If you are serious about sustaining a long term internet home business, then you should have a web site of your
own. You should also subscribe to my mini ecourse
that will inform you of many tips and tricks for building your site for
high traffic. Once you build a web site, having your own web site
will give you much more flexibility
on how you approach your online business as well as provide you with a
means to give your web business a presence on the internet.
Having this presence and making yourself known on the internet will
improve the level of trust you will receive by your potential customers.
It is possible to have an online home business without a web
site. An example of this would be an Ebay business.
However, many serious Ebayer's also have web sites that they sell
from. Another example would be an affiliate gateway page.
Many affiliate programs provide you with an affiliate gateway page
when you sign up as an affiliate for the particular program you
want to promote. The problem here is that you do not own the
page, nor do you have control over its content. It is also
virtually impossible to get an affiliate gateway page ranked by one of
the search engines.
The
first thing you want to do to start to build a web site is to pick a
domain name. The domain name will be something like example.com. A neat and free tool to help you pick a domain name is The Domain Twist.
There are many places to get domain names. I prefer Godaddy.com or Netfirms for domain name registration. Netfirms currenty has a promotion to receive a 1 year domain registration for $4.95.
Once you have a domain name you will need a web site
hosting account to host the domain. Web hosting accounts vary
significantly with disk space allowed, bandwith, number of supported
domains, and other important considerations. Most annual hosing
accounts that would be more than adequate to run your online business
will cost between $6 - $10 per month.
Currently, I recommend
BlueHost and Host Gator
web hosting accounts.
Both have recently received performance awards and they have very
competitive hosting plans for your web site. When selecting a web
host, pay special attention and compare capability like PHP
support, MySQL database allotment, subdomains, script support and
others.
The
next thing that you need to do is to actually build a web site. I
am not an html or javascript programmer per se, but I
can do minor html programming/editing with a good editor. I like Coffee Cup or HTML Edit for small jobs and one page web site editing. You can also use a template to build your actual web pages. You can find them all over the internet for free.
http://www.ibdprince.com - has all kinds of webmaster goodies, including really great looking CSS templates.
http://www.diyminisite.com
- templates and videos about mini site creation - click the "not yet a
member" link to join. It's FREE. Then go to the download area and pick
what you need.
My absolute favorite for building a web site is Killer SEO Site Builder.
I have used KSEO Site Builder to build this web site. This is a
PHP script that you install on your web host account. The
script provides you with a real easy rich text html editor.
It also has tons of features that optimize your site for the search
engines.
Here are some advantages of this system:
PHP script that allows you to edit your web site content from any computer hooked up to the internet.
RSS Site feed generation for your web site.
RSS feed reader so you can add RSS feeds to your site.
Auto Image Loader so you can upload images easily and then pick and choose the ones you want for your site.
Built in DHTML pop up generator.
Built in automatic disclaimer, terms of service and privacy policy page creation.
Add your Google Adsense code.
Another option
you have to get a web site is to have one designed and built
for you. This is going to depend on the level of complexity of
your web site, the time you have to work on it and other factors.
Certainly , this option is the most expensive to consider, but may be
what you need if you have your plan established for the content, have
no desire to do it yourself and can afford it.
Get a FREE copy of "7 days to Massive Web Site Traffic" at http://www.seoelite.com.
It outlines the steps to a web page that can rank high in the search
engines, and even goes beyond just your web pages, to tell you "the
rest of the story." I thoroughly enjoyed it.
When you get to the SEO Elite web site, scroll through the sales pitch,
then close the page. The "7 Days" popup appears. It sounds like a lot
of trouble, but believe me, it's worth it.
Don't load your site down with slow loading banners and images. Use low-res images that have been optimized for use on the web.
Write your web site page content, commonly referred to as copy, then
play editor: write, hack, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, until it is crisp,
clear, to the point, and utterly understandable. Repeat your strongest
point or benefit a number of times (at least three). Some people just
don't get it the first time or two. Spread your text out a bit. Don't
double space, but use very short paragraphs, and lots of headings with
some space between the heading and the paragraph.
When you put together your web site, target your audience. Don't talk
about network marketing to veterinarians. They may be interested in
network marketing, but they probably got to your site via a search for
a pet animal product and that's what they're looking for. When you know
your target audience you can be sure not to speak (write) above their
heads. Use words they will understand without Webster's help. You may
get by with writing a little below their level, but never above it.
Keep your fonts constant throughout your site. Variety may be the
"spice of life" but can really look lousy on a web page. You can vary
the size a bit, and throw in a little color, but stay conservative with
the type style.
Highlight important selling keywords and keyphrases with bolding, italics, underlining, and color. Just don't overdo it.
Don't forget, purchases are never made on logic, but on emotion. Use
copy that is designed to trigger an emotional response, such as a sense
of loss, one of the strongest: "If you wait, this offer may no longer
be available at this price. Get it now at this ridiculously low price,
and it's yours forever."
Once you have your web site built you will need to upload it to
your web site host (unless you are using KSEO Site Builder). A
good and free FTP program to use for this is SmartFTP.
Once you are online focus on driving targeted traffic to your web site
by writing articles, getting backlinks and tweaking your On Page SEO and Off Page SEO.
A word on marketing: The use of search engine marketing tools are very effective for improving traffic to your websites with clear visibility in the different search engines. Your internet home business may flourish with the help of the internet advertising. If you get started in an online business, you may have direct access to the direct marketing platform of different online businesses related to yours. Web hosting companies offer high value web hosting accounts for the clients which are very feasible for email marketing.
If you are serious about a
long term online home business, look into setting up your own web site.
You don't have to know much programming and the end result will benefit
you in the long run.
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