How to Get Featured on News Sites (Without a Big-Name Brand)

How Can You Get Featured on News Sites? [+Examples]

The first step is deciding how you want to be featured on news sites. Here is a brief overview of some of the common feature types to get you started: 

1) Bylined Guest Articles

Bylined guest articles are articles you write yourself and publish under your name on news sites. They’re good for building awareness and personal brands, but not for directly promoting services or products. 

• Example: What Is the $25,000 Downpayment Toward Equity Act? | 2024 (The Mortgage Reports)

2) Press Releases

Press releases are formal announcements that companies typically write themselves and submit to news sites or PR distribution platforms. They work best for sharing newsworthy announcements and building awareness. 

3) Expert Commentary

Providing small contributions to other articles in the form of quotes is known as providing expert commentary and opinion. The articles are written by news site staff or freelancers, with you only potentially being in charge of writing your own quotes. 

• Example: “The Evolving Role Of Password Management In Modern Security” (Forbes)

4) Research Findings

Conducting your own research (like surveys or experiments) is a great way to get featured on news sites and position yourself as an expert. You also typically don’t have to write the full articles yourself, but expect to provide commentary explaining your data.

• Example: US consumers remain wary of the economy, new survey shows (CNN)

5) Op-Eds

Short for "opinion editorials," op-eds present personal perspectives on current issues or trends. They can work great for building thought leadership.

They’re also similar to guest articles in that you write them yourself and will typically be listed as the author.

• Example: The Myth of the Mad Artist Is Harmful. I Should Know. (The New York Times)
  

1. Create a Media Kit

Media kits consolidate promotional materials you want to provide journalists in one place. They typically include company logos, key staff photos, contact details, and essential company information and stats.

Creating a media kit in advance will help you speed up the publishing of your features, as you’ll provide the news sites with everything they need to move to production ASAP. 

Some companies also publicly publish their media kits to ensure that any interested parties can access their materials without having to contact them first.

2. Create Media Processes

Again, if your goal is to get featured on news sites ASAP, you need to establish clear and optimized media processes. Here’s how you can standardize them:

Create Content Templates

If you plan to submit self-written content, like bylined articles and press releases, it pays to create standardized templates that you can quickly adapt to the topics at hand. 

• For example, your press release template should include the company logo, headline, subheadline, boilerplate, contact information, and quote sections.

You can also include specific instructions in your templates, such as [mention [product name] here]. 

Standardize Your News Sites Outreach Strategy

Reaching out and following up with news sites can be extremely time-consuming. 

Our biggest tip here is to automate this process (at least partially) using dedicated outreach tools. 

However, if you don’t want to spend money on tools, there are things you can do yourself to accelerate your outreach workflows:

• Create pitch templates. Our pitching guide has one you can quickly adjust!
• Create a structured follow-up system. Develop follow-up templates, decide how many times to follow up (2-3 emails work best), and use a spreadsheet to track your progress and organize your prospects.

News Sites Response Process

Standardizing your outreach processes is key when you’re using proactive strategies to get featured on news sites.

Response processes, on the other hand, are key to responding to media inquiries sent to you. 

Standardizing this process can include:

• Setting up SOPs for logging the inquiries using specific details 
• Creating response templates
• Assigning a spokesperson

Provide Internal Media Training

If you have a team working on getting you featured on news sites, you should provide adequate media training. 

• For example, consider conducting mock interviews to help your team members practice and develop confidence.

The type of training to provide depends on your strategy. For example, if you don’t aim to score live interviews, mock interviews are not the best prep strategy.

3. Create a List of Relevant News Sites 

The next step is creating a list of news sites you want to get featured on. 

To do so, we recommend using the DTTNC criteria:

• Domain authority
• Traffic stats
• Target audience
• Niche-relevance
• Content quality

Let’s break it down:

Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR)

Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) scores tell you how authoritative a news site is. The score depends on the tools you’re using - Ahrefs, for example, uses domain rating, while Semrush uses domain authority. 

Either way, the higher these scores are, the more SEO and link building benefits your target news sites can offer you.

Traffic Stats

Another thing to consider is how much traffic your prospect news sites get. Again, more is better here, since news sites with more traffic can offer more visibility to your brand. 

Target Audience

The target audience of a prospect news site should overlap with yours. To find out who’s reading the news sites you’re considering, you can check their media kits, About us pages, and Advertising pages.

• Example: CNN Business’s media kit, for instance, breaks down audience demographics and headline stats - the kind of detail that tells you whether a site’s readership overlaps with your buyers.

Alternatively, you can use audience research tools like SimilarWeb.

Niche-Relevance

Niche-relevance is important for several reasons: 

• It helps you get more qualified leads from your news site feature. 
• It helps you build topical authority in your space.
• It helps you build niche-specific backlinks (i.e., the best type of backlinks!).

So, try to prioritize news sites that deal exclusively with your niche. For example, if you work in real estate, work on getting featured in The Mortgage Reports.

Content Quality

Finally, to maximize the benefits from your features, you want to choose news sites that publish high-quality content - content that is credible, well-researched, and well-written. 

This will help you boost your authority. 

4. Create News-Worthy Content

Now you have a list of news sites to target. If your goal isn’t to get a piece written about you by the news site staff or freelancers, you probably want to write it yourself. 

So, here are are a few ways to create content that can get you featured on news sites:

Submit Press Releases

Press releases are written specifically when businesses have something newsworthy to share. 

However, most news sites will only publish them if they pertain to an already-prominent business that others would want to read about. 

If that’s not the case with your business, you will likely have to pay to get your press release published. 

To write a press release yourself, follow the universal guidelines - such as: 

• Answer the 5 WH questions in your opening line.
• Write a strong headline. 
• Add a date and location at the beginning of your press release. 
• Include quotes from relevant people, such as the CEO or CMO.
• Write in an inverted pyramid style.

Try Newsjacking

Newsjacking can definitely help you get featured on news sites.

It refers to covering breaking news stories while adding your own thoughts and opinions on the topic. 

Make sure that the news story is truly relevant to you. For example, if you’re a financial services expert, you can write a piece on how the release of SearchGPT is influencing your industry.  

Watch for Calls from Editors

An alternative to proactively pitching news sites with the pieces you want to write is responding to existing calls for pitches from news site editors, writers, and freelancers. 

This tactic includes monitoring social media sites for the most suitable feature opportunities. For example, many news sites use X to call for pitches.

Some hashtags you may want to watch out for include:

• #JournoRequest
• #ExpertRequest
• #PRRequest

Use Media Inquiry Platforms

Another more passive approach includes using media inquiry platforms to find calls for pitches or, more frequently, calls for expert commentary and quotes.

In a nutshell, media inquiry platforms connect news sites with experts who can help them boost the credibility and value of their articles by providing their thoughts on the topics at hand.

Here are several such sites you may want to sign up for: 

• Featured (HARO) 
• SourceBottle
• ProfNet
• Qwoted

The competition on these sites is typically fierce, so you may be better off using X and other social media platforms to find feature opportunities. 

5. Craft Your Pitch

A good pitch is key to scoring a feature on news sites. Here is how to write one:

Optimize Your Subject Line

Your subject line should grab your recipients’ attention.

It may also need to include specific keywords that a news site explicitly asks for, such as “pitch.”

Double-check their guidelines to ensure your subject line meets the requirements.

Keep It Short and Sweet

Our general recommendation is to keep your pitch under 250 words. Less is more. 

Be Personal

Use your recipient’s name in the email and try to mention something specific about them or their news site that made you want to reach out.

Focus on the Benefits

Highlight the benefits the news site would get from featuring your business or expert commentary. 

For example, if you have 20 years of experience in the industry they’re covering, make sure to mention your ability to provide in-depth opinions.

Suggest a Specific News Section or Slot

Finally, make it easy for news sites to publish your feature by proactively suggesting a specific news section or slot you would fit into. 

For example, if you’re a SaaS company, your piece may be the most suitable for the Tech section of The Washington Post.

6. Send Your Pitch

To send your pitch, you’ll need to find 1) the right person to contact, and 2) their contact information.

Choose the Right Point of Contact

It’s best to contact the person in charge of the specific news section or slot you want to be featured in. If you can’t find that person, choose the second-best option.

Alternatively, if you’re paying for your feature, you should reach out to the news site’s advertising department.

Find Contact Information

Some contact information will surely be publicly displayed on your chosen news site. 

However, if you want to find the contact information of a specific person, try using email finder tools like Hunter.io.

7. Follow-Up if Necessary

If you don’t hear back from your news site in ~a week, send a follow-up email. You can also send one after that. 

We don’t recommend sending more than 3 follow-up emails.

8. Make Adjustments if Necessary

Some news sites will require you to work with their editors post-submission and make the necessary adjustments to your piece. 

If you are asked to do so, make sure to be cooperative and address any feedback as soon as possible.

9. Track Your News Sites Campaigns

Finally, track your news sites campaigns to ensure that:

• You’ve contacted all your desired news sites 
• You’ve followed up with everyone
• You aren’t contacting the same news site twice (e.g., after getting rejected) 
• You know when your features go live 
• Your features include backlinks (if you’ve asked the news sites to include them) 

You can use a simple spreadsheet to track your projects.

Alternatively: Pay to Be Featured on News Sites

Now you know how to get featured on news sites. But let’s face it - it’s difficult without insider connections, a breaking news story you can share, or a paid placement. ‍

To speed things up, order a guaranteed feature from our agency. We will work with you to ensure you get featured on your desired sites, or help you choose the most suitable ones for you.

Cntact us to for a list of placements on offer.