Rapidly evolving digital technologies across the last two decades have undeniably caused great changes in the field of journalism. The development of online journalism has affected the processes of journalistic work, creating at the same time new techniques and practices. On the internet, search engines still drive a great amount of traffic to news websites. For that reason, factors such as visibility and high ranking on search engines' results pages remain crucially important for media organizations. Nowadays, journalists or Web editors should be able to write and create appropriate content for the Web. This paper discusses in detail the impact of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on digital journalism. Through a quantitative analysis, a survey concerning Greek media websites is presented. The aim was twofold: on the one hand, to find out to what extent the use of SEO affects the traffic of a media website whilst, on the other hand, to discover to what degree media professionals in Greece utilize the possibilities given through search engines in order to increase traffic. Finally, a number of SEO elements and practices often used in news content are noted.

This paper casts light on cultural heritage storytelling in the context of interactive documentary, a hybrid media genre that employs a full range of multimedia tools to document reality, provide sustainability of the production and successful engagement of the audience. The main research hypotheses are enclosed in the statements: (a) the interactive documentary is considered a valuable tool for the sustainability of cultural heritage and (b) digital approaches to documentary storytelling can provide a sustainable form of viewing during the years. Using the Greek interactive documentary (i-doc) NEW LIFE (2013) as a case study, the users’ engagement is evaluated by analyzing items from a seven-year database of web metrics. Specifically, we explore the adopted ways of the interactive documentary users to engage with the storytelling, the depth to which they were involved along with the most popular sections/traffic sources and finally, the differences between the first launch period and latest years were investigated. We concluded that interactivity affordances of this genre enhance the social dimension of cultural, while the key factors for sustainability are mainly (a) constant promotion with transmedia approach; (b) data-driven evaluation and reform; and (c) a good story that gathers relevant niches, with specific interest to the story.

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.

Internet technologies have changed basic journalistic work processes and brought about new modes of producing and consuming news content. As long as major search engines continue to drive a great deal of traffic to news Web sites or remain the primary entry point for many of them, factors such as visibility and high ranking on search engines results pages remain crucially important. This paper examines the issue of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and its implementation on online journalism. According to research (Richmond, 2008), SEO has a significant impact on this field and its knowledge can be a useful tool for journalists whose work appears online. The principal purpose of this article is to outline a framework of suggested practices that can make journalistic work and Internet journalism generally, more effective and contemporary.

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