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How Welingelichte Kringen Grew Their Google Discover Traffic by 400%
“You offer exactly what a small publisher needs, no fuss, no maintenance, just publishing.”
A Veteran Journalist’s Site with a Technical Bottleneck
Welingelichte Kringen is a Dutch opinion site known for sharp commentary and curated news. Founded by veteran journalist Gerard Driehuis, it started as a small side project and grew into a platform with hundreds of thousands of monthly readers.
Semi-retired after decades in journalism, Gerard wanted to focus on publishing — not dealing with plugins, outages, or developer delays. But WordPress made that impossible: the site was slow, broke often, and updates relied on a relative who was no longer available. Despite strong content, Discover traffic never took off.
Since moving to Newsifier, everything changed: the site became lightning-fast, Core Web Vitals turned green, Discover traffic grew 400%, hosting costs dropped — and revenue tripled.
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The Struggles Before Newsifier
Every change required a developer
Gerard relied on a relative to manage updates, plugins, and anything technical in WordPress. As the site grew, this patchwork setup became unsustainable.
“He had his own company to run, but I was still calling him when the site broke. That just didn't work anymore.”
He needed a solution that didn’t involve hunting down developers or worrying about plugins breaking things.
Low Google Discover traffic
Despite publishing high-quality content, Google Discover traffic was nearly nonexistent.
“I didn’t change the content. I just changed the CMS. And suddenly our Google Discover traffic exploded.”
After switching to Newsifier, his Discover traffic increased by over 400% — jumping from around 700k monthly views to over 3 million per month.
The only real difference? Optimized Google Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed.
I paid more for hosting alone than I now pay for everything.
Before the switch, Gerard paid around €1,100 per month just for hosting.
“Now I pay €600 — and that includes hosting, the CMS, support, and all the extra tools.”
With WordPress, he also had to deal with freelance dev support and unexpected costs from updates and outages. None of that is needed anymore.
The site would go down — and I wouldn’t even notice until hours later
Downtime was a recurring issue. Worse, nobody monitored it.
“If the site went offline, there was no alert. It might be down for hours before I even realized.”
With Newsifier, uptime is no longer a concern. The platform is stable, monitored, and optimized for news publishers.
Why Welingelichte Kringen Switched to Newsifier
Massive PageSpeed Gains and Core Web Vitals in the Green
As soon as the site was moved to Newsifier, the performance scores shot up.
“We went from a PageSpeed of 54 to over 95. That’s what made Discover traffic finally take off.”
A CMS Built for Writers, Not Developers
“It just works. That’s all I want as a publisher.”
The editor is simple, fast, and doesn’t require any technical skill. He finds the writing process easier than in WordPress.
“You don’t have to think about it. You just write.”
Discover Traffic Analytics in Real-Time
Newsifier’s analytics dashboard lets him see Google Discover traffic as it happens, something not even Google Analytics provides.
“Google doesn’t show you your Discover traffic. But Newsifier does — and that’s been eye-opening.”
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Migration: Quick and Painless
“Honestly, I expected trouble — but it just worked right away.”
Gerard had been nervous about switching CMS platforms, especially after years on WordPress. But the migration process was smooth, with no loss of content, SEO rankings, or downtime.
“Everything just worked from day one. That surprised me.”
The Results: A Leaner, Faster Welingelichte Kringen
Peace of Mind for Independent Publishers
Gerard Driehuis didn’t need a new editorial strategy. He didn’t need more staff. All he needed was a platform that removed the friction from publishing.
With Newsifier, he found it.
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For anyone running a lean news operation, Welingelichte Kringen shows what’s possible when you stop worrying about tech and start focusing on content. As Gerard phrases it:
“If you’re a small publisher looking to grow without the stress, Newsifier is what you’ve been waiting for.”
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