The New SEO Business Model: Buy News Sites Instead of Backlinks (w/ David Quaid)

E1212: What if SEO agencies stopped buying backlinks and started buying the news sites that publish them?

David Quaid joins me to break down a business model he calls "news as a service": acquiring established news sites, local publications, and niche blogs, improving their SEO, and using them to build businesses that earn money beyond advertising.

David argues that SEO agencies spend huge amounts on link building and PR without controlling the publications they depend on. He recalls one company spending $20,000 per month on PR and getting just one press mention in six months. But would buying a publication actually make more financial sense?

I push David on the acquisition costs, operating expenses, revenue, link value, and whether this is just a more expensive private blog network. We work through examples involving an ecommerce store, a Denver local newspaper, and an SEO agency with multiple clients.

In this episode:

- Why David believes SEO agencies should consider owning news sites instead of continually paying third parties for backlinks and PR.

- How an agency could acquire a local newspaper or niche publication, grow its organic traffic, and build a business around an existing audience.

- Why a publication's value goes beyond backlinks to include referral traffic, brand exposure, and relationships with local businesses.

- How to evaluate the economics: buying the site, paying journalists, growing readership, and finding revenue that supports the operation.

- How a local publisher could expand into separate websites for community news, restaurants, business, and other topics.

- Where sponsored articles, advertorials, editorial independence, and rel="sponsored" links fit into the model.

- Why David sees a major difference between acquiring a legitimate publication and operating a traditional PBN.