Navigation Guidelines for Participating Organizations

APR Online Marketing Guidance

Overview

Navigation Guidelines for Participating Organizations

Linking to the APR from Your Website

Banner Ads

Email Signature and Banners

PO Seal

Navigation Guidelines for Participating Organizations

The Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) website is accessible through a number of participating organizations. Because each organization has its own unique web presence, with a distinctive style and structure, it is important that participants observe consistency in how information relating to APR is presented. Search engines and other online content aggregators take into account not only the text of a hyperlink, but also its placement, format, and surrounding context. In other words, the way APR is presented on your website can and will affect the search ranking and overall accessibility of the APR program itself. Moreover, a consistent presentation creates a better experience for online visitors, ensuring that industry professionals who are interested in Accreditation have the same understanding and expectations for the program regardless of their route of arrival. When many participating organizations provide matching content and navigation options from site to site, it strengthens APR's identity, boosts its digital presence, and reduces the risk of confusion for those who may be discovering APR for the first time.

Linking to the APR from Your Website

Our recommended method is for each PO to create a page on your website with a link that takes you directly to the APR homepage at This should be a first- or second-level item in your primary navigation menu, which appears on all pages throughout your website. The page and menu title should read "Industry Certification". The text on the page should be the following:

Be An Industry Leader: Earn Your APR

Internationally recognized, the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) integrates timeless communications principles with contemporary strategies and tactics. The process of earning your APR takes your skills to the next level by exposing you to today’s cutting‐edge strategies and practices, assessing your skills to identify strengths and opportunities for growth, and demonstrating your personal and professional commitment to excellence. Pursuing the APR gives you direct access to top public relations leaders—APR holders who will guide you through the process of achieving the Accreditation—and provides the tools you need to distinguish yourself as a luminary in the public relations field. Learn more and earn your APR today at

Because an external link, it is best practice to have it open in a new tab or window (in technical terms, having a "target" attribute of "_blank"), so that visitors who leave your website can easily find their way back.

If it is not possible to add this page to your primary navigation, we can provide you with a banner image to display at the top of your website header or homepage. This banner will link to and should include the text "Industry Certification" as the image's "alt" attribute. (This text appears if the image is unable to load for any reason, but it is also used by search engines and aggregators.) The image should display at a minimum resolution of 640 pixels in width.

A menu link is preferable to a banner image for a few reasons. Banner images are often treated by search engines as external or syndicated content, which means they may be ignored at best or devalued at worst. They are also more likely to be overlooked by visitors in search of core content. By contrast, including APR-related content in your primary navigation structure is a strong signal that the program is important and valued by your organization, and will be treated as a first-class citizen among your website’s other features and offerings. In short, it makes APR the needle rather than the haystack.

Banner Ads

Banner advertisements can be an effective driver of web traffic when used wisely. Although web ads are not as dominant as they once were—web users have grown more marketing savvy over the years, and ad-blocking software is in wide use—banners remain a reliable cornerstone of online messaging and acquisition.

Banners may be used simply to promote awareness of a program or organization, but the best ads are built on a clear, explicit call to action—register for this event, sign up for this newsletter, watch this video, etc.—and tailored to as specific an audience as possible. We have found that, in all forms of digital marketing, a small, focused campaign targeted at a specific group or demographic is consistently more fruitful than a broad campaign that tries to appeal to too wide a range of interests and fails to demonstrate its relevance to the individual. By the same token, a banner ad should not simply deposit a visitor on your homepage, but instead follow through on the call to action and take the visitor directly to the presentation, registration form, etc. The goal is to make your ad serve as a “frictionless” conduit from prospect to acquisition.

When displaying banners on your website—whether the ads are your own, or from an external provider—we recommend inserting banners on the interior of your web page layout. While it is common to place a banner at the very top of a page, above the site header, research has shown that website users immediately scroll past this point, not even looking at the ad, much less engaging with it. Likewise, an ad placed below the site footer may never even appear on the visitor’s screen. If your website has a sidebar element, that can be a good position for a square or “skyscraper” (vertically-oriented) ad. But by far the most effective method is a horizontal banner ad placed within the main body of a web page, usually between the site header and the page or article title, or even inline between the paragraphs of the page content.

Banners should also be “responsive,” meaning that they adapt automatically to the size of the computer or device on which the website is displayed. A horizontal banner should take up the full width of its container—up to at least 600–800 pixels, depending on the placement—and shrink as needed on smaller screens. Even better is to have a wide banner only on desktop computer screens, while on smaller devices the banner is “swapped” for an alternative version with more mobile-friendly dimensions. TheInteractive Advertising Bureau maintains detailed specifications which are followed by most digital ads. But ultimately, you should use your discretion based on the design and layout of your website. The best banners are those that blend in, appearing as an integrated part of your website rather than a foreign interloper.

If your banner is animated, it should be served as an animated GIF file or an embedded HTML5 document. Do not use Adobe Flash on your website—this once-ubiquitous platform has been deprecated and is no longer compatible with many devices and web browsers. Static-image banners should be served as compressed JPG files.

Email Signature and Banners

The email signature is another practice that has gone somewhat out of fashion, but it still has a place in professional correspondence, both as an informational tool and a compact representation of your brand. An effective email signature block can save time and unnecessary communication by providing an easy reference to your organization’s contact information and access to your website and/or social media presence.

The APR-branded email signature should only be used by UAB Board members and is not intended for use by PO staff. It should be used when conducting external UAB business to give you a more official presence as supporters and administrators of the APR.

The APR email banner can be used by PO staff to advertise the company’s commitment to supporting the APR. To implement the email banner, simply customize the HTML code by inserting your company’s name in the area provided and copy and paste the HTML coded email banner in your email platform’s signature generating tool.

It is increasingly common for email clients to block images by default. It is therefore crucial to include fallback text, commonly known as “alt” text, for any images in your signature block, especially if they contain pertinent information. This text will appear to your email recipients in place of the hidden images.

PO Seal

An official PO seal has been designed and should be placed on each PO website’s home page where appropriate and can also be used on any relevant print or electronic material to show support and active participation