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Are Content Sites Dead?

I was spending some time lurking on a few Internet marketing discussion boards, and I noticed quite a few posts discussing whether content sites were dead or not.  The consensus on many of these sites was that content sites were simply not worth the time they took to set-up and run.  So although they didn’t feel they were, “dead,” they felt they weren’t worth the time and effort.

First, let’s mention the irony of this…a discussion board itself is a type of content site.  So we have people who regularly come to a content site to discuss whether content sites have value. 

The only reason a discussion like this even comes up is because many Internet marketing gurus only talk about mini-sites.  These are sites which consist of a sales page and maybe an email capture page (sometimes called a squeeze page).  All things being equal, a sales letter only page will have a higher conversion per visitor value than a content site or any other type of site for that matter. 

The best conversions you will have will be from a sales page offering one product…and one product only (along with possible upsells for that product).

Content sites will not have as high of conversion rates as a mini-site on a visitor by visitor basis.  What they do have is more free traffic…and they build a community atmosphere. 

A blog is a content site.  A discussion board is a content site.  A site full of articles and information is a content site.  Look at the top of the free search engine rankings for any niche subject…and what will you see?  You’ll see content sites.  This is what people are looking for when they begin their online searches.  What are the search engines themselves?  They’re free content.  They all have other items for sale, but the basis of their traffic and their popularity is their free content.

Content sites aren’t dead…and they’re not dying.  They’re growing…they’re expanding…and they’re changing.  While blogging has been around for years, it is only now really being instituted for a lot of corporate campaigns.  Audio and video have been added to the old mix of text only.  Podcasts are being introduced to many niches. 

Content sites will never die…because building relationships with your customers will never die.  What you need to find is a way to combine a content approach along with your sales systems.  Use content to generate visitors.  Bond with those visitors.  Then make them an offer that turns them into a customer. 

Quit trying to find all the “shortcuts” and start practicing good honest business sense…

Written by Terry · Filed Under All 

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Comments

One Response to “Are Content Sites Dead?”

  1. Jim Galiano on September 2nd, 2006 12:09 pm

    A blog is a great way to build a top notch, content oriented site. It’s easier to manage than a traditional web site. Especially when it comes to organizing and catagorizing the content. Plus, you get great feedback… well… maybe not great feedback all the time… but you can get instant feedback from readers/clients/customers, etc.

    It was much easier to post this comment here than it would be opening my email client (Outlook), typing a message, hitting send… and hoping it doesn’t get filtered with a bunch of junkmail.

    This way, it’s all instant.

    I create and manage websites for many clients down here in South Florida. Bradenton, to be exact. And recently, after setting up blogs for my own clients… I thought, I should just set up my own marketing blog to sell to my own existing customer base. That way I can basically create an ezine, marketing, and content site – all in one. Using programs/scripts such as WordPress make the whole process easier than ever before.

    If there are any really shortcuts that still make good business sense, blogs like this one (Terry’s) is it.

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