Friday, March 25, 2011

Webinar: Measuring & Identifying SEO Opportunities

Please join PBS Interactive for a webinar about Measuring & Identifying SEO Opportunities on Thursday, March 31st at 2pm EDT.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/408426147

How do you identify your biggest SEO opportunities? And how do you measure and benchmark your SEO success? This webinar will arm you with tools and insights to capitalize on these opportunities.

In this webinar, we will review:
• Benchmarking and Baselining
• What to measure and why
• Tools for identifying and prioritizing opportunities
• Case Study: How PBSKIDS.org “grew up” with SEO! presented by Scott Cummings, Assistant Director, PBS KIDS
• Case Study: Seizing SEO opportunity w/Stations presented by Trevor Clendenin, Director of New Media at the Virgin Islands Public Television System

Linkbuilding Tactics for PBS Stations – Part 3: Promote Embeddable Video

Written by Melanie Phung, New Media Director, PBS Interactive

In yesterday's linkbuilding post, we discussed why it's so important to utilize the Related Links feature in your COVE portal.

One of the other fantastic features of COVE is that COVE videos can be shared by users around the web. High-quality video is the kind of asset that's in demand even by top-tier websites, but many people won't think to look to PBS.org for embeddable video. That's why it's important to encourage sharing explicitly.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LINKBUILDING TACTICS FOR PBS STATIONS >>

JUST RELEASED: No problem, Keepin’ It Social

In 2007 when PBS embarked on a grant funded experiment called PBS Engage, most PBS stations had not tey heard of social media.

Now, 90% of all PBS member stations have an active presence on social media platforms. These initiatives enable audiences to get the maximum engagement by following, friending, watching, and looking into all the wonderful things stations have to offer.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THE SPI TEAM IS CELEBRATING AND HELPING TO PROMOTE SOCIAL MEDIA >>

Linkbuilding Tactics for PBS Stations – Part 2: COVE Related Links

Written by Melanie Phung, New Media Director, PBS Interactive

Keyword-rich links that point to your pages will help those target pages rank better in search. As we mentioned before, the easiest opportunity to get more links to your pages is to build internal links from your own site.

In part 2 of our linkbuilding series, we show you how COVE gives you several more opportunities to create those links yourself.


LEARN MORE ABOUT LINKBUILDING TACTICS FOR PBS STATIONS >>

Reminder: COVE API Incubator Sign Up

PBS Interactive is opening the COVE API for "friends and family" to participate in collaborative Incubator build sessions – and there is still time to sign up to participate! 
Sign up closes Friday, March 25th.


LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY >>

5 Part SEO Series: Linkbuilding Tactics for PBS Stations – Part I

Written by Melanie Phung, New Media Director, PBS Interactive

Links are one of the most important ranking factors for SEO, and it's no longer enough just to publish outstanding content and wait for people to link to you.

To rank well for competitive (high-volume) queries and pull in qualified traffic, you will also need to work at getting inbound links to your site and to make those links count.

TO LEARN MORE >>

Friday, March 18, 2011

What Are Your Biggest Hurdles in Leveraging Your Online Audience?

In preparation for this year's Annual Meeting workshop, we would love to know the biggest problems/issues facing your station when it comes to capturing and leveraging your audience online.

Giving a Hoot(suite), About Managing Social Media

The Presented by Incubation Lab series shines the spotlight on popular social media tool, HootSuite this week. Montana West, Integrated Media Producer for New Hampshire Public Television, weighs in.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOUR STATION CAN USE HOOTSUITE AND ADD YOUR COMMENTS >>

Local Video Metrics for COVE Now Available

A new COVE feature is now available that allows stations to track video metrics for local content.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION >>

FYI Corner: Twitter Tips

This week's FYI corner offers a few tips to help you better manage and navigate Twitter.
Plus, visit the new Station Social Media Directory!


READ TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION >>

2011 PBS Annual Meeting Update

The 2011 Annual Meeting is fast approaching. This year’s event is packed with sessions that will help you examine the issues and challenges facing public media and now, more than ever, is the time to share ideas and collaborate with your public media colleagues.
 
For more details on this year's conference please visit  www.pbsconnect.org/annualmeeting

If you are unable to make it to Annual Meeting this year, remember to check the SPI Blog and Station Remote Control for any session summaries and reports.    


Thursday, March 17, 2011

National Online Prospecting Project: New Status Update

The National Online Prospecting Project -formerly known as the Online Fundraising Initiative - has been established to prospect untapped, online audiences for the purposes of identifying, engaging, and cultivating new qualified donors to give to member stations. Through various testing and counsel from our advisory groups, the project will finally enable PBS Interactive to harness the power of PBS’s national web/mobile presence to identify new prospects that we can ultimately influence for their support of PBS and member stations. Many thanks to our advisory groups, who have given us valuable, ongoing feedback for this project.

To promote communication and further discussion,  we have launched the National Online Prospecting Project Resource Center on Station Remote Control (login required),  which includes comprehensive documentation detailing the project and key milestones.

If you have specific questions or topics you would like us to cover during the webinars, please send them to pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org.

Friday, March 11, 2011

KQED: Making News Social

KQED just threw down the gauntlet for how stations can use social media as an extension to their traditional web presence. Ian Hill, KQED News’s online community engagement specialist, shares insights on the The new KQED News Facebook page as a “source for news and insight” from northern California.


READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Gowalla A-Go-Go

Earlier this year, PBS’s Marketing and Communications team started talking to Austin-based, Gowalla about various ways PBS could use the location-based social networking platform around TV program promotion. In addition,  PBS’s marketing team is working with the Station Products & Innovation team to reach out to stations for more exciting partnerships with Gowalla.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN WHERE GOWALLA IS GOING >>

CPB Public Media Audience Survey

 The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is working with iStrategy Labs on a project that will help inform CPB about public media’s social media usage. The survey, which closes this Friday, March 11th, is designed for the public media audience to share information about how they interact with their local stations on social media.

READ THE WHOLE STORY AND HELP BY SHARING THE SURVEY WITH YOUR COMMUNITY HERE >>

Presented by Incubation Lab: Does CNN.com’s ‘Poll’ Underestimate Public Media Funding Support?

The Presented by Incubation Lab series shines the spotlight on CNN.com's recent 'Quick Vote' asking people to respond with their opinions about funding public media. Michael Keefe-Feldman, Online Managing Editor for WMHT, weighs in.  


READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE AND ADD YOUR COMMENTS >>

What To Do at iMA and SXSW

Going to iMA or SXSW? We have a few of the iMA and SXSW sessions and events we, on the SPI Team would like to suggest you add to your calendar - Plus, the SPI team’s own Kristin Calhoun and Max Duke will be there so be sure to say "howdy!"

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Your Station's February Localization Stats Available in SRC

The February edition of the pbs.org Localized Traffic Report has been posted in Station Remote Control. Take a look to see how many pbs.org visitors were associated with your station last month: http://to.pbs.org/a5Bc5F

Deadline for PBS Teachers Innovation Awards, March 31, 2011

Stations!

March 31, 2011 is the deadline to take advantage of the PBS Teachers second annual Innovation Awards program and reach out to your community.  Use this opportunity to uncover classroom innovators in your back yard. This year, PBS Education will recognize teachers for their innovative use of digital media (including PBS media) in the classroom. 

For details, templates, and resources to use on your station site, visit the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards station toolkit page at www.pbs.org/teachers/innovators/toolkit.

Here are a few social media posts to help promote the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards in your community.

Twitter 
Call to all teachers! Enter the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards by 3/31. Win a trip, PBS goodies, & more!  http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011

Are you an innovative teacher? Win a trip to the Henry Ford with PBS Teachers. http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011

The PBS Teachers Innovation Awards are open! Win a trip to the Henry Ford. http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011

Teachers, win a weeklong experience with the Henry Ford. Send PBS Teachers your innovation! http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011

Facebook
Are you an innovative teacher? Win a trip to the Henry Ford with PBS Teachers. http://to.pbs.or/Innov2011

The PBS Teachers Innovation Awards are open! Be one of the 12 educators to win a trip for a weeklong “Innovation Immersion Experience” with the Henry Ford. Thirty-six others will win great gifts from PBS. http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011


Teachers, win a weeklong educator experience in Dearborn, Michigan with the Henry Ford. Send PBS Teachers your classroom innovation and you could be one of the 12 teachers picked for this incredible “Innovation Immersion Experience!” http://to.pbs.org/Innov2011

Friday, March 4, 2011

Talk Amongst Yourselves: Getting Social with Social Media

Last week, the SPI team introduced a new weekly feature to its blog where stations can share their opinions and discuss popular topics in public media. Joining the discussion is simple - just share your thoughts in the comments section of each week's discussion post. This week's topic is social media.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION >>

FYI Corner: Social Media App Round-Up

Written by Daryl Johnston, Station Products & Innovation Intern

It is official, almost everyone has now jumped onto the social media bandwagon. Organizations everywhere have either a Facebook page or a Twitter account. So now that your station uses social media, do you know how to get the most out of it?

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Calling All Bloggers: Become a SPI Blog Contributor!

Do you enjoy writing about interesting topics related to public media? If so, now is your chance to show off your blogging skills and share your ideas with the rest of the PBS system. The SPI team is looking for talented writers from PBS member stations who would like to contribute posts to the SPI blog. This is a great opportunity to have your voice heard by fellow stations from across the system. If you are interested, please leave a comment at the SPI blog or contact us directly at PBSi_StationServices@pbs.org.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Talk Amongst Yourselves: The Mobile Revolution

This week, the SPI team is introducing a new weekly feature to its blog where stations will be able to share their opinions and discuss popular topics in public media. Joining the discussion is simple - just share your thoughts in the comments section of each week's discussion post. This week's topic is mobile technology.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION >>

Social Media Check-Up Webinar Archive

In case you missed the PBSi Social Media Check up on Thursday, February 24, an archive of the event is available here:

· Social Media Check-up Part I
· Social Media Check-up Part II

The webinar, presented by Nic Eley, Melanie Phung, and Jonathan Coffman from PBS Interactive, was designed to compliment the LIVE demo of Cover It Live, which can be accessed on Producers Exchange under Social Media Products. The team also provided an update on all PBS social media products with metrics, standout examples, and roadmaps for what’s to come.

Be a Winner: #FAILfaire Needs Failures

PBSi is producing a #FAILfaire session at this year’s PBS Annual Meeting in Orlando, May 16-19. We are looking for some brave speakers from local stations to share failures and lessons learned. In an effort to create an open and honest dialogue, the session will not be Tweeted so please consider participating in this unique event. Please contact Jayme Swain, jsswain@pbs.org, if you are interested in participating or learning more.

Merlin Update: The Journey Continues

The SPI team is proud to announce that Merlin's first batch of new pupils has successfully completed its on-boarding cycle and is now actively promoting local content on PBS.org. Over the past few weeks, these 18 PBS stations have been diligently studying the intricacies of Merlin's web magic. Now, their content is being promoted to audiences in exciting new ways.

Starting next week, a new batch of stations will be entering the Merlin classroom – If your station is interested in being included in a future Merlin on-boarding cycle, don’t hesitate to send us an email.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Friday, February 18, 2011

Geo-Filtering Station Content from PBS's Facebook Page

Written by Kevin Dando, Director, GA Digital Marketing & Communications, PBS

Do you know that Facebook allows “brand pages” (like PBS’s page) to geo-filter its posts? Using this functionality, for example, the PBS Facebook page can post an item about an event or news story that can ONLY be seen by people in Denver or Sacramento or Florida (or whatever city or state we’d want to target).

Recently, the PBS Facebook page has been using this capability more frequently to promote local events like ITVS’s Community Cinema Program. What does this mean for you?

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Your Station's January Localization Stats Available in SRC

Interested in how many visitors to pbs.org have selected your station as the one they prefer?

Did you know that pbs.org visitors that have selected a preferred station tend to spend more time on the site, and view more pages than the average visitor?

To see how pbs.org visitors with affinity to your station measure up, check out the January edition of the monthly Localized Traffic Report, available in Station Remote Control: http://to.pbs.org/a5Bc5F

FYI Corner: Facebook's New Pages

Written by Daryl Johnston, Station Products & Innovation Intern

You may have noticed that Facebook has once again begun rolling out several updates to its popular social networking service. In particular, the recent changes affect Facebook Pages used by many PBS member stations. But have no fear, the SPI FYI Corner is here to help you navigate through Facebook’s new design!

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Best Practices Update: Station Site Examples

The PBS Best Practices wiki has been updated with a new page!

One of the first steps to understanding good web design is finding and exploring actual web sites that were built with strong design principles. The PBS Interactive design team has prepared reviews of three station sites from across the system that include well-designed site elements. These examples should help give real-world context to the best practices and suggestions outlined in other parts of the PBS Best Practices wiki. As you read the reviews listed on this page, try exploring these station sites in search of inspiration for your own redesign. While keeping PBS’s web best practices in mind, try making a list of features and design elements that you would like to include on your station's site.

Link: http://projects.pbs.org/confluence/display/bestpractices/3.1+Station+Site+Examples

The SPI Blog Goes Mobile

Do you constantly crave the latest news and updates about innovation in public media, no matter where are?

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Friday, February 11, 2011

PBSNews.org DataStories: Opportunity to Create a Custom Project for your Station

Information is flying at us from all directions -- how do we help our users sort through it?
One of the story forms PBSNews.org will be using (launching in weeks) is what we call DataStories; taking hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of numbers, or massive unwieldy public documents, and making it possible for our average Web user to use that information to better understand some aspect of our world.



READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

FYI Corner: Valentine's Day Special - The Communications Break-Up

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and according to a study by Yahoo! Personals, this marks the end to National Break-Up Season, a period that starts around the December holidays and is marked by an increase in couple break-ups. So before this unofficial holiday season ends, FYI Corner is looking at reasons why online users break-up with brands.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Project Merlin - Who Wants In?

Have you heard? Stations are seeing increases in traffic to their sites by promoting their content on pbs.org through Project Merlin.We are starting the second and third on-boarding cycles for setting stations up with access to Project Merlin. If you missed the call around the holidays, we've re-opened the survey for stations to sign up:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/merlin-rollout


More information on Merlin is available in the Merlin Resource Center in Station Remote Control. Contact us at pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org if you have any questions.

NCME Webinar: Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement Initiative Public Media Community Hub Application

Wednesday, February 16, 1:00 p.m. -2:00p.m. ET  
NCME will host an informational webinar about CPB's Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement Initiative Public Media Community Hub Application RFP. Twelve, $200,000 (approx.) grants will be awarded to public media stations that develop and implement effective plants to positively impact the dropout crisis in partnership with local education, community, civic, corporate and other relevant organizations.

Representatives from CPB will discuss the grant opportunity, review the application process and answer any questions.

To register for the webinar visit: http://mediaengage.org/renewUpgrade/webinars/cpb.cfm

2010 PBS KIDS GO! Web Development Grant Winners Announced

The 2010 PBS KIDS GO! Web Development Grants have been awarded.  Seven stations are now working to create incredible, locally-relevant, replicable online experiences for kids.  This year's projects span mobile and web platforms with an eye toward getting kids and their families out into the community.  An additional seven stations are being mentored by the aforementioned grantees with a goal of creating a community engagement plan and prototyping the interactive component of that plan.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

UPDATED: Mobile Strategy Deck for Stations Version 2 - Now Available for Download

The Mobile Strategy Deck for Stations has been updated with new statistics, mobile trends and product roadmap information and is available in Station Remote Control. Highlights of the update include:
  • Detailed US Smartphone adoption by age
  • Habits of mobile web users while watching television
  • Mobile video usage statistics
  • A shift in Smartphone platform rankings
  • A new PBS mobile products roadmap
  • New information on the hybrid Mobile Web Apps

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Thursday, February 10, 2011

NCME Webinar: Learning with The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!™

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET

NCME and KQED will host a webinar to introduce PBS station outreach, education, and community engagement staff to opportunities for educational community engagement using this series and website resources. Join in to learn about resources for building science explorers in your community.

To register for this webinar visit http://mediaengage.org/renewUpgrade/webinars/02-16-11.cfm .

Friday, February 4, 2011

iMA Conference, Partnering with SXSW Interactive

In case you haven’t heard, iMA is partnering with SXSW Interactive this year, March 10-15, 2011. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about and connect with the most innovative initiatives in pub media AND attend the world’s premier conference on emerging trends. Both events in one travel budget. Every session is focused on giving you ways to make a difference immediately! Here is a glimpse of what you’ll see at iMA:

  • Jason Seiken (PBS) and Kinsey Wilson (NPR) explaining their Local / National Strategies and ways for you to take advantage of them.
  • How to create a mobile strategy that makes sense and examples of the best mobile apps.
  • How to ensure success on-line by incorporating web analytics into your business planning.
Plus advanced social media concepts, how to start collaborating, building a multi-platform team and even a little fun with some of the new talent in our industry. For more information visit www.integratedmedia.org/conference

For answers to all your iMa questions, contact Jeannie Ericson (jericson@integratedmedia.org), 404.822.6123.

PBS Social Media Stats for January 2011

Perhaps you received a message from PBS’s Director, GA Digital Marketing & Communications, Kevin Dando announcing that PBS is doing the largest hyper-targeted Facebook ad campaign PBS has ever done or you’ve noticed that the PBS Facebook Fan Page has surpassed 500,000 fans – either way this is great news for stations as you can leverage PBS for your own promotions.

Next week we’ll have more details on how you can set up your own social media dashboards and tracking. In the meantime, we’d like to share some of our January stats regarding PBS’s major social media outposts, with comparison to December’s numbers.

PBS KIDS Facebook Fans: 28,875 (up 10% over previous month)
PBS KIDS Facebook Monthly Impressions: 1,326,763 (up 33% over previous month)
PBS KIDS Twitter Followers: 6,003 (up 13% over previous month)
PBS Facebook Fans: 481,049 (up 2% over previous month)
PBS Facebook Monthly Impressions: 98,786,112 (up 18% over previous month)
PBS Twitter Followers: 637,955 (up 2% over previous month)
PBS YouTube Videos Viewed: 4,462,846 (up 12% over previous month -- all time monthly high)

Sources:
Twitter follower data source: www.twittercounter.com (followers calculated as of the first of the month)
YouTube view source: TubeMogul
Facebook data source: Facebook Insights (fans calculated as of the first of the month)

The entire FY 2011 social media stats dashboard is at http://to.pbs.org/socialstatsfy2011

Improve your SEO: Five Easy Steps for Better On-Page Optimization

Improving your search engine optimization (SEO) doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Although investing in SEO audits, rethinking site structure and information architectures, developing a stronger SEO-focused content strategy, and other ‘big picture’ projects can create significant benefits in the effectiveness of your site’s organic web traffic, it never hurts to start with the basics. By simply understanding what search keywords your station should be targeting and applying our five easy steps for better on-page optimization, your station can start improving its SEO today. When consistently applied, the steps outlined in this guide can immediately impact your pages' search relevancy, which will help you improve search engine rankings across the board. Additionally, the cumulative effect of better rankings, higher click-through rate to your site, and stronger engagement by visitors who land on your pages drives better performance all around.


READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Make Your Local News Coverage National: Health Care Law

This is your chance to ensure your own community’s news coverage is included in a national spotlight. PBSNews.org needs your links to online articles, interviews, investigations, videos, and data collections related to the health care law.

This is a great opportunity to drive traffic to news and information on your web presence. If your station has covered health care law on your site, please send your links or any questions you might have to Matt Vree, PBSNews.org Senior Producer (mdvree@pbs.org).

Baby Zimmerman, Coming Soon

The time is near to add the newest member to the SPI team as baby Zimmerman is due to arrive in the next couple of weeks.  I will be out on maternity leave beginning the week of February 21st through the end of May and while I will miss the daily interaction with working adults, my responsibilities will be covered by the SPI team, which I feel so lucky to be a part of and I thank them in advance for their help while I’m out.

As many of you know, I am the PBS Interactive lead on all things TV Schedules for station sites, including the relationship between PBS and Rovi, our online data provider for TV Schedules information.  I have left this core product in good hands, so fear not.  If issues, questions or concerns arise, please send them to pbsi_stationservices@pbs.org and you will be assisted.

For initial assistance and general TV Schedule questions, please visit the TV Schedules Resource Center in Station Remote Control here: http://www.pbs.org/remote.control/toolsindex/services/TV%20Schedules%20Resource%20Center/index.html


While the road that lies ahead will no doubt be filled with sleepless nights, I’m excited to finally “join the club” of parenthood and welcome any tips, suggestions, or wonderful stories from your experiences as I head down this exciting, but unfamiliar road of being a new mommy.

Take care and be safe during this crazy winter weather!

Meaghan

FYI Corner: Facebook Insights, Socially Aware Metrics

By now, many people swear by Google Analytics to decipher all of their internet metrics, but using Google to get the right analytics for social sites can be difficult. Enter Facebook Insights: a free tool for Facebook Page owners and Platform developers that provides real-time metrics and can help stations always post the best content.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Friday, January 28, 2011

National Online Fundraising Project Status Update, From Jason Seiken

Dear Colleague,

I wanted to share an update on the online fundraising initiative now that the project has fully transitioned to the Interactive team.

Our approach to this project is no different from how we built COVE and Merlin: Create a powerful product, with stations and for the benefit of stations. The goal is to give the 20 million people who visit pbs.org each month convenient ways to support their local station. Research shows that the online audience is, to a large degree, different from the television audience; for example, the average age of a visitor to pbs.org is 34.2 years.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

BETA Release of Online Best Practices Resources for Member Stations

The Station Products & Innovation team has updated the Best Practices Guide for Member Station sites with information and recommendations for stations to use as they undergo web site redesigns and online growth.

Instead of publishing a static .pdf like the Best Practices guides of years past, the updated recommendations are now available in a wiki-based site.

READ THE WHOLE STORY TO LEARN MORE >>

Make Your Local News Coverage National: Climate Legislation

This is your chance to ensure your own community’s news coverage is included in a national spotlight. PBSNews.org needs your links to online articles, interviews, investigations, videos, and data collections related to the climate legislation, particularly local efforts at mitigating climate change in lieu of federal law.

This is a great opportunity to drive traffic to news and information on your web presence. If your station has covered the climate legislation on your site, please send your links or any questions you might have to Matt Vree, PBSNews.org Senior Producer (mdvree@pbs.org).