SEO inside Newsrooms: Reports from the Field

Dimitrios Giomelakis, Christina Karypidou and Andreas Veglis
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Dimitrios Giomelakis: Media Informatics Lab, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54625 Thessaloniki, Greece
Christina Karypidou: Media Informatics Lab, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54625 Thessaloniki, Greece
Andreas Veglis: Media Informatics Lab, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54625 Thessaloniki, Greece

Future Internet, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: The journalism profession has changed dramatically in the digital age as the internet, and new technologies, in general, have created new working conditions in the media environment. Concurrently, journalists and media professionals need to be aware and possess a new set of skills connected to web technologies, as well as respond to new reading tendencies and information consumption habits. A number of studies have shown that search engines are an important source of the traffic to news websites around the world, identifying the significance of high rankings in search results. Journalists are writing to be read, and that means ensuring that their news content is found, also, by search engines. In this context, this paper represents an exploratory study on the use of search engine optimization (SEO) in news websites. A series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with professionals at four Greek media organizations uncover trends and address issues, such as how SEO policy is operationalized and applied inside newsrooms, which are the most common optimization practices, as well as the impact on journalism and news content. Today, news publishers have embraced the use of SEO practices, something that is clear also from this study. However, the absence of a distinct SEO culture was evident in newsrooms under study. Finally, according to results, SEO strategy seems to depend on factors, such as ownership and market orientation, editorial priorities or organizational structures.

Keywords: search engine optimization; SEO; search engines; search; online journalism; media websites; news content; news articles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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