Many people are thinking or dreaming about starting and building a web site. It is a low cost way to start a business, compared to a physical format. However it does require some specific skills and know-how to do it right.
In the physical retail business, the important ingredient is location. On the Internet it is information. So in a retail store, people come to you and buy. On the Internet people don't come to you, they don't even look for you -- they look for the information they need.
So your job as an Internet business marketer is to see that your web site is "found" by those searching for the information that you offer. So, what do you offer? And who are your potential buyers? Are the answers to their questions on your web site?
Since people find their information through keyword searches, the next question to ask is what keywords or phrases do people use to find the information that I would like to give them?
Then, the first thing to do is to check the search engines on the topic of the business you have in mind to start, and get familiar with the return results of the search engines. Click on the pages that come up and see what the competition is offering.
Then do a search of the keywords that would be related to your business on the Google Keyword Tool and analyse if your idea is lucrative enough to go ahead with that business or if you should be looking for another more lucrative niche.
In other words your original idea may have too many competitors to the point of saturation. It would be very difficult for you to break through that competition. For example "internet business" would be one of those. It would cost a lot of money to get into it and fight your way through that enormous maze.
In the same line, broad keyword niches are too large to attempt also. For example "health", or "fitness" or "diet", etc. However within these keywords may be some lucrative niches that people are looking for but not getting much result -- like "mental health", "family health" or any other word that would suit your specific niche.
Once you have found your niche, the next thing is to research your domain name. It should be related to your keyword so that your main keyword is included in it and then all other potential related keywords will be your secondary page names.
Once that is done, you need to find a good hosting service provider that offers a full and completely integrated package to start and build your web site from start to finish. This means you should have a service that will give you all the tools to start, build, market and submit your web site to search engines.
Then after this is done, you can begin to build your site and pages. Each page should be built on one of the many keywords you researched as being the most lucrative and most related to your business.
Each page should carry the keyword or phrase through the content, so that search engines will pick up the importance of your page to a search. In other words if your business is about "personal health programs", then you should emphasize that keyword phrase on your home page, and then include pages with sub-topics keywords -- example: personal-health-program dot something, slash heart or personal-health-program dot something, slash blood circulation, etc.
Whether you add dashes between the words or not is something you will have to decide. There are different views on it and there are good reasons sometimes to use dashes, if just for the simple fact that it would be hard to read by the human eye if it was written out all in one long word. So do your research, talk to experts and ask questions on Google searches.
Then in your home page, write about your sites purpose and sub-topics using keywords to pages and linking them together for visitors to click on and read further at the related pages.
The key is to continue writing pages to cover all of the keywords you researched to be the most lucrative, starting with the highest to lowest. If you don't have a hosting service that includes submitting to search engines automatically, then make sure to submit each page manually.
Then, use every available way to market your web site to the Internet. Here are some of the most important marketing activities:
1. Build a list (most important because the money is in the list). You do this by offering a subscription to some free offers like a free e-course, weekly tips or monthly newsletters.
2. Write articles to e-zine editors. Do a search on the web and pick some appropriate e-zines.
3. You can do some Pay-Per-Click advertising. Go on Google and read the instructions.
4. Do videos and up-load them to U-Tube (again using keywords in your title).
5. Add Google AdSense to your pages. Again go to Google and read how to do that.
6. Get on related forums and participate in the discussions, offering advice, etc.
7. Join some affiliate merchants that offer complementary products where you get a commission on sales.
8. Write your own products (this is where the real money is) and offer it as e-books, e-courses, e-seminars (webinars), tele-seminars, etc.
9. Get some links from outside web sites into your site.
That's a start. You keep writing and adding pages. Repeat marketing techniques that work best for you and be patient. Depending on how much of a demand your product or service is will dictate how fast your web site will grow./dmh
Diane M. Hoffmann is president of Hoffmann-Rondeau Communications Inc., which offers ONline and OFFline business services and resources. She is the founder and creator of
http://www.build-your-internet-business-now.com and author of several books, e-books and articles on how to start, build and grow your Internet business now. Diane has recently shifted her primary focus to helping folks through the process of starting, building and growing their own Internet business successfully. Articles copyright(c)2009 Diane M. Hoffmann. You may reprint this article without any changes, making sure to include this bio.
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