Technical support from INN gives news organizations more time to focus on what they do best: reporting and publishing. We’ve worked with more than 150 independent media organizations since 2012 to streamline publishing workflows, improve technology systems, and increase engagement with readers.
Whether it’s enhancing the user experience of a website and optimizing donation flow or setting up Google AdWords and measuring analytics, our staff and expert network of consultants can help newsrooms maximize use of their online platforms.
How to Reach Us
For initial questions, we recommend dropping into INN’s Office Hours for Technology Assistance, Wednesdays from 2 to 3 p.m. ET. Sign up here.
A more detailed consultation may be available for INN members requiring follow-up to their Office Hours or more in-depth support. Request an appointment.
Basic Support
Many questions can be answered during weekly Technology Office Hours or a consultation. These include:
- Input on scope and technical considerations for web-based Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
- Help identifying and vetting vendors for technical support or special projects.
- Guidance on required skills, job description, and fair compensation for technical hires for your organization.
- Improving editing workflows: a review of your digital publishing process and WordPress training.
- Tips for ongoing maintenance and security of your WordPress site.
- Implementation advice for third-party integrations such as newsletters, donation platforms, membership/subscriptions, e-commerce, audience engagement tools, and more.
- Donation flow optimization: A review of your existing donation flow for areas of improvement. This ensures the best experience for your donors and increased success for your campaigns. Examples include updates to homepage calls to action, use of in-article prompts, reconfigurations of existing donation pages, and ways to make donating easier for your mobile user.
Custom Projects
Some work requires more customization, such as:
- Google Grants/AdWords
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- Initial setup: We will work with your nonprofit to apply for Google Grants ads so you can begin advertising.
- Optimization and management: An AdWords specialist will work closely with you to set goals and define the strategy for your monthly campaigns, perform initial optimizations, keyword and competitor research, and reporting, and then train staff members for ongoing management of the AdWords and/or Google Grants account.
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- Google Analytics and Google Data Studio strategy and implementation:
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- Prioritize and focus reporting goals
- Create custom reporting for campaigns
- How to easily glean actionable insights on an ongoing basis
- A deep-dive into page and audience data
- Understand performance by vertical
- Test and track new story formats
- Analyze distribution and republication data
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- User Experience/Audience Engagement consulting
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- Work with INN to audit the user experience of your site. We’ll help you define your audiences, review your existing Google Analytics metrics, and (where applicable) provide wireframes designed for increased engagement. You can then use this information to update your site in-house or work with an outside developer.
- Meet with INN to discuss your goals and current challenges, and we’ll provide recommendations for updates that will have a lasting impact on your site’s performance.
- WordPress configuration and hands-on development
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- Updates to WordPress core, your theme, and plugins, to keep them secure and give you access to the latest publishing features.
- Addition of new plugins or custom features to your WordPress site.
- Help with embedding responsive data visualizations.
- Installing Google Analytics tracking code and submitting sitemaps.
- Implementing MailChimp and other newsletter integrations.
- Creation and updates to donation pages according to best practices.
- Front-end updates to existing sites: navigations, widgets, fonts and colors, images, etc.
Referrals
INN is connected to a network of skilled design and development firms, some of which provide discounts to INN members. We can provide referrals for the following services:
- Print design and marketing
- Website design and development
- CMS migrations
- Social media marketing
- Database and app development
- Data visualizations
- Membership and engagement tools