| MAKING CONTACT
Third report in a series on how
local stations can use their Web sites to generate new content (NOTE:
Some external links may no longer be working.)
By Jeff Gralnick
 |
To be truly interactive, local
TV Web sites need to make it easier for users to touch them
back. The simplest approach is through a "Contact Us"
page, but too many sites don't make it easy to even find the
page, much less use it. Contact information is often buried
under links labeled "About" or "Inside"
or even "News Team."
|
When you finally do find the contact page, it may
not have what you're looking for.
The first step to improve your users' ability to
make contact is to make the "Contact" page easy to find.
KITV-TV in Honolulu,
HI, has a clearly understandable link, labeled "Contact KITV
4" in a task bar at the top of every page. KGUN-TV
in Tucson, AZ, makes a dual pitch for story tips and questions or
comments right on its home page. One click and you're sending the
station e-mail. But to reach specific reporters and anchors at both
of these stations, you have to click to a list page and then a bio
page that finally includes an individual e-mail address.
Site designers appear to be attacking this problem
now and in a variety of ways:
- Pull down menus that allow you to e-mail individual
station departments. Click on the "contact"
link at KITV-TV and you get an open invitation to get in touch
("Comments? Questions? We want them!") and a menu of
department e-mails.
- Lists of links to both departments and people.
KSTP-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, has a "Close
to Home" page that sorts its staff by newscast and function
(weather, sports, investigative, politics) and includes links
to all anchors, reporters and two news managers.
- E-mail links to the entire staff. KBCI-TV
in Boise, ID, offers two choices: news (the default listing) and
sales/administration, providing names, titles and individual e-mails
as well as a main phone number for each group.
- A list of e-mail links plus a generic form. WLNE-TV
in Providence, RI, gives viewers the choice of writing to a specific
person, including managers and newscast producers, or sending
general mail. The page also has a phone number and street address.
Each of these has some strengths and is useful in
its own way but each is flawed--either by the degree of difficulty
in navigating to it; by the number of clicks it takes to get to
the desired destination; or by the confusion that the page itself
presents when figuring out who exactly you want to reach out and
touch. Imagine that you just want to suggest a story the station
should cover. Most of these contact pages never explicitly ask for
story ideas. WLNE, for example, doesn't even mention news on its
contact page, asking: "Maybe you have a question, a comment,
a criticism, a suggestion, etc about the television station or the
Website. Or maybe you have a technical issue?" KBCI, on the
other hand, has a "News Alert" box on the front page,
making it clear they're interested and providing an e-mail link
and phone number to submit tips.
To encourage users to provide story ideas that might
actually be covered, WUSA-TV in Washington, DC, once had detailed
information on its Web site on how
to submit a story idea. Unfortunately, it was buried half-way
down an "About 9WUSA" page --which probably means it was
rarely even seen. (As of late 2002, the page had disappeared.)
What may be needed in this area is a better and
perhaps universal design for "contact us" pages so any user of any
site has a degree of confidence when trying to make that contact.
To that end, friends at the new web design firm of Dillon/Thompson,
who in another life were responsible for the design, architecture
and build-out of abcnews.com in 1997, took a stab at a
universal page for your consideration. They started with KSTP's
page, reorganized the contact areas and made clear how you push
forward both tips and pictures. The page seems more user-friendly,
and it would all be one click off home. Think about how you could
adapt this with your branding and graphics wrapped around it.
What's important is that you make this a priority:
to make it as easy as possible for your users and viewers to use
your site to "touch you back" with content and story ideas.
Without a clear and easy path, you will not get the story ideas,
news tips, digital images and community you are looking for. And
make your Web site a priority from the general manager on down.
The best case I have seen for this recently was put up on Lost
Remote and is worth a read. It is a simple message: Just do
it.
And that leaves the question of "don'ts."
I'd suggest that at the end of the day there is only one: Don't
think you can ignore this. Others aren't, and they'll gain a competitive
advantage if you wait.
Next:
What's around the corner for interactive TV news.
Previous topics:
A suite of interactive tools for involving users.
Enlisting users to supply content.
References:
1. Jeff
Gralnick was in broadcast news for 43 years until electing semi-retirement
in 2001. His background includes 24 years at ABCNews as executive
and executive producer. While there he oversaw development and launch
of ABCNews.com. Currently he is doing Internet and media consulting
for a number of organizations including the University of Southern
California's Integrated Media Systems Center http://imsc.usc.edu
|
