How to start a news website: Step-by-step guide

A local news website can be a powerful way to serve a community, allowing you to provide updates on what’s happening in the area. It can help to identify upcoming events and important news, and can also foster engagement from the people living in the area.

Whether you’re an experienced journalist, a passionate member of the community, or an aspiring entrepreneur, this guide will give you all the information you need to get your local news website started.

News website examples

If you’re thinking of launching a news website, then you’ll already know some of the biggest names out there.

News sites like the BBC and Guardian have carved out a name for themselves in the global market and stand out as prime examples of what you might want to aim for.

While the sites above are good for inspiration when you’re launching your news website, it’s also good to bear in mind smaller organisations.

Local newspapers may not be as well-known as global brands, but they can still be a great source of inspiration.

Step 1: Choose your local focus

Before you get started, it’s important that you define your target audience and geographic area.

Decide what region, city or neighbourhood your news website will cover. There are a range of factors to consider that might help with this decision, including population size, demographic split and local interests.

You might also want to consider where you might want to flex your focus a little as your website grows. For example, if you’re primarily covering the news in the town where you live, you might want to set criteria around what sort of news from the local city you would also consider covering.

Step 2: Research your audience

Understanding who your local audience is is key if you want to deliver relevant information that they care about.

Conduct market research to identify the demographics of your potential readers; try to find out what they’re interested in, and what they need to know.

This knowledge can help guide your content creation and will make it easier to know where to start when you get to writing.

You might want to check out our guide to writing a business plan for more tips on your research.

Step 3: Select a memorable domain name

Your domain name is your website’s digital address and it should reflect your local focus.

Choose a domain name that is relevant to the area you’re covering, and easy to remember too. You can use various domain name registrars to find your URL.

If you want more advice, take a look at our page on how to choose a domain name.

Step 4: Set up hosting and a content management system (CMS)

To make sure you’re website is accessible online, you’ll need reliable website hosting. You’ll need a content management system (CMS).

Our best hosting providers page can help you choose a hosting platform, particularly if you’re planning to use a CMS like WordPress.

However, if you want to simplify the website creation process, you might instead opt for a website builder. These are designed to make getting online simple, reducing the need for coding or web development experience. It also normally removes the need to find a separate host provider, which can make it an attractive option.

You can visit our best website builders page if you want to compare plans.

Best local news website builder

A local news website will normally be content-led. This means that you’ll probably need to be able to add articles and news pieces first and foremost. You’ll also probably want to add images and photos to those articles, and possibly videos too. In short, you’ll need a good all-rounder website builder that can help you manage your website content easily.

When it comes to choosing a website builder for your news platform, you should consider a range of factors, including the number of templates offered by the brands you are choosing between, as well as how easy it is to use the platform.

Brand	Plan	Cost	More info
Wix	Lite	£9/month	Full Review
Squarespace	Personal	£12/month	Full Review
GoDaddy	Basic	£6.99/month	Full Review

Each of the website builders above offers a good range of functionality and flexibility for anyone looking to launch a local news website. You can visit our full reviews on each by clicking on the link in the far-right column.

Step 5: Design your website

When it comes to designing your local news site, you should focus on making something that’s user-friendly and visually appealing.

Choose a responsive theme that makes sense with your local news focus. Prioritise clean navigation, high-quality images, clear fonts and a mobile-friendly design to accommodate readers on various devices.

How you approach design will vary depending on whether you use a CMS like WordPress or a website builder like Wix. With a CMS, you may need to use plugins and code to adjust the appearance of your site; with a website builder, you’ll normally be able to use the drag-and-drop editor functionality that is the hallmark of this sort of platform.

Step 6: Find local news sources

As you get started, you’ll need to establish a network of local sources and contacts to help you source news.

You should attend local events, council meetings and community gatherings to build relationships with local officials, business owners and community members.

As with any news site, your content will only ever be as good as the sources you have. So invest your time here to ensure you can share relevant information that your audience cares about.

Find contributors or staff

When it comes to running your news website, you’ll want to consider the skills you need in place to make sure things run effectively.

In a traditional news organisation, you could expect to find several staff members, including:

Editor-in-chief – the person in charge of the whole operation. If you are starting a news website, this is probably you.
Duty and desk editors – people reporting to the editor-in-chief to oversee parts of the site.
Reporters – the people going out and writing the news and features that fill a news website.
Sub- and design editors – the people in charge of editing news and features, and designing how stories look on the page.

Of course, at a large organisation, you’ll find many more roles than this, and often there will be multiple people operating in the same role, but in different areas of the site.

As you get started though, you’re unlikely to have a full staff; but knowing what roles need to be filled will help you to understand which skills you have, and which you don’t. This is the first step to knowing what support you need to get from elsewhere.

You should also consider how you can increase the production of content for your site. News websites operate best when they publish at volume; reach out to local aspiring journalists to find contributors who can help fill your site with important news and features every day or week.

Step 7: Create and publish your content

Content is the lifeblood of your website. You should develop a content strategy that includes information that people care about, based on the research you did earlier on.

The sort of information you write content on might include:

Local news articles and updates
Features on local businesses or community members
Event listings and coverage
Opinion pieces
Investigative journalism and in-depth reporting on local affairs
Multimedia content, such as photos or videos of the local area

You might include all of these content types, or a selection of them that you deem most relevant. What’s most important though is that you maintain a regular publishing schedule to keep your audience informed and coming back for more.

If your site is only updated sporadically, people may soon turn to more consistent publishers for their local news.

Tips for creating news content

When it comes to creating news content, it’s important to think carefully about how your audience will want to engage with the information you’re producing. Below, we’ve put together a few points to bear in mind as you get started.

For news pieces, make sure you’re finding original sources for your quotes or interviews. Don’t rely on press releases that will have been used on other news sites too.
For features, make sure you’re doing your research to bring some new angle to a larger story. Regurgitating information that’s already available might not be that interesting for your readers.
Make sure to cover a good range of topics to attract as wide an audience as possible. Build a calendar of local events to help track what’s going on. This might mean finding out when local sports teams have games and speaking to community leaders to understand their events calendar.

Step 8: Optimise for search engines

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an essential digital marketing process if you want to attract organic – not paid-for – traffic.

Identify relevant keywords related to your local area and incorporate them into your content appropriately. For example, you might want to base keywords on important local figures or locations.

These keywords should be used in headlines, metadata and content. You should also focus on on-page SEO techniques – mostly improving your on-site content – as well as off-page SEO – how many links or social media references your website gets.

Step 9: Market your local news website

Building your audience to begin with requires effective promotion.

Social media marketing can be an excellent way to get started. Use platforms such as Facebook or Instagram to share your articles and engage with your community. You might want to find and begin sharing posts in popular local groups.

Once you begin building traffic, you might want to think about email marketing. If you capture email addresses from people as they visit your site, you can keep reaching out to them with new information and articles as and when they are written.

You can find some more articles offering advice for marketing your new website below.

What is CRM? Definition, benefits & tips

What is search engine marketing (SEM)? Definition, types & tips

How to market your website in 2024: Step-by-step guide

Step 10: Monetise your website

You might not want to consider monetising your website for profit, though it may be worth considering if you want to cover your running costs.

To sustain your website financially, you might want to consider:

Local advertising: offer businesses the chance to advertise on your website.
Sponsored content: allow local businesses or community members to pay for sponsored articles or features.
Subscriptions: charge users to access your site, or lock certain parts of the site behind a paywall.
Fundraising: consider crowd-funding or donations from your readers to keep your website running.

Can I make a free news website?

In short, yes. You can make a free news website.

What’s worth bearing in mind though is that, if you don’t intend to make money from your website, you’ll probably have to cover the costs yourself.

Fortunately, there is a range of cheap options that you can choose from, including the website builders we listed in Step 4. The cheapest of these, GoDaddy, will only set you back £6.99 per month.

Of course, you can still make a free news website that turns a profit. You don’t need to charge your users. In half of the forms of monetisation listed in the section above, the income you generate will be from the brands you want to advertise with, not from the readers you’re targeting.

If you want your news website to be free to your readers, then the subscription and fundraising models should be avoided. You can still focus on local advertising and charging brands for sponsored content, though.

Step 11: Engage with your audience

Building trust with your audience is essential. If you allow comments on your site, residents can share their thoughts, starting a dialogue on important issues.

If you see this happening, you should make sure to respond to keep conversations moving. You might also need to moderate to make sure that comments aren’t offensive.

You should also engage with your audience off-site, on social media platforms and over email.

Create a regular newsletter

Starting a regular newsletter could be a great way to engage with your growing audience, particularly once you’ve been running consistently for a little while.

A newsletter can be sent out over email as frequently as you like and can cover the top stories or features published on your site.

For example, you may want to start sending a monthly email newsletter to keep your audience up-to-date on the latest news and events in your area. Or, perhaps you want to start a monthly newsletter to provide updates on the progress of the local football team.

Whatever approach you want to take, make sure to apply consistency to your strategy. You will also want to make sure you’re thinking about how you can gather email addresses on your website so that you can build a database to send to.

How to start a local news website: Final thoughts

Local news websites serve communities with relevant information. They can entertain and inform and provide a sense of local community that is incredibly valuable.

By following the steps outlined on this page, you can create a successful website that, over time, becomes an essential resource for the community.

Remember that building any site, including a local news website, takes time and dedication. Stay committed to delivering high-quality journalism and information, and keep connecting with your audience.

Bryn Glover

Bryn is the founder and editor of WebsiteJumpStart. He has worked in the digital field for over a decade and was editor for Startups.co.uk - the UK's leading small business website - and for NerdWallet UK before launching WebsiteJumpStart to help people and businesses get online with ease.

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Table of Contents

News website examples

Step 1: Choose your local focus

Step 2: Research your audience

Step 3: Select a memorable domain name

Step 4: Set up hosting and a content management system (CMS)

Best local news website builder

Step 5: Design your website

Step 6: Find local news sources

Find contributors or staff

Step 7: Create and publish your content

Tips for creating news content

Step 8: Optimise for search engines

Step 9: Market your local news website

Step 10: Monetise your website

Can I make a free news website?

Step 11: Engage with your audience

Create a regular newsletter

How to start a local news website: Final thoughts

Bryn Glover