Paid for a sponsored post on a local news site and it was a total waste

I dropped about $500 on a featured article about a firm's community work. Got maybe two clicks tracked back to it. The audience just wasn't looking for legal help there. Anyone have better luck with a different local platform?

4 comments

4 Comments

taylor.reese2mo ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard. I tried the exact same thing with a local lifestyle blog last year. Spent a similar amount for a "spotlight" post. The traffic on their site looked good, but it was all people looking for restaurant reviews or event listings. They just scroll right past anything labeled sponsored. Total mismatch. I've had way better results just getting into the local community Facebook groups and actually talking to people.

robert_scott572mo ago

Hold up, you're missing the point of that kind of ad buy. It's not just about the direct clicks from their readers. It's about the long tail search traffic for months after. Someone finds that post later when they google something related. That's free, lasting visibility. Facebook groups are a total time sink and the posts disappear in a day. You need both, but that blog post is an asset that keeps working.

knight.dylan2mo ago

But what if the real value is just being on a site people already trust? Even if they scroll past, they still saw your name. That's brand building, not just chasing clicks. Facebook groups are so noisy, your message gets lost in five minutes. A blog post sits there clean and professional forever. It's like comparing a billboard to someone shouting on a street corner.

the_mary1mo ago

Wait, how do you even track if someone saw your name but didn't click? That brand building idea sounds nice but you can't measure it. If the site's audience is there for news or food, they're tuning out ads. A billboard only works if it's on the right road.