Making Internet communications channels work for you

Mark Gibbs' Web site tips, plus network applications news headlines

Jessica, a friend I know from a mail list, recently complained that "I've been frustrated lately by a few web sites which I wish to follow news on but which inexplicably don't publish an RSS [Really Simple Syndication] feed. I'm trying to find a good way to convince them that it is really worth their time to have a feed, that it will bring them traffic."

It turned out that the site, a newspaper that shall remain nameless, did have not one but two RSS feeds [AKA a "news feed"] but they hadn't made them easily found for reasons that aren't obvious. So, while they made their Twitter feeds and Facebook presence obvious their news feeds were definitely an afterthought.

Here's the thing: If you are a business of any kind with a stream of content that is relevant to your users then you need to take advantage of every available communications to get people to pay attention.

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Jessica, a friend I know from a mail list, recently complained that "I've been frustrated lately by a few web sites which I wish to follow news on but which inexplicably don't publish an RSS [Really Simple Syndication] feed. I'm trying to find a good way to convince them that it is really worth their time to have a feed, that it will bring them traffic."

It turned out that the site, a newspaper that shall remain nameless, did have not one but two RSS feeds [AKA a "news feed"] but they hadn't made them easily found for reasons that aren't obvious. So, while they made their Twitter feeds and Facebook presence obvious their news feeds were definitely an afterthought.

Here's the thing: If you are a business of any kind with a stream of content that is relevant to your users then you need to take advantage of every available communications to get people to pay attention.

Let's consider the Internet communications channels you should be using:

1. E-mail: Yep, good old e-mail is still important – it is, in effect, the lingua franca of Internet communications.

1a. Outbound "pitch" e-mail: Sure, you can send anyone commercial e-mail … once. After that if they don't subscribe, be very careful about trying again. If you feel you can justify trying again leave a good couple of months between attempts. And always use double opt-in for all list-based mail out programs.

1b. E-mailed newsletters: Whatever you do, do not first subscribe people from whatever list you've bought or built and then send them a message with an unsubscribe link, that's just obnoxious. And while we're on the topic of unsubscribe services, make sure they work, pre-fill the subscriber's e-mail in the unsubscribe form, and get the unsubscribe done within 24 hours at most (what is with all of these companies that tell you unsubscribing will take 10 to 14 days? This is the 21st Century people!).

1c. Inbound e-mail: Handle it. Whether it is complaint, a compliment, or a request deal with it promptly. Be cautious about using "canned" replies, they usually make you look like you don't really care … which will be true otherwise you wouldn't be using canned replies. You can't deal with the e-mail load unless you use canned responses? Then you might as well shut up shop and go home because not handling inbound mail is like not answering the phone; it is a recipe for annoyed customers and the road to failure.

2. Blogs: Many businesses are confused about the way that blogs should be used. Think of a blog as a diary about your business but where your audience can comment on every posting (comments need to be treated like inbound email – you need to engage and respond. If you're a newspaper or other purveyor of a stream of time-sensitive content the blog format is far more important as a way of communicating with your audience than, say, a traditional newspaper Web site format because it allows your audience to become engaged with you and interact with each other creating instant community for next to no cost.

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, columnist and blogger.