What is an online newsroom?

An online newsroom is a micro website dedicated to sharing your organizations news, and looks like another page on your main website.  With an online newsroom your business can self-publish news and other announcements, and integrate your social media. An online newsroom will enable you to send news communications to all your stakeholders including customers, suppliers, supporters, employees, shareholders, business partners, industry thought leaders, and more. The newsroom also enables journalists to track your organisation, subscribe to your RSS feeds and receive your regular announcements.  Visit the Comnicate Newsroom to see an example of a newsroom.

Is the Comnicate newsroom solution called NewsCentre?

Yes, our newsroom solution is called NewsCentre. It runs as a a 'cloud computing' solution on Comnicate servers, and appears to your website visitors as though it is part of your main website. NewsCentre is more than an online newsroom as it allows you to broadcast news to your stakeholders, re-broadcast external news, and integrate your social media sites. 

How do we add NewsCentre to our existing website?

NewsCentre is a fully built solution that is ready to use, and provides best practice newsroom functionality. You do not need to download, setup or install any software.  As soon as you order NewsCentre, we will provide the security password giving you immediate access. Then your organization can start adding your old and current announcements straight away. From a technical point of view, we will add a link between your current website and your newsroom so that it works seamlessly. The overall implementation is very straight forward and you will be up and running right away.

Will Comnicate help set up our Social Media sites too?

Yes. NewsCentre is a complete system in its own right, but it is even more effective if you have implemented a Blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.  If your business does not yet have a social media presence, then Comnicate can establish those social sites for you as part of the newsroom implementation. Please see our social media sites including our Blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for examples of how they can look. 

Is NewsCentre easy to operate?

NewsCentre is easy to operate by anyone familiar with word processing. It requires no special skills and your newsroom can be updated by anyone in your business. You can access the newsroom from any computer with an internet connection. Our clients find it easy to install and quick to use. We provide training to your staff and you have access to ongoing support.

How much effort is needed to populate the newsroom?

Your newsroom can be populated easily by anyone in your organization, or by your PR agency, or by us at Comnicate Media. You probably already have recent news announcements and articles that can be uploaded to the newsroom right away. Once the recent news is loaded up, it is simply a matter of adding new newsworthy material to your newsroom as it occurs on a real-time basis. By working real-time, our clients are placing less importance on periodical newsletters that may be outdated by the time they are published.

What are the benefits of NewsCentre versus building our own newsroom?

With NewsCentre there is no requirement for expensive web software development, and no risks of poor software outcomes. Ongoing software support and maintenance is done by Comnicate, and we keep the software up-to-date with digital media and social media trends. Should you decide later to change your main website to a different look and feel, then NewsCentre will work just as easily with that, and there is no interruption to the news and communications going to your stakeholders.   

Will people visit our online newsroom? 

The purpose of an online newsroom is to generate more traffic to your main website. There are many inbuilt features in NewsCentre that will help you improve your website visibility. There are also techniques we can show you that will help you to get noticed by search engines. Comnicate will help you link your platforms, recommend the placement of key words across your online properties, explain how to prepare newsworthy articles, and how to maximise web resources like Yahoo, Google and search engine optimisation (SEO).

How much does NewsCentre cost?

NewsCentre starts at only $450 per month and includes all the hosting services, software maintenance and ongoing updates. There is an installation fee to cover set-up, layout and training. Our aim is to provide advanced newsroom functionality that only large companies could justify, at an affordable price. Organizations with their own hosting facilities can also purchase the NewsCentre software suite to run in-house. The total cost of ownership will be around one quarter the cost of building your own newsroom.  Visit NewsCentre Benefits to appreciate the value that NewsCentre offers.

How do I demonstrate an ROI to Management?

An online newsroom is a key resource for any organization that wants to communicate more effectively with stakeholders and for minimal cost. NewsCentre is a hosted service and there are no upfront purchases of hardware or software. The purpose of an online newsroom is to show your important stakeholders that you are serious about communicating and engaging with them, and to promote your organizations brand. If your company needs to do more with less, than a Comnicate NewsCentre is a smart decision. The total cost of ownership will be around one quarter the cost of building and supporting your own newsroom.  Click here for some useful documentation that will help with your ROI determination.

Can small business benefit from a newsroom?

Yes, smaller businesses will benefit from an online newsroom, and they usually start with fewer features to keep it simple.  As your business grows then additional features can be 'switched on' to give your newsrooms greater functionality. NewsCentre is fully scalable and can cater for the needs of small businesses as well as large ones.

Does Comnicate support PR firms?

We work with PR Media firms that want to implement an online newsroom for their clients. PR firms can deepen their relationships with clients by offering NewsCentre as part of a broader media solution. NewsCentre is a powerful means for getting your clients multi-media messages into the marketplace as text, graphics, audio, or video. NewsCentre is an excellent tool for acquiring new clients, by enabling your PR firm to offer a broader media solution. Please visit our Partner page on this website.

Will NewsCentre evolve in the future?

Yes, NewsCentre continues to evolve in line with software developments. NewsCentre is built around the latest web software design and Comnicate enhances NewsCentre as new web capabilities emerge. We regularly add new features and functionality to ensure that our users stay ahead of the competition. 

So what is the next step?

Contact Us at Comnicate Media. We welcome your inquiry, and would be pleased to learn your business requirements and to recommend a 'best practice' newsroom and/or social media solution that will keep you business 'front of mind' with stakeholders.