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Businesses can make their website ‘journalist-friendly’ by making sure three links are prominently displayed on their website, according to e-consultancy.

The company believes that making a site accessible for journalists can help boost brand awareness and the company’s media presence.

However, it must be easy for the journalist to get what they need.

‘The key thing for a writer is to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible,’ the company said.

‘If they cannot find the answers online then they’ll need to quickly find some media contacts to call, or email.’

The first link is About, which should be a ‘one-stop shop for links to company information’, as well as containing contact details for people in the company.

Next should be the Press link, which will contain press releases and any media mentions of the business in question.

Lastly, a Blog link should be clearly displayed, as this allows journalists to get ‘the inside track straight from the horse’s mouth’, i.e. they can quickly find out people at the company’s opinion on matters.

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Google has provided advice for website designers on how to make sure their site is correctly displayed on the company’s new browser, Chrome.

Maile Ohye, a developer for Google writing on the Webmaster Central blog, recommends using HTML rather than AJAX coding, as this will help search engines find the site.

And to achieve a uniform look across all browsers, validated code should be used, while designers should make sure that they have tested the usability of the site and not just its aesthetics.

‘When your site renders poorly or is difficult to use on many browsers you risk losing your visitors’ interest and, if you’re running a monetised site, perhaps their business,’ she wrote.

‘It’s possible that the clickable area of a linked image or button may change from browser to browser.’

According to research firm Net Applications, Chrome has a one per cent share of the browser market.

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Black hat search engine optimisation (SEO) is becoming less frequent, the head of spam abuse at Google has said.

Matt Cutts told cnet news that he felt legitimate, or white hat, SEO techniques were gradually becoming the norm and this was in part because of Google’s anti-spam policies.

The search engine uses algorithms to deal with particular automated spam-creating techniques but also takes manual action when required.

‘We see the majority of the trend is people trying to find legitimate ways [to promote their sites],’ Mr Cutts told the website.

‘The hope is you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.’

Google advises website designers to use its guidelines on how to avoid becoming a black hat SEO practitioner.

However, Gab Goldenberg, an SEO professional, recently put forward the argument that black hat SEO was not ‘in and of itself unethical’.

He said that it only became so when it ’significantly and negatively affects humans’, rather than an abstract mathematical system.

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Businesses can see increased traffic to their websites by getting the basics of SEO web design right, according to an industry commentator.

Chris Lake, the editor-in-chief of E-consultancy.com, thinks that while there are many ways to attract traffic, for businesses with a limited marketing budget it’s the basics that are most important.

He said: ‘Read up on how to make your site search-engine friendly, and if you can afford it, look at employing a search agency or a search expert in-house.’

Mr Lake also believes that businesses should embrace Web 2.0 technologies to make sure there are as many links back to their site as possible.

‘There are lots of examples of companies attracting large numbers of visitors by producing videos or blogs that end up being picked up on the licks of YouTube, Digg and Yahoo Buzz,’ he said.

One such example is the ‘Will it Blend?’ campaign by the makers of Blendtec Total Blender.

A series of adverts featuring items being dropped in the company’s industrial strength blender (to find out if they will blend) became a huge hit on YouTube and in turn gave the company’s brand more exposure.

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