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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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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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