SEO FIRE

Online presentations are best created in MS PowerPoint and then converted to a flash based streaming file using either Articulate Presenter or Camtasia. My personal fave is Articulate. I like it’s extended player capability and features although the less expensive Camtasia is also useful for recording onscreen activity for software demos. In either case what you intend to create should be the deciding factor i.e. for PowerPoint presentations use Articulate and for onscreen recordings as in software demos use Camtasia.

You can also take a screen recording created with Camtasia and embed that in a PowerPoint presentation for conversion in Articulate. So I tend to use both when designing presentations for clients. So far as any tips for improving the quality of your presentations I would recommend:

1. Keep slides simple - Less is more here
2. Use standard Fonts and Colors
3. Eliminate unnecessary animation
4. Create a flow of information - Background, Challenge, Solution, Validation

It takes some trial and error to create a high quality automated presentation for the web.  Just as mastering PowerPoint takes some time so to these extensions of the presentation medium will have a learning curve. The beauty of these two programs is the ease with which they allow you to try and try again until you get it right.

Narration of the slides is where most people hit the wall. Just like speaking in public when the microphone is switched on the same fear and loathing will come into play. Here is where true talent for speaking is foremost. Nothing will kill a great presentation faster than a droning monotone voice reading from the slides. Don’t read the slides! You need to speak extemporaneously to the subject only referencing the key points on the slides. This is what separates the professional speaker from the amateur. Do it correctly and your audience will respond accordingly.

That being said many companies find success through cross departmental collaborations where engineering may supply the slide deck, marketing creates the narrative and sales provides the speaking talent.

What is Online PR anyway? Online PR is syndicated distribution of public relations documents via web services. There are various PR syndication services from the high priced BusinessWire and PRweb to the free OpenPress. Why optimize PR for SEO? External links back to your site influence your site’s quality rating in search engines. The more high quality links leading back to your site the better your potential for higher search rank position.

“PR optimization is the only legitimate link back strategy that gives you full control.”

Optimization

PR optimization is a two fold concern. First the content should be tailored to specific keyword phrases and second these keyword phrases will be the the anchor text for the links back to relevant pages on your site. 

Content Development 

News wires specify that a PR post must be a newsworthy event in an announcement format.  Prime subjects for PR would be Partnerships, Event Sponsorship, Product Release, Customer Wins, Executive Promotion, Service Announcements, Legal Filings, Awards, Industry Recognition ….

Format

Once you have your optimized copy with embedded keyword phrases linked back to your website you will need to put it in the standard PR format. You need a contact block at the top including Name,Title, Company, Phone , and Email. The first line of your copy should begin with the City, State, Date.

Example:

Contact:
Marc King
CEO/Senior Business Analyst
SEO10x.com
XXX-XXX-XXXX
EEE@EEE.com

San Francisco, CA. March 25, 2008 - SEO-FIRE the next generation of Interactive Agency announced the release of a new set of SEO tools for the Internet Marketing professional ….

Your copy will need to be at least 300 words to qualify for posting on most syndication services.

PR Management

You should strive to post at least one PR announcement per month. Many leading companies will post PR 2-3 times a week. As often as you have legitimate newsworthy announcements that you can optimize for your SEO requirements you can send out PR. You should not try to fabricate phony announcements. While it is unlikely that a syndication service would approve what appears to be  a deliberate attempt to spam the news sphere doing so would generate a perception of illegitimacy that would hurt your business.