Clients often ask us what exactly should be in their website press room. Online press rooms serve as a valuable resource to journalists and other individuals to learn about a brand, establish credibility and tell the brand’s story. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the media to gather useful information and resources about a brand. If information is not readily available to them, journalists may move on to the next story or worse, reference a competitor as a resource. By providing the media with reliable and useful information in a pre-packaged environment, you boost your brand’s chances of being covered, and in some cases, can even bolster your SEO efforts.
Here are some of the things you’ll want to include in your press room:
- Navigation – Make sure there is clear navigation to your press room from your homepage and within the structure of the room itself. Don’t make media hunt and dig for info.
- Media contact information – Let the media know who they can contact for more information. This info should be easily found and updated quickly in the event of a change of contact.
- Your story – Make sure to include some background information about the brand. It doesn’t have to be long, but a quick paragraph overview is a good idea.
- Press releases – You’ve got exciting news to share, and this is a great place to feature it! This will help journalists learn more about the company and gain the backstory they need. This is an area where consistent updates are essential. If it looks like you’ve been inactive for months, the media might move on to a brand with more recent news.
- Leadership bios – Include bios and high-resolution headshots of leadership, especially those that get featured via quotes in your press releases.
- Photo gallery – In addition to leadership headshots, you’ll want to provide other downloadable images such as company products, logos, office/retail space and events.
- Featured articles – Has your brand been featured in the media already? Include links to news articles and interviews. Include media logos next to these for an “as seen in” element.
- Awards – If your brand has been nominated for or won any awards, here’s the place to brag about it! Show the media you’re at the top of your game and deserving of their coverage.
- Other important items – Make your press room brand-specific by including other items that make sense for your business. This may be client testimonials, an overview of your corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, educational articles or books published by leadership. If you have a press kit or social media presence, you may want to house it here as well.
Here are some examples of great press rooms:
Meet the press
It’s time to gather those assets and create the press room of the media’s dream by making it easy for them to find everything they need to feature your brand! Keeping the current layout and feel of your website would be ideal, and you can simply add a “Media” link to your navigation or dropdown. Trust us, the media will love it, and it will help your brand get the best and most timely coverage possible which means you’ll love it too!