Now is the perfect time to launch a news website. If you want to make money online and you’re a fan of news, then why not launch a news website? It might not be as difficult as you think. Here is a brief guide on how to launch a news website, and how to make money from it.
With that said, you want to do the following:
1. Get WordPress
The first thing you need is website. There’s a few steps involved with this, but the first step I recommend doing is getting WordPress. WordPress is free to download and it is beginner-friendly. Many popular and well-known news sites have and still use WordPress.
You’ll also need to choose a domain name. Choose a domain name that suits your soon-to-be news website well. Don’t dwell on the name too much, but do choose a name that sounds “newsy,” such as including the word “daily” in the domain name, or you can include the word “news,” and so forth; You get the idea.
Hosting is another thing you’ll want to do. You can host your site with WordPress or elsewhere, such as Bluehost. It’s up to you as to who you want to host your news website with. If you decide not to use WordPress, then compare several hosting providers before settling on one, but do use WordPress to build your news site.
To sum up the above, you need:
- WordPress
- Hosting provider
- Domain name
Once you have those things, you’ll be well on your way to running a news website and making money from it.
2. Write Content
Congrats, you now (presumably) have a news website up and running, but now you need content. Without content, your site is nothing. This goes for all news websites, and all websites in general.
The good news is there are a number of ways going about getting content for your news website. These ways include:
1. Write Yourself- You can create content yourself. One of the best things about writing your own news articles is you don’t have to pay anything. The major downside is you have to constantly be writing and updating your site with content. All sites need fresh content, but this is even more so in regards to news website.
2. Hire Writers- You can hire writers directly, but you’ll want to make your news website an actual company and you’ll have to look into any laws pertaining to minimum wage and all that good stuff.
3. Use Freelancers- Perhaps the best option of all is using freelancers. You can use them as frequently as you wish and there are so many sites that have freelance writers. Browse a few of them and then order news articles from them.
On that note, you can find freelancers on platforms specifically designed for freelance workers, or you can find a content creation website/company that has writers. Both ways are great.
Just remember, there is no way around it; You need news for your site and this means creating news articles regularly, around the clock and on the weekends.
3. Tips For Finding News
You’re not ready to make money with your news site right? Of course you are, but your website might not be ready, yet. The next thing you need to do is find news articles/topics to write about, but don’t worry because this part is actually easy. The following tips should point you in the right direction:
Research news articles on at least 5-6 news websites.
Find the trending stories on those sites via their search feature
Try to find and write about viral news
One great way to find out what is trending is to use Google Trends. Make sure you use Google Trends to find trending news articles.
4. Tips For Writing News
Now for the fun part. We’re going to provide you with some tips for writing news for your website. These tips should help you out with making money from your news sites. These tips include:
. Write Your Own Words- Always use your own voice when creating news articles. Put your own spin on the news piece you’re going to write about, but don’t be bias. With so many news websites out there being bluntly and extremely bias, you want to standout by not being bias.
. No Copying & Pasting- Never, and we mean never copy and paste a news article you come across. This will do no favors and it will harm your news website’s reputation very quickly.
. Publish 10-20 Stories Daily- This may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. Aim to publish 10-20 news stories every single day, even on the weekend. The more stories you publish, the better the odds are of one story going viral.
Those tips should come in handy. It is important to be consistent with following the above tips. The more consistent you are, the more of a chance you have of being successful with your news website.
5. Exposure
With a news website, exposure is everything. The more exposure your news site has, the more money you’ll potentially make. Luckily for you, there are many ways to get it. This includes:
. Share On Facebook- This is a dead given, but share your news articles on Facebook. Share them via your personal page and on your news’ page. Sooner or later a user with many Facebook friends may share it and increase the chances of it going viral.
. Use Instant Articles- Facebook Instant Articles may be worth checking out and using. Once your news site is up and running, see if you can use Instant Articles.
. Twitter- Once again, a dead given but there are some website owners who don’t do it. Always share your news articles on Twitter.
. Google News- Submit your news site to Google News. If your site is accepted, there’s no guarantee that it will rank high for relevant news stories, but you still want to submit your site. You never know when Google News will rank your news story and could potentially flood your site with traffic.
Those are only a handful of the tips you can use to get exposure for your site. They are among the best tips, so do make sure you give them a try.
6. Monetization
Finally, how do you monetize a news website? Believe it or not, it’s quite easy to do it.
Some of the ways you can try include:
1. Ads- You can sell ad space on your news website, but you might need to wait until your site actually has a good amount of visitors. We recommend having at least a few thousands unique visits per day before you start selling ad space to potential advertisers.
2. Sponsored Stories- When your site has enough traffic coming to it, feel free to write sponsored stories. This is exactly what it sounds like. Someone pays you to write about them, their cause, product etc. . ., but do make sure you write it in a way that is news-sounding.
3. Affiliate Marketing- Affiliate marketing can bring in a lot of income for a news website. Find a marketplace that allows you to place ads on your site. When one of your visitors clicks on the ad and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission. You might have to experiment a bit before you get results, but it is worth the effort.
4. Subscriptions- Another popular way to monetize a news website is to charge a subscription fee. You can charge a one-off fee or a monthly fee. Even if you charge less than a dollar per month, eventually you could be earning a few hundred or thousands per month. The more subscribers you get, the more your site will make.
5. Revenue Sharing Programs- The most common way news sites make money is ads, via revenue sharing programs. You can join Google AdSense, InfoLinks or other ad-serving platforms. They’ll place ads on your site and before you know it, you could be earning a decent amount regularly.
Those are only a handful of the many ways to monetize a news website. You should explore other ways and play around with several methods. Sooner or later something will work and you’ll be generating revenue in no time.
Conclusion
And that is how to start your own news website and how to go about monetizing it. Don’t let the above demotivate you. Take it one step and one day at a time and eventually you’ll be generating revenues via your own news website or blog.