NOT a Guru!
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
This is the first of a series of articles concerning building your very first website. It is written from the perspective of newcomers to the Internet who might not have a lot of money to initially invest in their web business.
What Is the Focus and Purpose of Your Website?
The first thing you need to do is decide what you want your website to be about, and what the goals of the site will be. For instance:
- Will you be selling retail products that you already have?
- Do you intend to make money by selling other people’s products and receiving a commission for the sales?
- Do you want to sell information, either via a membership site or digital downloaded products?
- Are you more interested in readership and popularity than making money with your site?
Work With What You Already Have: Your Brick and Mortar Business.
For a mom and pop business owner who wants to take his or her brick or mortar business online, the subject matter will be obvious: The site will feature your business and its products for sale.
Work Around What You Already Have: Your Interests and Knowledge.
If you do not have your own products but are thinking about starting an online business in order to make a bit of extra money, it’s a good idea to create a site about something that interests you and that you have some knowledge about. This is to keep your interest alive. Your site is going to take a bit of work, so if you are not really interested in the topic that you are working on, the temptation to watch TV or do something unproductive will eventually override your dedication to your Internet business.
If you are creating your first site solely for the purpose of making money and are working on a topic that does not captivate your interests, you might get bored and burn out before your see some appreciable revenue. You can always create other revenue sites later, but for your “first love” in which you will be learning the Internet as you go, work on something you enjoy.
A surprising number of people do not know what their passions are. Here are ways to identify what will keep your interest level high:
- Take a look at the books and magazines you read. You’ll see some themes.
- Who are your best friends, and what do you usually talk about? Again, you’ll be able to identify some themes.
- Imagine that money was no object; that you did not have to work for a living. How would you spend your time?
- When you were a little kid, what did you say you wanted to be when you grew up? Or maybe more appropriately, what didn’t you say for fear of rejection or disapproval? There’s a key about what motivates you that can be unlocked if you can hone in on your wishes and dreams.
See If There is An Audience.
For the site that is based on something other than an exisitng mom and pop business, after you have identified your passions, here’s a way to focus them into something that will generate some online interest. After all, you want traffic to your site — there’s no point in spending a lot of time developing a site when no one is interested in what you have to say.
- Write down your top 5 favorite activities or interests, whether it’s iPod music, health, the environment, you name it.
- Go over to Google’s search-based keyword tool and take look at the keywords by categories. This will identify what people are searching for on the Internet and give you some ideas. If you are not sure how to do this, take a look at my article about this wonderful tool that is free from Google.
- If there are at least 75 searches a month, there will be some interest in your chosen topic. You might want to go with topics that have a lower competition.
Mom and pop business owners who already have inventory should also take a look at the keyword-based search tool to get an idea of what they should feature on their sites.
Conclusion of Day 1.
Of course, these ideas are not set in stone, but I believe that they will be a great way to begin work on your first site. In summary:
- Identify your purpose in creating a site (i.e., sharing informaiton, selling your inventory, making money).
- Identify the subject matter (or niche) of your site.
- Match your subject matter with what people are interested in by using keyword searches.
Tomorrow: Mapping Out What You Want.
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THANK YOU
I think before making website on specific niche . First of all should research market. Search the term on google you want to rank for and if there are government, wikipedia related websites on top then it is more difficult to rank for that term.
This is the toughest thing, to make a decision. It takes a lot of time to realize what you really want to do in life. On thinking, sometimes you feel frustrated, but if you realize it you will really feel happy.
Good comments, and thanks!
For first timers, I think that Google’s search-based tool will be quite helpful to see if there is a market. They can also check ehow and some other sites … the main thing is to focus on something that ignites their interest, since they will be learning how to set up a website and will burn out if the topic is boring.
From there, keyword research is critical. We’ll be going into that in future days. Use — or non-use — of keyword research will make or break a site.
very nice article. thanks
First of all should research market. Search the term on Google you want to rank for and if there are government, wikipedia related websites on top then it is more difficult to rank for that term.
Very nice article thank you