List each media mention with the outlet, the date, the headline and a short summary in your own words. Quote only with permission, and link only to articles that still exist.

The page that used to impress

A newspaper ran a feature on the business, a magazine put it on a best-of list, a TV morning show sent a crew. Each mention went onto a page called In the news, with a link to the original.

A few years later most of those links lead nowhere useful: an error page, the newspaper's home page, a subscription offer, a site that has nothing to do with the article.

The page still sits in the main menu. Visitors who click through to check the coverage come away less sure of the business, not more.

Why the links die

The fifth carries a real risk. An expired blog domain can be bought by anyone, and a link from your site may now lead to advertising, or to something far worse.

What a visitor makes of it

Someone who clicks a press link wants confirmation: that the coverage was real, and what it said.

An error page gives them neither. Several in a row suggest that the business's moment was years ago, and that nobody has looked at its website since.

A page of broken links is worse than no press page at all, because it raises a doubt the business never needed to raise.

Keep the facts, not the link

For each mention, record what does not change: the name of the outlet, the date it ran, the headline, and the reporter or programme.

Add two or three sentences in your own words about what the piece covered: a profile of the business, a list it was named in, a comment from you on your trade.

Link to the original only while it still exists. When a link breaks, remove the link and keep the entry, since the facts remain true after the article has gone.

Quoting with permission

The article belongs to the publication, and its photos usually to the photographer. Copying the text, or a scan of the printed page, onto your site needs their permission.

A short quoted line is often what makes an entry worth reading. Ask the publication before using one, by email, and keep the reply with your own copy of the article.

Quote accurately and in context. A line lifted from a balanced piece so that it reads as unqualified praise misrepresents the coverage, and the Competition Act treats misleading representations to the public seriously.

A worked example

A pinball arcade in a former shop unit, with forty machines and a small snack counter, had a burst of coverage the year it opened.

A newspaper ran a weekend feature, a city magazine put it on a best-of list, a TV morning show filmed a segment, and several blogs wrote it up.

Its press page showed each one as an outlet logo with a link. Four years on, the newspaper's link went to its home page, the magazine's to a subscription offer, and the TV clip said the video was unavailable.

Two of the blogs had lapsed, and one of their domains now showed a page of unrelated advertising.

The page was rebuilt as a list of entries, each with the outlet, date, headline and a two-sentence summary, plus one quoted line from the newspaper used with its permission. The two links that still worked stayed.

The dead blog links went, the logos were replaced with the outlets' names in plain text, and a reminder to check the remaining links now comes round every six months.

Keep your own copy

When an article appears, save a copy for your records the same day: a PDF of the web page, the printed page itself, or a note of the broadcast date and time.

That copy is not for publishing. It is what lets you write an accurate summary later, check a quote, or ask for permission years after the original has gone.

Note the reporter's name and email address as well. That is the person to ask about quoting, and often the one to contact the next time you have news.

Older articles can sometimes be found in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which helps when summarising a piece nobody saved.

Logos and as seen in

A strip of newspaper and TV logos is a common way to show coverage. The logos are trademarks, though, and a row of them can read as an endorsement the outlets never gave.

The outlet's name in plain text, with the date and what the piece was about, makes the same point honestly, and needs nobody's artwork.

Put the best mention where it works

A press page is read by few visitors. A single strong mention does more on the page where a customer is deciding.

A line from a magazine review belongs near the booking button or on the page about the service it praised, with the outlet and date beside it.

Keep the press page as the complete record, and use the best entries elsewhere, briefly.

The counter-case

A business with one or two mentions does not need a separate press page. A short line on the about page, with the outlet and date, is enough.

Some coverage is worth keeping linked: an outlet with a stable archive, or a video the business has permission to host on its own channel.

And very old mentions can be retired altogether once they no longer describe the business as it is.

Whatever the size of the page, the rule is the same: facts that stay true, quotes used with permission, and links only where they still lead somewhere.

This month

  1. Click every link on the press page.
  2. Remove the dead ones, keep the entries.
  3. Add outlet, date and headline to each.
  4. Write a short summary in your own words.
  5. Ask permission before quoting any line.
  6. Replace logos with outlet names.
  7. Check the links every six months.

Step two stops the damage today. A dead link does harm every time someone clicks it, and removing one takes a minute.

Older mentions of the business that you do not control are the subject of old classified ads still carrying your name.

Frequently asked questions

Why do links to press coverage break?

News sites redesign and change every address, move archives behind subscriptions, remove clips and articles, and close or merge, while blogs lapse and their domains are resold.

Is a page of dead links harmful?

Yes. Visitors who click to check the coverage find error pages instead, which suggests the business's moment has passed and nobody looks after the website.

What should each press entry include?

The outlet, the date, the headline and the reporter or programme, plus two or three sentences in your own words about what the piece covered.

Can I copy the article onto my site?

Not without permission. The article belongs to the publication and the photos usually to the photographer. Ask before quoting even a line, and keep the reply.

Should I use the outlets' logos?

Plain names are safer. Logos are trademarks, and a row of them can read as an endorsement the outlet never gave. The name, date and summary make the point.

How often should the links be checked?

Every six months is enough for most press pages. When a link breaks, remove it and keep the entry, since the facts stay true.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

A press page nobody has clicked lately?

Send us the page's address. We will check every link and suggest how to rebuild the entries that have broken.

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