As many media professionals know, New York Times recently unveiled the redesign to their website, click here to check it out.

What many outside the media industry don’t know is how important a decision this was for the “Grey Lady.” Whenever a website for a business, individual or news outlet changes, there is bound to be criticism and unhappy visitors. The strategy that goes into making these changes, especially for a website as large as the NYTimes, must be carefully coordinated and rolled out.

When Ronn Torossian founded his PR company 5WPR, he named it for the founding principle in all news gathering. You must communicate the 5 w’s – who, what, when, where and why. Any news release should do so in the first paragraph.

This is the most interesting or important part of the story that is not specifically the 5w’s. It adds flavor, importance, context or validity to the story.

Attention grabbing is not enough, let’s get specific

Headlines are often the only thing someone reads before deciding whether or not your content is of any value to them. Let’s say that again. Headlines are often the ONLY thing people read.

Your brand is your identity. It is not just what people see when they shop for your product or service. It is who you are to those people. Your brand encapsulates all the physical, emotional and psychological reasons why they buy. So each of these factors must be considered when preparing a rebranding PR campaign.

Changing the way a product is presented can be a big win or a colossal failure. It may seem like it comes down to taste, but what it really comes down to is presentation. How are the physical aspects of the new brand bolstered and defined by the images and messages surrounding it? These surrounding images and messages should complement the new brand while also helping your customer connect with it.

The work we do as public relations professionals helps to build brands through earned media and at the core of this is content. Every day we are working with our clients on press quotes, byline articles, presentations, and more. All of this is content. And content as they say in today’s day and age is king. There are basic SEO best practices that PR executives can integrate into the work they are already doing to further help their clients drive website traffic and increase brand visibility.

Here’s a quick breakdown of SEO and PR together being the future of the Public Relations industry from our Digital Marketing Director Cary Leibowitz.

Though it is sad to say that this nation has been visited by more than its fair share of tragedy in the last year, both natural and man made, it is an amazing to see how, even in the toughest of times, a nation can come together to help heal from those wounds. We are not strangers to this. In the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Americans mobilized to volunteer their time, their money, and the sweat of their brow to help out however they could.

But with the growth of social media as a tool for volunteers to reach out and organize, those who wish to help now have an even more powerful ally as they try to fix whatever has broken among us. Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations firm, highlights five ways that social media is being used by disaster relief volunteers.

Social media has redefined the way most businesses do their marketing. It has forced many businesses to alter the way they do business altogether, including many within the Public Relations industry. You’ll hear a lot of companies complaining about social media. These are the types that claim social media is a waste of time and that they already have too much on their plate.

A Guide to PR in the Modern Age: