Is it a good idea to make website like a magazine?

[jimmychuang]

Is it a good idea to make website like a magazine?

[tedster]

There are some very successful online magazines.

[ronin]

Building a magazine-like website is a strategy which requires a lot of upfront investment of time and energy (but not necessarily money, if you are happy to do it yourself) in order to create a clear-focused brand and to give that brand public mindshare.

But, in my experience at any rate, it's also a strategy which eventually pays off in terms of:

a) the number of search-engine-independent repeat visitors you get once your brand is out there in the public sphere and well-known

b) how often your website gets mentioned in topic-relevant articles in the mainstream press as a champion of its niche

c) how both a) and b) enable you to grow a loyal readership who will then spread the word about your publication not only by word-of-mouth but also by email, IM, social bookmarking, social networks etc. (How many shopping portals can say as much?)

d) Carefully crafted articles can be excellent link-bait

Note that you can stretch the magazine paradigm quite far - your website can have aspects of an offline magazine without simply consisting of a collection of pages with articles and adverts.

WebmasterWorld for instance is self-evidently a forum. But it starts with a contents page, features readers' questions, readers' anecdotes, (collaborative) editorial pieces commenting on industry news and has an archive of articles. These are all magazine-type elements.

[Marcia]

Nice post, ronin. Thanks, I've been thinking of suggesting the idea to someone.

I'd also like to mention that there are some very nice open source (and paid) magazine type templates for Wordpress, and those can give some ideas.