Many people decide to build a website to complement their offline business. Others want to create an information site (called an infosite) to make money online.
Or maybe they just want to make a personal website dedicated to their hobby or life experiences. But where to begin?
Choose a Subject
First, decide on the subject. This may already be established if it is a company website (i.e. to help advertise a home repairs business).
If it is an infosite, the subject needs to be carefully researched. A topic that is too broad (i.e. stock market investing) will have to beat a lot of competition. A more focused niche (i.e. UK penny stocks) stands a better chance of getting a good page ranking with the search engines.
Research Keywords
Having relevant keywords is incredibly important in driving traffic to a site. The site may have great high-value content but without good keywords, the people who want the information will never find it. To research the popularity and advertiser competition of specific keywords, try using Google’s free Keyword Tool.
Create a Tier Structure
Using a program like Microsoft Excel, make a brief plan of the site, from the first tier homepage, linking to 6-12 second tier pages. Make sure each page is tightly focused on a specific keyword. These can link to third tier pages, of which there can be many. This ensures the site navigation is simple and intuitive.
Register a Domain
Pick a domain name that is simple, easy to remember, and relevant. If it contains more than one word, split out the words with a dash (“-“) so it is easy to read. For example: www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com.
To find out if a domain name is available to buy, look it up at Better Who Is. Then compare the many companies offering domain name registration and website hosting at Host Finder.
Design the Site
This is the most complex part – if only because some knowledge of graphic design and HTML is needed. Fortunately, there is a quick solution. Either locate a design template online or go to a professional agency such as Cre8ve Media who can set up a website for an affordable price. It’s well worth getting a professional look if the site is intended to attract new business – that way it will soon pay for itself.
Create Content
With a design template in place, the site needs to be filled with content. Using an HTML editing program (such as the free, downloadable Komposer), write content in the preview mode. The program automatically converts the work to HTML – ready for uploading to the site.
An important feature of writing web content is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is the technique of placing focused keywords in the page title, description, and in the first and last sentence of body text. Also scatter keywords sparingly throughout the text – but don’t go overboard, as the Google algorithm will pick up any manipulation.
In the HTML code, place meta tags (i.e. keywords and descriptions) for Google to log. Template tags are available online for free. Human visitors will never see these but search engines use them to check for relevancy. This is important in the traffic stakes.
Place Adverts
The easiest way to profit from a website business is to install a feature like Google AdSense. This automatic program places appropriate text ads on the website, which generate a profit every time a user clicks on the ad.
Also offer advertising space for related businesses (including graphic ads and text links) or sell affiliate products online with dedicated product pages.
Confused?
These are the basic steps to building a profitable website – but there is lots more to learn about each stage that is beyond the scope of this article. For an all-in-one guide to these processes and more, check about the user-friendly tool called Site Build It. SBI is an online course that teaches anyone how to build a website for profit. It is highly recommended for the beginner webmaster.
Further Reading
If you found How to Build a Website interesting, you may also like:
Site Build It: An Independent Review
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