Content site vs datafeed site

Which do you think is a better idea?

[Wojtek Spytek]

It's my 1st post here, so a warm welcome to mods and all users. :-)

I currently have a niche content site (that does reasonably well), a single-product site (just started), I also manage a new & promising affiliate program (I did it before with much success).

I think it's time to start expanding my group of affiliate sites. I already have 2 nice & promising topics researched. Both have store merchants who offer datafeeds.

Now I'm wondering which route I should choose. Here's what I think:

CONTENT SITE
+ no problems with search engines
+ greater chance for repeat visitors, inbound links, word of mouth, article promotion possible etc.
- lots of writing work needed
- attracts mostly non-buyers and must convert them to buyers
good for products that usually need some research before buying

DATAFEED SITE
+ thousands of pages ready in no time
+ attracts mostly buyers
- needs some work to make it unique (design, content)
- possible search engine problems
good for products that are searched for directly with purchase in mind

In my chosen themes, both approaches seem to be valid (there are both not-yet-sure and want-to-buy people in the market).

What is your rule of thumb? When do you create a content site and when a datafeed (mall) site?

[Drastic]

Welcome.

Why not do both?

[hannamyluv]

It's really a matter of long term vs. short term. Content will carry on and build itself up but will take quite some time to become finacially reliable. Datafeeds (if you know how) can start making money the first week. But are not very reliable for down the road type things, nor do you get much in the way of natural build up.

Do both for long, long term success.

[Wojtek Spytek]

Hmmm... Okay, but won't they take visitors away from each other?

For some reason I'm not OK with the idea of having 2 competing sites...

...or am I a bit paranoid here? ;-)

[Luxuryhousingtrends]

How about combining the 2 in 1? You could build a datafeed site, then have a front page with articles off it that you gradually build up in depth and scope.

[Wojtek Spytek]

So basically, what you suggest is that I should create a "content frontend" for content site benefits and a "datafeed backend" for datafeed site benefits?

I also understand that you suggest turning the datafeed part into one of my site's sections ("Find Best Deals" or something like this). This way people who came for the content part can access the "datafeed backend" easily... And 1000s of datafeed pages still drive traffic by themselves.

Right? :-)