Okay, I have had many questions recently about how to create a site, how to make money with it, how to get traffic, etc. I have decided to put together my basic tips and techniques with how I’d recommend you start with a webpage. I will not discuss the money issue at this time, but from my prior blog posts, and future ones, I hope you will learn.
1) If you want to become a webmaster, do it because you enjoy it. If you want to make a webpage just to make money, I’d recommend you don’t start. To create a successful webpage in my mind requires your interest, and your willingness to learn.
2) If you are totally lost on how to buy a domain, get hosting, etc., I’d recommend you do some searching on the search engines (SE’s) and see what you can learn.
3) Create an idea that is unique, or an idea that you think you can market well. Unique ideas always attract some sort of attention, so that is probably the way to go.
4) Get a good design. The initial impression of a webpage is very, very important. The idea of landing pages (pages that traffic is directed to) is a big part. The first impression will be a win or a lose, so make sure you choose something that both you and your visitors will like.
5) Know your niche. I’d highly recommend you join forums/communities that fit into your niche. Forums are a great place to learn more about your niche, and also promote your niche. Make sure you don’t spam, as that can/most likely will destroy your reputation.
6) This ties into #4, but make sure your code is valid. When SE’s crawl your site, they see the code, not what the typical visitor sees. Make sure you utilize <h> tags (h1, h2, etc.), title tags, and meta tags. These pieces are easy ways to give the readers an idea of what content is on the page, and therefore SE’s tend is utilize it in their rankings.
7) Gaining traffic to your site can be a hard thing. However, “build it and they will come”. If you build something that is interesting or useful, people will come. Marketing your site is a big thing- to make people aware. Here is a little fact for you – at any given time in the United States alone, around 30-40 million people are online. Imagine how many people are using a search engine of some sort? Over half! Without search engines, finding information is very hard to do. If you place information online that you want to promote, and people can’t find it, it is basically worthless, that is why it is important to get your webpage into those search engines, and optimize them to get a higher ranking.
8 ) Off of #7, you want to optimize your site… so what do you do? First off, think of some keywords or phrases to target. If you have nothing to target, then what goals do you have? I’d recommend researching searches of keywords and phrases about your niche, and picks which ones you to target. Find out how many searches per day these keywords/phrases get, etc. You might not think optimizing is important, but it really is. It can lead to a lot of traffic. If you can optimize your site good enough for a popular phrase that is searched say 10,000 times a day, and you can get into the #1 spot for that search, you are likely to receive 90-95% of that traffic.
9) Keep your webpage fresh. Add content, or come up with new ideas to keep people interested. Make sure you have good uptime… if your site crashes on a regular basis, visitors will leave and have a tendency not to come back.
10) Remember, there is a fine line between targeted traffic and non-targeted traffic. Targeted traffic will lead to further interest of those visitors, which may mean promoting the site on their part, and having those visitors return. Non-targeted traffic is traffic that basically just passes through… which isn’t always bad. Another great thing about SE’s is that nearly all the traffic you get through them is targeted. I’d recommend you do some research about targeted/non-targeted traffic. It is a big piece to the internet advertising world.
Well, there is a start. Look forward to seeing a lot more advanced information soon, but I hope this will help you get an idea and get started. Have fun, set goals, and learn.
Patrick
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