Mastering External Content: How to Build an 'In the News' Page in HubSpot with HubDB

Hey there, ESHOPMAN readers! Ever found yourself wanting to showcase great external content about your company, but not sure how to make it shine on your HubSpot website? You’re definitely not alone. We recently stumbled upon a really insightful question in the HubSpot Community that struck a chord with how many of you manage your brand's presence online.

The original poster in the community discussion was looking for a way to build an “In the News” page. Think of it like a blog listing page, but with a twist: instead of clicking on an internal blog post, each card or listing would directly link out to an external news article featuring their company. They wanted to store and display these external links in a similar, organized fashion to how HubSpot blogs are managed, but without the need to actually write an internal article. It’s a common challenge – how do you leverage HubSpot’s powerful content tools for things that aren’t strictly internal blog posts or landing pages?

The Challenge: Displaying External Content Like a Pro

The core of the original poster’s request was simple yet powerful: they wanted the organizational benefits of HubSpot’s blog platform – easy content creation, listing pages, potential for categorization – but with the flexibility to point to external URLs. This is crucial for PR, media mentions, and building credibility. Instead of creating a new blog post that simply links out (which feels a bit redundant), they envisioned a system where the listing itself was the gateway to the external source.

While HubSpot’s blog tool is fantastic for your own thought leadership, it’s not inherently designed for external link aggregation in this specific 'listing page' manner. So, what's the best way to tackle this without resorting to a clunky workaround or a completely separate system?

Our Expert Take: HubDB to the Rescue!

For most HubSpot users, especially those not looking to dive deep into custom development, HubSpot's HubDB is the unsung hero for this exact scenario. HubDB is a relational database built right into your HubSpot CMS, allowing you to create dynamic content without needing to manage external databases or complex integrations. It’s perfect for structured content that you want to display in various ways across your site – like a list of team members, product catalogs, or, in this case, an 'In the News' archive.

Here’s why HubDB is the ideal solution for building your 'In the News' page:

• Structured Data: You can define specific fields (columns) for each news item, ensuring consistency.
• Dynamic Content: Update your HubDB table, and your 'In the News' page automatically reflects the changes.
• Centralized Management: All your external links are stored in one easy-to-manage place within HubSpot.
• Customizable Display: With a little design work, you can make your listing page look exactly how you want, matching your brand's aesthetic.

Let's walk through how you can set this up.

Step-by-Step: Building Your 'In the News' Page with HubDB

Step 1: Create Your HubDB Table

Navigate to your HubSpot portal, then go to Marketing > Website > HubDB. Click "Create table" and give it a descriptive name like "External News Mentions."

Now, define your columns. These will be the fields of information you want to store for each external news article. We recommend the following:

• Title (Text): The headline of the external article.
• External_URL (URL): The direct link to the news article. This is crucial!
• Publication (Text): The name of the media outlet (e.g., "Forbes," "TechCrunch").
• Date_Published (Date): The date the article was published.
• Image_URL (Image or Text): A thumbnail image or logo for the article/publication. Using the Image field type allows HubSpot's file manager for easy selection.
• Description (Rich Text): A short snippet or summary of the article.
• Category (Text or Multi-select): For filtering (e.g., "Press Release," "Company Feature," "Product Review").

Table Name: "External News Mentions"
Columns:
- Name: "Title", Type: "Text"
- Name: "External_URL", Type: "URL"
- Name: "Publication", Type: "Text"
- Name: "Date_Published", Type: "Date"
- Name: "Image_URL", Type: "Image"
- Name: "Description", Type: "Rich Text"
- Name: "Category", Type: "Text"

Step 2: Populate Your Table

Once your table is set up, start adding your news mentions! You can manually enter each row, or if you have a large archive, you can import them via a CSV file. Ensure all fields are filled accurately.

Step 3: Design Your Listing Page Template

This step requires a bit of HubSpot CMS development knowledge, or you can work with a HubSpot agency. You'll need to create a custom module that iterates through your HubDB table and displays each row as a card or listing on a page.

The module will:

• Fetch data from your "External News Mentions" HubDB table.
• Loop through each row (news item).
• For each item, display the Image_URL, Title (linked to External_URL), Publication, Date_Published, and Description.
• Optionally, add filters for Category or search functionality to enhance user experience.

Once your custom module is ready, you can simply drag and drop it onto any HubSpot page template to create your dynamic 'In the News' page. This approach gives you full control over the design and layout, ensuring it seamlessly integrates with your existing website.

Why This Approach Excels for E-commerce and Beyond

For businesses running an online shop, especially those leveraging ESHOPMAN to integrate their storefront with HubSpot, an 'In the News' page built with HubDB offers significant advantages:

• Enhanced Credibility: Showcasing external validation from reputable sources builds trust with potential customers. This is crucial for converting visitors into buyers, especially if you're striving to be the best online shop creator in your niche.
• SEO Benefits: While the links are external, having a rich, dynamic page with fresh content can improve your site's overall SEO by signaling activity and relevance to search engines. It also encourages longer site visits before clicking out.
• Centralized PR Asset: Your marketing and PR teams will have a single, easy-to-update hub for all media mentions, making it simple to share and promote.
• Seamless User Experience: Instead of sending users to a separate, non-branded page, they remain on your HubSpot website until they choose to click an external link.

Advanced Considerations & ESHOPMAN Synergy

For more advanced users, you could even consider creating Custom Objects in HubSpot to represent your news mentions. While HubDB is often simpler for this specific display need, custom objects could be beneficial if you want to tie news mentions directly to specific products, campaigns, or even contacts within your CRM, enabling deeper reporting and automation.

Imagine integrating your 'In the News' page with your ESHOPMAN storefront. If a news article features a specific product, you could potentially link that mention not just to the external article, but also to the corresponding product page in your ESHOPMAN-powered shop. This creates a powerful, seamless journey from media mention to potential purchase, directly within your HubSpot ecosystem.

While a wix online store app or similar platforms might offer simpler, templated ways to build basic pages, HubSpot's flexibility with HubDB allows for truly custom, integrated, and scalable experiences that grow with your business and CRM strategy. ESHOPMAN is built on this very principle – extending HubSpot's power to your e-commerce operations.

Conclusion

The HubSpot Community discussion highlighted a common need: a flexible way to display external content. With HubDB, you can easily create a professional, dynamic 'In the News' or media mentions page that enhances your brand's credibility and keeps your website content fresh. This powerful feature within HubSpot's CMS allows you to manage your external PR wins with the same efficiency you manage your internal blog posts.

At ESHOPMAN, we believe in leveraging the full potential of HubSpot to empower your online business. Implementing solutions like a HubDB-powered 'In the News' page is just one way to strengthen your brand presence and drive more engagement, ultimately supporting your e-commerce growth. Start building your dynamic content today and showcase your success!