Does your website make you money?
By: STEVE NASH | Posted: 08th January 2005
Does your website make you money?
My website does.
I've built several successful websites, actually, and this
2-part article shows the steps I take when creating a
profitable website.
I can't guarantee *your* success, obviously, but the
article's based on the checklist I use to create my own
websites. (I've built sites using it for over a year now, to
make sure it works!) So, hopefully, you can use this step-
by-step guide to create YOUR very own successful site.
Anyway, let's begin.
== Aside ==
The article assumes that you can design websites - you know
about HTML, JavaScript, Perl/CGI, page design and usability
etc. - or you know someone who can design websites.
If you can't design websites, then I suggest you visit The
Newbie Club to learn about HTML etc. (or buy a web design
book from Amazon). Or you could visit Site Build It! and let
this all-in-one tool do (almost) everything for you (i.e.
there's no need for you to have any techie skills whatsoever).
Or you can simply pass this information onto a web designer
of your choice! :-)
- http://www.newbieclub.com
- http://www.site-buildit.com
== Aside ==
==> 1. Do keyword research
Lets begin at the beginning. What will your site be about?
Ideally, the site should contain information about something
you're interested in, or passionate about. (Then building
and maintaining your site won't feel like work, it will feel
like fun.) Even better, there should be a strong demand for
your site content (or product/service), with little or no
competition.
Wordtracker - *the* keyword research tool - lets you
determine exactly this.
Basically, Wordtracker tells you the keywords people type
into search engines like Google, that have few (if any)
competing websites.
You can use the free trial at Wordtracker, but if you're
serious I recommend you use the full version of the online
tool for (costs less than $10 for a days usage).
- http://www.wordtracker.com
==> 2. Register your domain name
Register your domain name, preferably containing your
keywords (as determined above).
You can register domain names in many places online. The
best places to do so, depend on the type of domain name you
want to register (e.g. .com or .co.uk or .de etc.).
I've used the following registration resources and can
recommend them all:
- http://www.nameboy.com
- http://www.godaddy.com
- http://www.orderyourdomains.com
- http://www.freeparking.co.uk
- http://www.supanames.co.uk
==> 3. Build useful content
Useful content? This could mean informative articles, tips,
or product reviews that inform and educate the people who
visit your site.
And that's where your passion comes in.
Because of your passion for the subject matter of your
website, you can provide detailed tips and advice, not found
anywhere else. Add humour, or reflect your unique
personality in the content, and you have a site that people
may want to visit.
Do make sure that you check content for spelling mistakes
and poor grammar. Sloppy spilling (!) etc. always spoils a
website.
Four examples of sites that offer useful content:
- http://www.selfpromotion.com (Site promotion; quirky)
- http://www.willmaster.com (About Perl/CGI)
- http://www.clickbankguide.com (About Clickbank)
- http://www.jessett.com (* - see below)
* I recommend you take a look at the last example. Why?
Because it's a step-by-step guide to creating a web site!
==> 4. Try and capture your visitors' e-mail address
It's important to stay in touch with your site visitors;
they may never return to your site, if you don't.
The most obvious way to capture e-mail addresses - and hence
stay in touch - is to offer a newsletter (e-zine) related
to your site. But you can capture email addresses in many
other ways - e.g. competitions, e-mail courses, site
membership - just be creative.
This article explains how to write a newsletter
- http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/publish-news
This ebook (not free!) explains how to think creatively when
it comes to email capture
- http://www.wise-buys.info/go/list-machine.html
And this software lets you send newsletters, e-mail courses,
auto responders - you name it - for one single payment.
(There's now a free trial, too!)
- http://www.wise-buys.info/go/autoresponseplus.html
==> 5. Monitor your site stats
You must know how many visitors your website gets, where
they come from, and what pages they view.
And this means that you must have access to your website
stats. (Otherwise, how will you know what your visitors
really like, and what they don't like, about your site,
other than by asking them, of course - see part 2 of
this article!)
To learn more, just read these two articles about website
stats and tracking your visitors:
- Analyse Your Website Traffic:
http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/web-traffic
- Learn From Your Visitors Using Cookies:
http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/cookies.html
~~~
In part 2, you'll learn about hosting, promoting and
automating the site creation process. And you'll read about
some extra considerations that help make a website
successful.
Part 2 continues here...
http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/build-a-website-2.html
© Copyright 2002-2004 Steve Nash. All Rights Reserved.
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Tags: search engines, google, free trial, web designer, money, keyword research tool, wordtracker, amazon, profitable website, usability, online tool