The Balance is an American website focused on simplifying personal finance topics and news. Headquartered in New York City, The Balance is part of the Dotdash Meredith family of websites.
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Type of site | Personal finance |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Dotdash Meredith |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | No registration necessary |
| Launched | September 6, 2016 |
| Current status | Active |
The Balance currently reaches 19 million unique viewers in the US each month.[1]
History
editThe Balance grew out of the financial content written for the website About.com, which was launched in 1996.[2] The site was re-launched as a stand-alone personal finance vertical with updated content from About.com, as well as new content, on September 6, 2016.[3][4]
The site was the second of five vertical sites launched from the content that had comprised About.com by Dotdash, the rebranded About.com entity.[5]
Website
editWhile Dotdash launched all of its brands with a graphics-heavy design scheme, The Balance's is more restrained to "reflect the weightiness of the topic", according to Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel.[5]
At launch, The Balance featured more than 34,000 pieces of content written by 70 contributors.[6]
The site is written with a tone designed to appeal to millennials and younger generations, though it covers financial topics that are relevant to readers of all ages.[6] It was created to serve what CEO Neil Vogel referred to as an underserved market: the average consumer. The Balance seeks to explain difficult personal finance topics in simple terms. As of its launch, the readership of The Balance was 60% women and approximately 50% millennials.[7]
The site won the 2019 Communicator Award of Excellence for the Best Financial Services Site.[8] Its general manager, Lauren Silbert, was named a winner of the 2019 Top Women in Media by Folio magazine and a 2020 HERo Future Female Leader by Yahoo! Finance.[9][10]
Traffic and revenue
editThe Balance had a readership of 6.5 million unique users when it launched in 2016, which grew to over 17 million by October 2017.[11] As of August 2020, The Balance was ranked #2 of financial news sites and reached 19 million unique US viewers.[1]
The Balance is supported through display and performance-based advertising.[12][13] At the time of its launch, Dotdash reduced the number of ads on its sites, including The Balance, by 35%, betting that "fewer, better ads will attract a larger audience."[14]
References
edit- ^ a b "Dotdash: Our Brands". Dotdash. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Garun, Natt (April 26, 2017). "About.com, the general interest site even its own CEO doesn't care for, is going away". The Verge. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Moses, Lucia (September 7, 2016). "With new finance site, About.com targets the 'adulting' generation". Digiday. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "About.com Launches The Balance". PR Newswire. September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Ingram, Matthew (May 2, 2017). "About.com Has a New Name and a New Strategy". Fortune. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Crook, Jordan (September 6, 2019). "About.com launches The Balance, a personal finance website for everyone". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
- ^ Guaglione, Sara (September 7, 2016). "About.com Launches Financial Site, Targets Underserved Market". MediaPost. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "25th Annual Communicator Award of Excellence Winners". Communicator Awards. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "Folio: Top Women In Media". Folio Magazine. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "The HERoes top 100 female future leaders 2020". finance.yahoo.com. September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
- ^ Shayon, Sheila (November 21, 2017). "From About.com to Dotdash: 5 Questions With CEO Neil Vogel". brandchannel. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Willens, Max (December 21, 2017). "Dotdash has made $7 million this year from commerce links". Digiday. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ "ANGI Homeservices Inc (ANGI) Q3 2019 Earnings Call Transcript". Motley Fool. November 7, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ Fuller, Melynda (December 20, 2017). "About.com Reboots As Dotdash, Company Thrives". Publishers Daily. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
