How De Gelderlander built the Netherlands’ most successful regional news site Inside the newsroom of De Gelderlander: how data, user needs and disciplined planning help the regional publisher attract 2.5 million online visitors each month.

Smartocto spent half a day at De Gelderlander to find out what happens when a publisher takes data and user needs really seriously.

The answer? A surprisingly disciplined kind of creativity. And results that are hard to ignore.

Read our latest client case by @stefantt.bsky.social 👇

The integration of smartocto and WoodWing's CMS is a natural fit, and we want to walk you through every detail of it. Join Dani Leyhue and Erik Van Heeswijk in this session and ask every question that's been on your mind.

Sign up: www.woodwing.com/inspiration/...

User Needs for Sports: how storytelling can match fan engagement In this webinar, we present the User Needs for Sports model, explain how the sports user needs were developed, and show what’s different compared to the original framework of user needs.

Here we go again.

Smartocto and Dmitry Shishkin have joined forces once more to introduce something new: User Needs for Sports. They will explain everything about it in this webinar!

User Needs for Sports: how storytelling can match fan engagement In this webinar, we present the User Needs for Sports model, explain how the sports user needs were developed, and show what’s different compared to the original framework of user needs.

Here we go again.

Smartocto and Dmitry Shishkin have joined forces once more to introduce something new: User Needs for Sports. They will explain everything about it in this webinar!

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨’𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩! 🎉

We’ve overhauled everything: clearer navigation, new sector-specific pages (from news media to retail), and a fresh design. Now you can instantly see how we turn data into actionable insights for your stories.

Go to smartocto.com to check it all out!

Have you read the manifesto for an audience centric newsroom yet?

Finding your niche starts with knowing who you are and why you exist. Have thoughts on that? Share them via the link below and download the full manifesto for free.

smartocto.com/research/man...

Client Case: When onboarding a new tool, adopt a bottom-up approach Introducing a new editorial analytics tool to an already-busy newsroom is tricky. But it can also be game-changing as the team at Fränkischer Tag discovered.

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. 🔍 🛠️

But it’s also true that access to the insights those new tools offer can be game-changing. So how do you make this transition sticky - and permanent?

Becoming an audience centric newsroom in 2026 Learn how leading newsrooms use user needs, data and AI to work in a truly audience centric way. Join smartocto’s new webinar.

WEBINAR ALERT 📅

Kickstart 2026 with
Becoming an audience centric newsroom
8 Jan, 15:00 CET

Rutger Verhoeven hosts Dmitry Shishkin and Marcela Kunova.

Which steps matter most for publishers? 🤔
Sign up or get the recording 🔗

smartocto.com/webinar/beco...

Social platforms are sending less and less traffic to news sites, while Google Discover is sending more. Although the impact varies widely depending on your niche and content strategy, publishers should take note.

Here is what that means 👉 smartocto.com/blog/google-...

Innovation and brand clarity in this local newsroom Can you be too small to embrace cutting edge editorial analytics? Blog Preston shows that data is essential - and transformative - for all newsrooms.

What can we learn from the local newsroom of Blog Preston?

1️⃣ Even smaller outlets can benefit enormously from editorial analytics support.
2️⃣ Choose a business structure that suits the community.
3️⃣ Niche is not only nice, it’s essential. Know your audience.

Read the blog on our website 👇

From digital first to audience first in newsrooms More than a decade after newsrooms first embraced the idea of going digital first, the slogan is still widely used. But what does digital first mean in 2025?

As a data-minded team we also track what people search on our site. One term keeps leading: digital first 📊

So @stefantt.bsky.social asked the real question: what does digital first mean in 2025, and how should newsrooms adapt?

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐛 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬? 💁‍♀️

By pulling insights from different dashboards and reports together, turning them into a few clear lines, and adding practical guidance on what action would help the newsroom most.

Introducing smartocto Decisions: an AI-powered newsroom assistant Introducing smartocto Decisions, a new AI-powered feature, designed to support media and newsrooms to make smarter, faster and more confident decisions.

ANNOUNCEMENT

We are introducing smartocto Decisions, a new AI-powered feature, designed to support editors and journalists in making smarter, faster and more confident decisions.

Read more and get in touch when you're interested 👇

As we get to the end of smartoctober, we’re wrapping up our annual deep dive into something timely and important for the news media.

@stefantt.bsky.social's latest blog explores trust in media – a theme that has come up in congresses lately.

Read it 👉 smartocto.com/blog/thought...

Nieuwsmedia vragen zich af hoe ze het vertrouwen terugwinnen. Met name jongeren grijpen naar social media of chatbots voor actuele informatie. Welke lessen trekken we daaruit? Na het bijwonen van twee mediacongressen heb ik mijn gedachten op papier gezet (Engels): smartocto.com/blog/thought...

AI’s potential role in data storytelling empowers decision making One of the biggest challenges for data science-led editorial analytics tools is how to make them useful — and usable — to their non-technical end users.

One of the biggest challenges for data science-led editorial analytics tools is how to make them useful and usable to their non-technical end users.

Large Language Models help systems like smartocto a lot, @stefantt.bsky.social writes for International News Media Association (INMA). 👇

Get ready for a brand-new webinar.

Our CEO, Erik van Heeswijk, will discuss this in depth with Goran S. Milovanovic, our Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer.

📍 Join the webinar — and see how data can talk back.
👉 Register here: smartocto.com/webinar/next...

AI & editorial analytics: the next step Data tools are translating dashboards into messages that aid real decision making. This is the focus of smartoctober this year.

While many media organisations are rightly preoccupied with the pressure artificial intelligence puts on their creative control and distribution strategies, data tools are quietly moving in a different direction: translating dashboards into messages that aid real decision making.

News Media Innovation Week: Faster, but above all more human At Media Innovation Week in Dublin, one theme stood out: as newsrooms speed up digital change, the challenge is to keep journalism human.

For everyone who wants a recap of the Media Innovation Week in Dublin...

The talks on stage showed how innovation in news media is dividing newsrooms.

Still, one common thread stood out: both INMA and the publishers agreed that the human side of journalism must stay at the centre.

Why newsrooms should A/B test all headlines Discover how A/B testing headlines with smartocto improves clicks, loyalty and engagement. Practical insights for data-driven newsrooms.

For any online newsroom, A/B testing editorial articles should be high on the agenda.

It’s low-hanging fruit 🍇 : a small investment of time which will consistently deliver long-term gains in website performance.

Want to know why? Read our latest blog 👉 smartocto.com/blog/why-new...

At our consultancy partner FT Strategies, they are also convinced of the value of the User Needs Model.

In last week’s Growth Hacks webinar, Aliya Itzkowitz demonstrated why this framework is more relevant than ever and why now is the perfect moment to put it into practice. 🎥

Webinar: the user needs growth hacks It’s time for the next chapter in the user needs approach. Use in-depth data analysis to come up with growth hacks. Show your colleagues how it’s done.

Do you know which goals really matter most for your newsroom? And which growth hack will get you there fastest?

Thanks to Antti Karvanen from A-lehdet, we saw how just a few graphs from a baseline report can already tell you a lot.

You can catch the full recording here. 👇

Webinar: the user needs growth hacks It’s time for the next chapter in the user needs approach. Use in-depth data analysis to come up with growth hacks. Show your colleagues how it’s done.

Have you already signed up for tomorrow’s webinar? 🎥

Here’s why you should:

✅ Discover fresh ways to grow your news site
✅ Put your audience at the heart of your reporting
✅ Get inspiration from proven experiments you can use right away

Register in the link below! It's free.👇

When you understand what user needs are meant for, you can use them to guide your journalism. And you can check if your audience truly values it. That is when growth hacks become part of your daily work.

Sign up for our webinar The User Needs Growth Hacks 👉 smartocto.com/webinar/user...

Newsletter: Google’s AI updates are showing effect: is your strategy ready? Do you know what’s happening with your own titles? And do you have a strategy to deal with it? I’d love to hear from you, as I’m collecting inspiring examples.

At our clients’ sites, on average almost one in three pageviews comes from visitors referred by Google. Let that sink in.

In this week’s newsletter, we refer to data research and invite publishers to tell us how they are dealing with Google traffic. Have you found your answer yet?

Google Search and AI Overview: news publishers, stay alert News sites could face challenges if Google continues to overhaul its search engine. Significant decline in traffic is yet to come. Newsrooms should stay alert.

Publishers are already reporting noticeable drops in traffic from Google Search. In our latest blog, we highlight an example from a DPG Media magazine focused on service journalism, where the decline after AI Overview’s launch is clearly visible.

Read the blog 👇

Check this out!

Media Metrics that matter in 2025: editorial analytics benchmarks When it comes to editorial analytics, what’s a good result? Is 40% read depth ok? We’ve undertaken a huge data study to bring you some key industry benchmarks.

The world of metrics can be a confusing one. If you want to truly understand data analytics you need to learn to read the stories hidden behind the numbers you see.

➡️ In our latest benchmark, we share practical tips to improve your metrics, which ultimately means improving your storytelling.

Webinar: the user needs growth hacks It’s time for the next chapter in the user needs approach. Use in-depth data analysis to come up with growth hacks. Show your colleagues how it’s done.

Would you like to hit the ground running with fresh experiments after the summer? Then this webinar on so-called growth hacks is just what you need.

How do you actually come up with growth hacks? We’ll walk you through it step by step, together with two brilliant guest speakers.

Sign up now👇

How a baseline report sparked cultural change in the newsroom Smartocto recently introduced the option to order a baseline report. This is a document that holds up a mirror to the newsroom, offering a clear snapshot of its strengths and weaknesses. Check out wha...

Baseline reports are a mirror that show you exactly what (and how) your newsroom’s doing. The results are often surprising.

But the real value in them comes from what happens next. Will you take action? Süddeutsche Zeitung did and in fact it prompted them “to look at [our] broader strategy.”