iFreePress.com started out last year with a soft launch looking to get a grounding for their site and slowly build their audience. While this has been a success they feel it is now time to take things to the next level.
Editor in Chief, Jon Fisher, said “News is growing online, through our research a large proportion of this is through social media.” Other similar sites have taken a similar path with varying success but Fisher seems confident saying “We are going to take an aggressive approach on Facebook and Twitter and we will be one of the successful ones.”
News seems to be making a slow transition online with many news companies taking a different stance to generate income. Whilst some are starting to provide small snippets of information luring people in to paying a subscription, most seem to be using advertising as a main source of income.
From 2000 to 2012 there has been nearly a 600% increase in people with access to the internet in the world. According to Ofcom in the U.K. over 90% of the population consume news daily, with the majority still seeing news on the T.V. (78%).
Newspapers still take up a big proportion at 40% and online news consumption is around a third. This has been increasing a lot over the last 5 years although, based on iFreePress.com research the path leading people online is varied.
They found that around 20% use news apps on tablets and smart phones, predominantly on the commute to work or at lunch and break times. A high proportion (around 40%) read news as it is either shared via social media, which is why iFreePress.com are looking at this route.
Ofcom research shows 15% of online news consumption is via news aggregators, such as Google News. When asked, Fisher said “We are not looking to go down the Google News route just yet, although our site is setup so it will be acceptable to their requirements. We feel there is more merit to grow socially first and then we will look to be included in Google News for a good bump in readership.”
Fisher was also asked about other routes to market, such as mobile apps and live reporting in the field. He said he felt that “those will come but we need to grow at a manageable rate, get things right then move on to the next step of our plan.”
About iFreePress.com:
iFreePress.com are an online news provider with their head offices in Valley Cottage, New York. With their official launch in 2013 they are going through a steady growth and expansion plan in 2014. If all goes to plan they will be looking to hit the 1,000,000 unique monthly viewers at some point later this year. They have a small but dedicated team focused on bringing the main news stories from around the world in a timely fashion.
