I was reading on the forums just now and came across a post where someone said that doing a news blog was not a good idea because there were alot of them out there with the same content. I was wondering is that a general rule of thumb, or a minority opinion. Please discuss if creating a news blog about a particular subject, for example a blog about bank robberies, is a good idea, or a bad idea.
Like with any other kind of content-based site, it's better to do it with unique content. So if by "news blog" you mean just scraping news from other sites or only posting full press releases, then that's not the best idea. If you know how to build press contacts in an industry to get yourself news before the masses, and you post the news in your own write-up, even offering commentary on it, it could be a great idea.
Definately agree a news site that just scrapes other people's work is a waste of time. A news site that is tailored to getting the word out about your xyz service or product is a great way to broadcast it.
Is creating a news blog about a particular subject a good idea? My opinion is YES. As by this way you are creating a niche site and you would get more visitor from search engines for specific keywords.
That depends on whether the news is presented in a unique way or not though. Just scraping content for a niche news site isn't going to bring tons of search engine visitors, as you'd have nothing but duplicate content. News site or not, just create real content instead of swiping everything from someone else.
What you can do is to write news in your own words and give your opinion on the story. Opinions are what blogs are about.
By news blog, if you mean something like Techcrunch - that can be a good thing IF and only IF the content you write is what you have written yourself - and not stolen from other sites. An example of such an act would be thinktechno.com Personally, I also feel that making a news blog isn't such a good idea. Why? Because most people prefer to read news from an established website such as CNET or so. So rethinking the option may be good. As abdussamad said earlier, opinions are what blogs are about, so leave the news to the big shot websites.
You mean the ones like I run? The ones that I never touch for more than 2 minutes and make money on daily? Yeah they are pretty worthless I'd say.
How do you make money on your blog with so little work if you don't mind me asking? Sounds like you can teach us all a thing or two.
blogs are the fastest way to create a website because every blogging software is available for free now..you just have to worry about your content
Keep in mind that it's not always about just "making money." First of all, the question should be "how much?" Then, you need to decide if you want to run a legitimate and respectable business with staying power and growth potential over the long haul or whether you want to run a scraper site, which carries a higher risk of losing all profitability as search engines and such continue to crack down. Even if a scraper site might make a bit of money right from the start, while a quality site might take more time and effort, you need to decide what your real goals are. Chances are that your work in the beginning will pay off much more in the end building a quality site with something actually useful rather than adding more garbage to the Web.
I am just curious as to why all the people who said don't do a news site aren't voting no in the pole. Unless they are not saying no if you rewrite the information instead of copy and paste.
hwould, I think that's exactly it... a "news blog" in and of itself isn't bad... it's having nothing but scraped news that makes for a rather pathetic and short-sighted business model imo. If you post snippets of news, link to the original source, and offer your own commentary, it's a different story completely, b/c it's unique content. If you're just in it for a quick buck, go ahead with it. If you want to run a serious and long-term effort without as much risk of having your site penalized, then make sure you're offering something actually worthwhile.
My easy sites pay for someone besides me to put in the long hours on the anchor sites that make up our portfolio. I find it silly to not take advantage of easy money when I don't have to touch any of it myself. Edit: By the way, my easy sites have more value than many sites on the net. There is nothing for the big G to crack down on.
If you have unique content to write about then you should definitly go for it. If your content is basic and the same as any other blog then there really is no point. good luck.
If your site is nothing but feeds from other sites, then you have no reason to assume Google won't eventually crack down - which is what my comments about news blogs were referring to.