The 5 best practices for optimising your newsroom and boosting your communication

An optimised Newsroom gives journalists easier access to your key content, increases your visibility in the media and boosts your corporate communications. By adopting best practices such as intuitive navigation, attractive multimedia content and direct interaction with journalists, you can turn your newsroom into a real strategic asset. Find out how to make the most of this essential tool.

Contents :

1. Making it easier to navigate and find information
2. Offer varied and engaging multimedia content
3. Interact directly with journalists to meet their needs
4. Analyse performance to optimise your editorial strategy
5. Adopting an all-in-one PR solution for optimum management

1- Making it easier to navigate and find information

Set up a clear architecture with filters by theme, date and type of content

To provide the best possible experience for journalists and other visitors to your press room, it is essential to structure your content efficiently. Organise your publications by themes relevant to your company (corporate news, product innovations, CSR, etc.) and offer filters for sorting by date and type of content (press release, dossier, photo, video, etc.).

By making your press room intuitive and easy to navigate, you encourage users to explore your content and increase the chances of them relaying your key information. Don't hesitate to highlight your most strategic content via a "Headlines"  to grab your visitors' attention straight away. Take the example of a CAC40 company specialising in new technologies like Dassault Systèmes . It could structure its press room with categories such as "Innovation", "Financial results", "Appointments" and "CSR", then use filters by type of content to make it easier to find press releases, photos, videos, etc.

Integrate an advanced search module to easily find information

The search function is an essential part of any effective newsroom. While some journalists will have a precise idea of the content they want to consult, others will prefer to explore your newsroom in a more open way. In both cases, a high-performance search module will enable them to find the information they want quickly.

Choose a tool that offers advanced features such as multi-criteria searching (by keyword, date, theme, etc.), auto-completion and filters to refine the results. This gives your visitors a dedicated search engine that will help them locate the most relevant content in just a few clicks. Let's say a journalist wants to write an article about your latest product innovation. Thanks to your advanced search, they can easily combine the criteria ‘Innovation’ and ‘2025’ to directly access the press release and associated visuals, without wasting time navigating through the tree structure.

For easier navigation in your newsroom :

1. Organise your content by relevant categories and sub-categories, such as ‘Press releases’, ‘Events’, ‘Thematic files’, etc.

2. Offer an advanced multi-criteria search (keyword, date, format, theme, etc.) to give users rapid access to the information they need.

3. Highlight your most recent and strategic content via a ‘Headlines’ section on the home page of your newsroom

2- Offer varied and engaging multimedia content

Responding to journalists' preferences with different formats

Journalists are constantly on the lookout for content to enhance their articles or reports. To capture their attention, it is essential to offer a wide variety of formats adapted to their needs: press releases and press kits, photos, videos, infographics, etc.

By diversifying the types of content available in your newsroom, you multiply the opportunities to be cited as a source by the media. Make sure that each piece of content adds real value, with clear information, quality visuals and original angles. This will make your newsroom more attractive and attract more traffic. Take the case of a car company launching a new electric vehicle. In addition to the press release, it could offer a video showing the design and innovative features of the car, high-definition photos from different angles, a computer graphic on the environmental benefits of the model, etc. Enough to appeal to a wide range of journalists!

Provide high-definition visuals that can be downloaded directly

In an environment where image is everything, it's important to take care with the visuals you make available in your newsroom. Photos, videos, computer graphics: all your graphic content must be produced in impeccable quality to reflect a professional image.

Offer high-definition visuals in common formats such as JPEG or PNG. Files should be downloadable at the click of a button, without prior registration, to simplify the work of journalists as much as possible. Don't forget to optimise the weight of the images to ensure that they load quickly, even on mobile devices. Imagine that a journalist wants to illustrate his article with a photo of your new product. If they can download it instantly in high resolution from your newsroom, they won't go looking for it elsewhere. This way, they won't use a poor-quality image or one from your competitor.

3- Interacting directly with journalists to meet their needs

Enable journalists to subscribe to RSS feeds or newsletters

Take advantage of this privileged channel to establish a real dialogue with the journalists who follow your news. Suggesting that they subscribe to your RSS feeds or a dedicated newsletter will keep them informed in real time of your latest publications.

You can also set up personalised email alerts based on the subjects that interest each journalist. This will ensure that they don't miss out on any information relevant to their favourite subjects, which will encourage them to pick up on and quote your content. These regular interactions will help you to build lasting relationships with the media. For example, a journalist specialising in tech might only subscribe to your news feed on new technologies. Each time a publication in this category is published, they will automatically receive an email notification. An effective way of encouraging them to cover your innovations!

Provide a dedicated contact form for press enquiries

Sometimes journalists need additional information to finalise an article or to obtain an official reaction from the company on a topical issue. By including a dedicated form for media enquiries in your press room, you offer them a direct point of contact for their questions.

Make sure that this form is easy to find and fill in, with predefined fields (name, media, subject of the request, etc.) to collect all the information needed to process the request. Adopt a reactive response process by committing to providing a response within a defined timeframe, for example within 24 hours. Let's say a journalist wants to write an article about your company's CSR policy. Using the dedicated form, they can easily submit a request for an interview with your Sustainable Development Director. By responding quickly, you maximise your chances of getting positive media coverage!

To interact effectively with journalists:

• Offer them the opportunity to subscribe to your RSS feeds or your newsletter so that they can be informed of your publications in real time

• Set up personalised email alerts based on the subjects that interest them

• Integrate a press enquiry form with predefined fields to easily collect their questions

• Commit to a response time, e.g. 24 hours, and stick to it to build relationships based on trust

4- Analyse performance to optimise your editorial strategy

Track statistics to identify the most popular content

An effective newsroom must be dynamic, with regularly updated content. To build a relevant editorial strategy, analyse your content consultation statistics in detail: number of unique visitors, most viewed pages, time spent, traffic sources, etc.

Identify the publications that have generated the most engagement so that you can replicate these best practices. Conversely, content that performs less well can be reworked or deleted. Depending on the audience peaks you observe, you can also adjust your publication calendar to distribute your strategic content at the most opportune times. Let's say that your last press release on your annual results broke records in terms of hits. Why not follow this up with an infographic showing the key figures or a video interview with your CEO commenting on this performance? You'll probably get the same response!

Set up personalised email alerts based on topics of interest

Each journalist covers specific subjects. To encourage them to return regularly to your press room and subscribe, you can offer them the option of setting up personalised alerts based on their areas of interest. They will then receive a selection of your new, perfectly targeted content by email.

This system allows you to automate part of your press relations, while offering journalists a high value-added service. All you have to do is tag each piece of content published in your press room by theme and keywords. Journalists will then be able to subscribe to the subjects of their choice and you will gain greater visibility with these qualified targets. Let's take the case of a journalist specialising in the environment. Rather than inundating them with generalist content, you can offer them the option of receiving only your publications relating to sustainable development. They will appreciate this tailor-made service and will consult your content more regularly.

According to a survey, 73% of journalists say they use press rooms regularly, and 45% access them at least once a week.

5- Adopt an all-in-one PR solution for optimum management

Centralise all your PR tools on a single, intuitive platform

To improve efficiency and streamline the management of your press room, opt for an integrated PR solution like Wiztrust PR. This all-in-one platform allows you to centralise all your content, contacts and tools within a single interface.

No need to juggle disparate software: you can manage your PR strategy from a single point. Wiztrust PR offers advanced functionalities, such as the creation of customisable press rooms, the integration of a qualified media database and reporting tools for analysing your performance. Thanks to this centralised solution, Crédit Agricole's communications teams have been able to manage and distribute the Group's information in a ‘resolutely multimedia and multi-channel’ way, while strengthening their internal collaboration. A fine example of the benefits of an all-in-one PR platform!

Benefit from advanced features for interacting with your audiences

• Centralise your content, contacts and tools within a single interface for greater efficiency

• Use the data collected using integrated reporting tools to perfect your strategy

• Activate specific modules such as event registration to turn your newsroom into a real hub

• Automate certain time-consuming tasks so that you can concentrate on producing content with high added value