How did this guy manage to get a link from the BBC?

[Clinton]

This tightsplease site isn't any great shakes, but he has got mention in a BBC article. What's more, they went further and linked to his site from the bottom of the article.

OK if he came up with something particularly newsworthy, perhaps he deserved the link. But he didn't. He just repeated that some sites have spelling mistakes in their text! Not exactly the revelation of the century.

OK, I'm a bit envious he got a link. But any tips on how to get a reporter to come up with an whole pointless article and give you a link?

[Andy]

Hi Clinton,

His mother's second cousin is date the reporter's brother's lover. Thought you knew.

Okay, seriously, your best bet would be HARO. Help a Reporter Out. This site has a huge following. Lots of reporters constantly looking for leads and sources. It should be self explanatory but if you need some pointers, I have a friend who may be able to help.

Andy

P.S. The topic of the article is nonsense to boot. What the guy proved was testing improves results, not improved spelling. The rest is mere opinion.

[JJMcClure]

Must have been a slow news day...

Looks to me like the article relies on that statistic that a spelling mistake can halve the revenue from a site but that's based on one website and one incidence of him correcting a spelling mistake and sales doubling, we don't even get to find out how many sales that actually refers to. It's not exactly a reliable statistic and I'm surprised at the BBC for peddling such a flimsy speculation. The rest of the article is fluff about general standard of education.... wow, I'm underwhelmed. Maybe they're drinking buddies.

Have you seen how many sites have picked it up? Tons of backlinks...

Going to have a ponder on this one.

[Dave McM]

By a strange coincidence I'd just noticed this BBC story independently and emailed Kay about it.

As you say, it's a great way of getting your website noticed.

I agree that, as it stands, it's a non-story; a single website is not a sound statistical basis for the swingeing claims in the headline. But I think there's an underlying truth (albeit a platitudinous one) that poor spelling undermines credibility. We've had several developers tell us that misspellings and typos in text are a good way of capturing misspelt searches - which sounds to me like a lame excuse for their own sloppy proofreading or deficient spelling skills.

[Clinton]

I tried HARO, Andy. Wasted loads and loads of time but never actually got any real benefit from it. When you reply to reporters offering opinions they usually don't even bother to get back. Even on topics where they could check I was something of an expert nothing came of my reply. Maybe it's what I was saying in my replies and/or not hyping what I could contribute!

[Andy]

Maybe I was too quick to suggest HARO.

More than likely, you weren't telling them what they wanted to hear. Either that or you don't have the "credentials" they want - not like the guy in the article. My friend has the dubious distinction of being named one of the top ten "Entrepreneurs of the Year". Maybe that carries some weight. But he swears by it.

Now that I think about it, it seems you have to know somebody. Some folks take years to develop the right contacts, others just run into the right person at the right time. I imagine some folks do hook up at HARO.

Maybe we should form a "Think Tank" and promote ourselves as something. :-)

Andy

[QualityNonsense]

This is a classic PR piece, so it'll be as a result of their PR agency having contacts w/ BBC hacks. PRs love surveys & stats.

HARO - most of the hacks are looking for American sources, so don't take it too personally Clinton.

[Kay]

I have a bit of experience in this - as an ex-journo myself (never let the facts get in the way of a good story), I know how journos work. I still do a little bit from time to time.

From the other side of the fence, as a website owner, I know about the thrill of being mentioned on one of the biggies. But the results vary. After the major tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 the BBC was sending us thousands and thousands of visitors. And yet a mention on The Grauniad for another site about another subject some time later - which I was very chuffed to get - sent us fewer than a dozen visitors.

Andy is right about contacts. It's nearly always WHO you know and there's a lot of nepotism and sucking up to celebs etc. A lot of the time it's a case of being in the right place at the right time. The best jobs aren't advertised. You just happen to be there and the boss takes a liking to you. (I haven't yet shagged anyone just to get a job. Not yet, anyway.) Mostly the people who want you will contact you and offer the work/job.

Experience counts for something. They don't want to send a rookie into some strange foreign place. But if you already know your way around, then you've already got a big tick in their box. And the more you do it, the more contacts you make, and the more likely it is when people need something they'll just think that so-and-so would be just right for that job. Then they get in touch and ask if you'd be willing to go somewhere to do the job they want doing. In the last 20+ years I've never applied for any job I've got. (I'm crap at job interviews anyway.)

Oh yeah, back to the subject - journos are always looking for news and for stories. Give them something good and they'll love you. Forget rubbishy press releases and all that. Give them something they can get their teeth into. And then wait and see the results - they could be a lot less than you'd hoped for.

[Kay]

More than likely, you weren't telling them what they wanted to hear. Either that or you don't have the "credentials" they want...

I took so long to write my earlier posting I didn't notice that some replies had popped in meanwhile. Here's my take on it.

The BBC are very lazy (or under-funded or something) about getting good contacts to give them soundbites or interviews. Every time website usability crops up they trundle out that dinosaur Jakob Nielsen for a quote. And more recently I've found myself to be flavour of the month for expat stuff and have been interviewed on live radio by Vanessa Feltz. They're not really looking for "credentials". They're looking for a "name".

Sorry, Clinton, you're not enough of a celeb or good-looking enough to be highly sought after. When did you last trim your nostril hairs?

[crabfoot]

Up to a couple of years ago you could get a site indexed quickly by going to the BBC website and searching for it from a couple of different ISPs. They used to cache the search results as pointers to breaking news, in a place that the spiders could get at. Sadly, it doesn't work any more ...