire a team of experienced designers. But there is often a big gap between the vision of Web designers and that of other managers. If you are looking to improve public relations, consider the following.

* Do introduce yourself:

Imagine that your Web site is the first introduction a visitor has to your company and products, so present information accordingly. Clearly marked sections of the site should spell out what you do, how long you’ve been doing it, what products or services you have on offer now, what will be offered in the near future, and how you can be contacted. A little printable map explaining exactly where the office is can be useful, as is an archive of Press releases boasting of your achievements.

* Do be informative:

Malaysian consumers often complain that companies are absurdly shy about giving out information. Call to ask about the price and availability of spare parts, information about a new product or some other common questions, and chances are you’ll be transferred from extension to extension for the rest of the day while the company figures out who can give you the right answer.

If you have high staff turnover, employees who don’t have good phone skills, a policy that restricts who may give out information or some other obstacle that hinders outgoing information flow, putting up answers to frequently asked questions on your Web site will be a major boon to existing and potential clients.

* Do offer directed e-mail contact:

Instant communication has put a real burden on public relations. In order to be perceived as efficient and effective, companies should respond to all e-mail within 24 hours – 48 hours tops!

Companies that manage to adhere to this standard of efficiency are extremely rare. But if your e-mail is circulating for hours before it is picked up by the correct respondent, consider cutting down on response windows by offering directed e-mail.

Ask your designers to include a drop-down menu with options describing e-mail content (complaint, question about product X, general feedback, employment opportunity, etc) or recipient (sales, human resource, support, etc). If you can put in a system that automatically assigns a reference number to each e-mail so you can track correspondence easily, even better!

* Don’t plan for click-throughs:

Many supermarket managers cite that stock reorganisation comes with a temporary side benefit: when existing customers are forced out of their comfortable routine, they may buy products their usual route bypasses.

But online browsing works very differently than casual shopping at the local mall. Your online customers will not hang about; if they can’t find what they want quickly, they’ll leave. It’s not as though they have to get into a car and drive to another shopping centre.

Like it or not, the online browser wants his instant gratification yesterday. Make sure your site can be navigated by a first-time visitor without mishap.

* Don’t assume visitors see the whole picture: It’s not enough to offer a great yet simple-to-navigate layout. If you offer great pages, these may be trapped in someone else’s frames or pirated. You can ask your designer to put in safeguards to prevent the first problem and add in some code to help you identify the second problem, but you also have to consider that visitors don’t always start off their visit to your site by checking out the welcome page.

Look at each page of your site and ask: If a visitor comes across this first, without seeing any of the other content, what questions will they ask? What impression will they have of your company? What possible information will they want to see next? Will it be easy to get to? Fixing up each page in this manner can take a while, but it will add immeasurable value to your content.