Publishers should focus on quality, not quantity of website traffic says Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein
27 Jan 2010
Category: News
Source: APA Digital
Publishing companies need to concentrate on the quality and not the quantity of traffic to their website if they want to be successful, Econsultancy's CEO Ashley Friedlein told the audience at the APA's digital breakfast this morning. In a presentation which focussed on how publishers can maximise their revenues Friedlein also argued that publishers need to nurture their readers and think of them as individuals rather than just site users.
He suggested that publishers also shouldn't get too distracted by new platforms such as mobile phones and ereaders and instead needed to focus on SEO and email to grow and sustain their online communities.
'Social. networking sites are an important traffic driver, 'he told the meeting, but then added that he thought that publishers would attract more and better quality traffic through SEO and email.
Friedlein suggested that publishers should also consider reducing the cost of content creation by moving to a model where skilled social media savvy journalists curate content from readers as well write their own stories.
Friedlein argued that mainstream publishers had now begun to realise that readers were not as loyal to their publications as they imagine them to be. He suggested that readers were loyal to the content i.e. to the story and not necessarily the platform (the website), adding that he thought this would make it very hard for publishers in the UK to make revenue from erecting content paywalls. ‘The BBC and The Guardian will be the main beneficiaries of paywalls as they are good enough for most people' he added. Friedlein also pointed out that it was unlikely that all News International's sites would be placed behind a paywall citing Sky's very popular website as an example of a site that would be likely to continue to use the free model.
In summing up Friedlein advocated that in 2010 publishers needed to focus on the quality of the readers not the quality. ‘Traffic is not the problem,' he argues ‘ it is getting the right sort of traffic.'
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