Beyond Blog Posts: Crafting a Dynamic 'In the News' Section with External Links in HubSpot

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 blog module development, the most elegant and flexible solution for creating an "In the News" or external links archive is HubDB. HubDB is HubSpot’s relational database tool, and it’s perfect for storing structured data like a list of news articles, team members, product features, or, yes, even external news links!

Here’s why HubDB is a fantastic fit:

• Structured Data: You define exactly what information you want to store for each news item (title, URL, publication, date, snippet, etc.).
• Easy Management: Non-developers can easily add, edit, or delete entries directly within the HubSpot interface.
• Flexible Display: You can create a custom module to display your HubDB data exactly how you want it, with full control over design and layout.
• Scalability: As your list of external mentions grows, HubDB handles it gracefully, and you can even implement filtering or pagination if needed.

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

Let’s walk through how you can set this up in your HubSpot portal:

1. Create Your HubDB Table:

   • Navigate to Content > HubDB in your HubSpot portal.
   • Click Create table.
   • Give your table a descriptive name, like "External News Mentions" or "Press Archive".
   • Define your columns (these are the fields for each news item):
   • Title (Text field): The headline of the news article.
   • External URL (URL field): The direct link to the article.
   • Publication (Text field): Where the article was published (e.g., Forbes, TechCrunch).
   • Date Published (Date field): The date the article went live.
   • Snippet (Rich Text field): A short summary or quote from the article.
   • Image (Image field): An optional thumbnail for the news card.
   • Click Publish table once your columns are set.

2. Populate Your HubDB Table:

   • Go back to your new HubDB table.
   • Click Add row for each external news article you want to feature.
   • Fill in all the relevant information for each column you defined.
   • Remember to Publish table after adding or editing rows to make your changes live.

3. Create a Custom Module to Display Your Data:

   • Navigate to Marketing > Files and Templates > Design Tools.
   • Click File > New file and choose Module.
   • Select where you want to use it (e.g., "Page"), give it a name like "External News Listing", and create.
   • Inside this module, you'll use HubL (HubSpot Markup Language) to fetch and display the data from your HubDB table. While we won't write the full code here, the concept is to loop through your HubDB rows and display each one as a card, using the External URL field as the link for the card title or a "Read More" button.
   • For example, your module would iterate through hubdb_table_rows(YOUR_TABLE_ID_OR_NAME) and for each row, display row.title, row.publication, row.date_published, and link to row.external_url.
   • Save and publish your module.

4. Add the Module to a Page:

   • Create a new regular page in HubSpot (Marketing > Website > Website Pages or Landing Pages).
   • Drag and drop your newly created "External News Listing" module onto the page.
   • Publish your page, and voilà! You'll have a dynamic "In the News" section pulling directly from your HubDB table.

An Advanced Alternative: Customizing Your Blog Listing Template

For those with development resources, another approach is to create a custom blog listing template. You could add a custom field to your blog posts called "External Link Destination". Then, in your blog listing template, you'd modify the link logic: if a post has content in the "External Link Destination" field, use that URL; otherwise, use the internal blog post URL. This allows you to leverage the blog's built-in pagination, tags, and authors, but it requires more direct code manipulation of your blog templates.

ESHOPMAN Team Comment

We absolutely love this question from the HubSpot Community! It perfectly highlights HubSpot's flexibility and the power of its ecosystem, even for seemingly niche content needs. Leveraging HubDB for an "In the News" page is exactly the kind of smart, integrated thinking we advocate for at ESHOPMAN. It consolidates your content management within a single platform, avoiding the need for disparate systems and making HubSpot a comprehensive solution for your entire online presence – much like how ESHOPMAN extends HubSpot into a full-fledged e-commerce storefront, removing the need for a separate, often restrictive, platform. This approach showcases HubSpot's value as a robust platform that goes beyond basic CRM, enabling businesses to manage diverse content and even function as a powerful free Shift4Shop alternative for those seeking an all-in-one solution.

Whether you choose the HubDB route for its ease of use and content management flexibility, or opt for a more advanced custom blog template modification, the key takeaway is that HubSpot provides the tools to build exactly what you need. It’s all about understanding the platform’s capabilities and creatively applying them to your unique business requirements. Building out these kinds of valuable content sections not only enhances your website's SEO but also strengthens your brand's authority and trustworthiness. So go ahead, give it a try, and let your amazing news mentions shine!