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How To Build Your Own Web Site For Your Online Business
Most everyone will agree, if you are going to do business
online, you need your own web site. It can be a mini-site or a
full blown multi-page mega-monster. These days, maybe you just
need a blog as a web site.
If you are serious about sustaining a long term home based
internet business though, you should have a web site of your
own. 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. Having your own site may open up many
possibilities that you could never have imagined. For the many
who embark upon their own web site adventure, it becomes a
learning experience with no equal.
Your web site will take on a personality of its own and be the
front door to your online home business. You may see it as a
very patient friend, waiting calmly for you to discover some
little hidden function, which opens up a whole range of entirely
new possibilities, and starts your thoughts racing - thinking
about how to capitalize on that particular feature.
You may get a little careless, or too relaxed with it, then bam!
Right between the eyes. Oh, no, you've just wiped out your index
page by mistake. Happily, you're not just enthusiastic, but also
careful. You have a copy on your hard drive, so that's easy to
fix. Anyway, it's fun, can be profitable, and most certainly
could feed that creative flair in all of us.
The first thng to do when starting your web site is to pick a
domain name. The domain name will be something like
yoursite.com. A domain name should be researched carefully. Its
best to have highly searched for keywords in the name. A neat
and free tool to help you pick a domain name is The Domain Twist.
Begin An Internet Empire!Well, Id first like to talk about what exactly has inspired you to read this article. Was it just look that youve stumbled across it or was it ..... 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.
You can also use Wordtracker's FREE trial to give you keyword
ideas: http://wordtracker.com
Searching Google at http://www.google.com will give you an idea
about competition for any particular keyword.
Use Overture's search box to find how many times your keyword
was searched on last month:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
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 build your actual 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 web sites though is Killer SEO Site Builder. 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 automatically. It
also allows you to syndicate your site with its own RSS feed and
will also read the RSS feeds of other sites.
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 ot 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 interlaced low-res images that have been optimized for 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 golfers. They may be interested
in network marketing, but they probably got to your site via a
search for a golf 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.
Know your target audience, and 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.
Highlight important selling words and phrases 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 is
SmartFTP. When you upload your site, you must upload the
index.html file, any other linked HTML files, all the graphics
files and any external CSS or Javascript files you may have
created.
Once you are online, focus on driving targeted traffic to your
web site by writng articles, getting backlinks and Search Engine
Optimization.
About the author:
Greg Lietz is a freelance writer and internet businessman. His
main website is http://www.theonlinebizplace.com where he
provides content about internet based business opportunities
and web site marketing strategies.
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