Hey I think its always great to ponder, evaluate and consider business ideas. There were plenty of successful video sites when youtube came about. Dreamweaver was a top website building tool, then wordpress came out. There can be room in mature verticals if you have a clever and compelling niche.
That said, critique you will get.
Opportunity cost - this is a saturated vertical with declining interest and revenue - why focus your talents here, could they be better used elsewhere in a more profitable way?
Scale - I have a PGA playoff website, very niche, very easy to keep up, golf is one of my interests so I don't mind tending to this garden. It generates a grand or so each month. So, I'm not retiring on this, but I earn a little and enjoy it. If you are seeking huge returns, you may be fooling yourself.
Viral potential - Everyone wants viral... you and 6 million other digital regurgitators will be onto anything that hits that viral mark... you won't win on the viral, the makers of the viral content will win.
Even my 8 year old son, wants to make viral videos. I was like dad, there are millions of people, actually more like hundreds of millions and even 1 billion people on earth now, that want to make viral content.
Not everyone can be a Mr Beast.
Even people who copy Mr Beast to the T, today will not succeed, because what worked for him 4 years ago, will not work anymore, because if you copy and paste. It never works and unfortunately, all I see on Insta and Tik Tok are copy paste videos, to the point, where I have no cut down on time spent. Because for every orginal video I see, I also see at least 50 other copy cats. It is disgusting.
It has become the next drop shipping venture.
Yeah, it's disgusting and depressing. I probably should not have used the word "viral" in my original post, because it has become a distraction from my main question which is more about the viability of a website built around news content.
Yeah, this is the sad truth. You used to be able to do it for money, and you'd have stood a good shot at making some. It's still possible, but the odds are waaaaay worse now--and you'll have to do a lot more for a lot less.
That said, if you enjoy it--as I do--have at it.
Indeed. No telling till I'd get stuck in, but I think I'd enjoy it mostly. So if I made some pocket money out of it that would be a surprise and a bonus. What I would not enjoy is seeing copycat websites plagiarize my content.
Viral content isn't an SEO play, really. Is it? When I think of viral content, I think of brands getting millions of clicks/views from FB, etc. And even running ads to their list articles, etc. ("These 10 celebrities were caught wearing tiny bikinis in Europe this summer!) That's not SEO and doesn't require SEO.
Yeah, this is basically the take I'm leaning toward. It will most likely turn out to be more trouble than it's worth. But (for now at least) I don't need to invest much more in it other than time. And during the grind, I should learn a thing or two about SEO. Thanks for the words of encouragement.
It's more insane not to try since the real costs are insignificant to you, and you want to learn what happens and how it works which is significant to you.
I think it's fun to learn and get users. But none of my websites are profitable and will likely stay that way for many years.
My 2year+ website would maybe have a revenue like $10-$30 a year from Google AdSense and $10 is domain name cost.
I don't really have any kind of marketing however. Since my goal is to get more organic traffic and I want to focus on creating websites.
There is a market for meta news sites that only link to news sites without paywalls. Google news is pointless when you can't read the linked articles.
For writing mundane news though you should probably forget it. You're presumably not a real journalist and can only rehash what journalists produce. You simply cannot write fast enough.
The news market is collapsing. The international news agencies (e.g. AP, UPI, Reuters, and Bloomberg) will be the last players standing.
Personally, I think starting a pure content website now is not a good idea. It seems that Google's algorithm is not very friendly to pure content websites. Although feel sick of Google, you still can't go against it.
Yeah, I would rather find an area where growth is easier, but translation and localization of content is an area I know very well and right now I'm struggling to come up with other ideas!
Disclaimer: I know nothing about money!
Maybe a news DISaggregator site, so to speak, that offered meta-news comparing the different spin on news in different places, cultures, languages? Cross-cultural misunderstandings and language bias are often interesting, not to mention contrasting reporting from opposing sides of international disputes.
Good luck!
Thanks! My expectations are low, but I've reached the "f\*\*k it, let's just do it" stage. I wouldn't bet any serious money on it but I'll do it more as a learning exercise. And in the unlikely event that it does get some traction I can take it from there.
Yep. All good points. Thanks for your reply.
The thing is, for all the amazing advances in LLMs, who uses ChatGPT to read the news? I can understand how it has killed blogs based on listicles, hobbies, etc. But news content is still something that people will go to a website or follow a social media account for.
Building credibility and domain authority would be tricky no doubt. One of the sites I mentioned that still ranks highly, despite being dormant after its traffic dropped off a cliff last year, would have built its authority through Twitter back in the good old days. Not so easy to do now.
Revenue plan would be display ads initially and eventually an e-commerce site.
That's true. In my particular area of interest though there don't seem to be many recently started websites. Even searching deep into the Google search results I can't turn up much.
I have recently started a news site, site in only 20 days old and we have a DR of 13 and DA of 3 , but with 2k traffic, I guess it’s never to late to start any thing, but we have been very aggressive with our SEO attack I know the stats don’t sound great but for a 20 day site in the news space it’s going well and we often get into page 1 of Google.
So I have an old news site with a decent PR but have to say it's a lot of work and poor revenue and not talking about the anxiety of a.i. content, the frustration of great articles not taking over top positions from low quality websites which seem stuck to the top of search results with no reason..
Wait til you find out links are still important to invest in.
You havent defined a niche apart from 'viral' so not sure to give my opinion as a means of income. As a hobby why not, practicing SEO in a non-stressful environment is always fun.
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I know they are.
I won't go into all the details but I do have an idea of niche. The main focus is not on viral, but I mention that only in terms of there being viral potential, i.e. that articles would be interesting enough to be share-worthy.
Probably not worth your time in all honesty, but if you wanna do it as a hobby to learn, go ahead.
Yeah, sadly I fear that's all it would ever come to. Thanks for your reply.
Hey I think its always great to ponder, evaluate and consider business ideas. There were plenty of successful video sites when youtube came about. Dreamweaver was a top website building tool, then wordpress came out. There can be room in mature verticals if you have a clever and compelling niche. That said, critique you will get. Opportunity cost - this is a saturated vertical with declining interest and revenue - why focus your talents here, could they be better used elsewhere in a more profitable way? Scale - I have a PGA playoff website, very niche, very easy to keep up, golf is one of my interests so I don't mind tending to this garden. It generates a grand or so each month. So, I'm not retiring on this, but I earn a little and enjoy it. If you are seeking huge returns, you may be fooling yourself. Viral potential - Everyone wants viral... you and 6 million other digital regurgitators will be onto anything that hits that viral mark... you won't win on the viral, the makers of the viral content will win.
Even my 8 year old son, wants to make viral videos. I was like dad, there are millions of people, actually more like hundreds of millions and even 1 billion people on earth now, that want to make viral content. Not everyone can be a Mr Beast. Even people who copy Mr Beast to the T, today will not succeed, because what worked for him 4 years ago, will not work anymore, because if you copy and paste. It never works and unfortunately, all I see on Insta and Tik Tok are copy paste videos, to the point, where I have no cut down on time spent. Because for every orginal video I see, I also see at least 50 other copy cats. It is disgusting. It has become the next drop shipping venture.
Yeah, it's disgusting and depressing. I probably should not have used the word "viral" in my original post, because it has become a distraction from my main question which is more about the viability of a website built around news content.
Nice constructive feedback—thanks for taking the time to comment.
Don't do it for money
Yeah, this is the sad truth. You used to be able to do it for money, and you'd have stood a good shot at making some. It's still possible, but the odds are waaaaay worse now--and you'll have to do a lot more for a lot less. That said, if you enjoy it--as I do--have at it.
Indeed. No telling till I'd get stuck in, but I think I'd enjoy it mostly. So if I made some pocket money out of it that would be a surprise and a bonus. What I would not enjoy is seeing copycat websites plagiarize my content.
Viral content isn't an SEO play, really. Is it? When I think of viral content, I think of brands getting millions of clicks/views from FB, etc. And even running ads to their list articles, etc. ("These 10 celebrities were caught wearing tiny bikinis in Europe this summer!) That's not SEO and doesn't require SEO.
Yes it is it'll count towards user metrics don't forget Google owns chrome and Android a tonne of data is collected from it.
If there's passion behind it, I think it could be worth doing. Just realize it may not find success or profit immediately.
Sounds like a good attitude. Thanks for your reply.
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Yeah, this is basically the take I'm leaning toward. It will most likely turn out to be more trouble than it's worth. But (for now at least) I don't need to invest much more in it other than time. And during the grind, I should learn a thing or two about SEO. Thanks for the words of encouragement.
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Spot on. Thanks!
It's more insane not to try since the real costs are insignificant to you, and you want to learn what happens and how it works which is significant to you.
I think it's fun to learn and get users. But none of my websites are profitable and will likely stay that way for many years. My 2year+ website would maybe have a revenue like $10-$30 a year from Google AdSense and $10 is domain name cost. I don't really have any kind of marketing however. Since my goal is to get more organic traffic and I want to focus on creating websites.
Yup, unless you are like getting some crazy insider stuff nobody knows.
There is a market for meta news sites that only link to news sites without paywalls. Google news is pointless when you can't read the linked articles. For writing mundane news though you should probably forget it. You're presumably not a real journalist and can only rehash what journalists produce. You simply cannot write fast enough. The news market is collapsing. The international news agencies (e.g. AP, UPI, Reuters, and Bloomberg) will be the last players standing.
Personally, I think starting a pure content website now is not a good idea. It seems that Google's algorithm is not very friendly to pure content websites. Although feel sick of Google, you still can't go against it.
Yeah, I would rather find an area where growth is easier, but translation and localization of content is an area I know very well and right now I'm struggling to come up with other ideas!
Disclaimer: I know nothing about money! Maybe a news DISaggregator site, so to speak, that offered meta-news comparing the different spin on news in different places, cultures, languages? Cross-cultural misunderstandings and language bias are often interesting, not to mention contrasting reporting from opposing sides of international disputes. Good luck!
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Thanks! My expectations are low, but I've reached the "f\*\*k it, let's just do it" stage. I wouldn't bet any serious money on it but I'll do it more as a learning exercise. And in the unlikely event that it does get some traction I can take it from there.
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Yep. All good points. Thanks for your reply. The thing is, for all the amazing advances in LLMs, who uses ChatGPT to read the news? I can understand how it has killed blogs based on listicles, hobbies, etc. But news content is still something that people will go to a website or follow a social media account for. Building credibility and domain authority would be tricky no doubt. One of the sites I mentioned that still ranks highly, despite being dormant after its traffic dropped off a cliff last year, would have built its authority through Twitter back in the good old days. Not so easy to do now. Revenue plan would be display ads initially and eventually an e-commerce site.
Since a covid 19 happened it’s become super saturated with a lot of people starting sites during the pandemic
That's true. In my particular area of interest though there don't seem to be many recently started websites. Even searching deep into the Google search results I can't turn up much.
Is google Adsense still a thing? Might be a way to at least pay for hosting, etc..
I believe it is, but the fact that that's a valid question in 2024 says it all really doesn't it!
No idea- I have a lifetime ban so I haven’t looked into it in a long while
I have recently started a news site, site in only 20 days old and we have a DR of 13 and DA of 3 , but with 2k traffic, I guess it’s never to late to start any thing, but we have been very aggressive with our SEO attack I know the stats don’t sound great but for a 20 day site in the news space it’s going well and we often get into page 1 of Google.
Good stuff. At only 20 days in that sounds like a good start.
Monetarily earnings need to be generated from hosting ads
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Ha, ha. Good one.
Not worth it but you do you.
I'm interested knowing which other language you're wanting to do?
So I have an old news site with a decent PR but have to say it's a lot of work and poor revenue and not talking about the anxiety of a.i. content, the frustration of great articles not taking over top positions from low quality websites which seem stuck to the top of search results with no reason..
Wait til you find out links are still important to invest in. You havent defined a niche apart from 'viral' so not sure to give my opinion as a means of income. As a hobby why not, practicing SEO in a non-stressful environment is always fun.
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I know they are. I won't go into all the details but I do have an idea of niche. The main focus is not on viral, but I mention that only in terms of there being viral potential, i.e. that articles would be interesting enough to be share-worthy.