The information presented here is from the most successful experts in web site development and marketing. Here you will find condensed information, help and resources to get you started or continue your marketing plan. There are many
free templates and tools for small businesses as well as free ebooks click here for one of the best free ebooks you can download which can give you the inside track to the marketing of your business on the web.
Need some help with creating content? Make Your Words Sell is another free ebook
click here to download it right now.
But don't worry templates and software is one thing and proven success is another. So you will also find detailed information from proven internet marketing experts.
How to begin to make your own web site? First you need a plan in
order to make your own ecommerce or small business web site. To help you with your plan we have formulated a
series of questions to help you focus your new web site for success.
click here
to go to our web site planning page. If you already have a business and a
basic business plan that's great. If you are starting a brand new business and
need help with a basic plan then
click
here to go to our sample business plan page. There you will find advice,
free tools and more to guide you. Your basic plan and your web site specific
plan will compliment each other as you move forward toward your new web site.
When you are finished with the web site planning page
and business plan page come on back and
let's get going on the next phase of your new ecommerce web site.
How will I get people to visit my web site? This is
the big question for every web site owner. No visitors no success, on the
internet it is just that simple.
How will people find your web site? The world wide web
is like a giant beach and just putting up a web site is like throwing a grain of
sand on that beach you are virtually invisible among the millions of other
grains of sand. But it doesn't have to be that way. You can reach your target
audience if you know how. (target audience, is a marketing term for the people
you want to reach, to sell to; or get your message to. For more marketing terms
and definitions go to our
web site
planning page.)
Let's see what three noted experts have to say about
getting visitors to come to your web site and web site success in general.
Ken Evoy ,
Danny Sullivan and
Dr. Ralph Wilson are well
known internet marketing experts who have established track records of success
on the internet.
To read about them click on their names above.
Ken Evoy
"..when people search for information they turn to search engines, like
Google ,Yahoo or MSN, the words they use to describe what they are
searching for are called keywords..." when these keywords are found by the
search engines they bring up your web site. This is a generalization of how
search engines work. Their method of finding and listing web sites is much more
complex. They use what are called algorithms. (for a definition of algorithms go
to our FAQ page)
...to
go through all the masses of information contained in millions of web sites and
then provide the information which best matches the query.""..information,
information, information is what the internet is all about."
"..... a
successful ecommerce web site, is one that gets the product, service, or message
to your target audience, the people who want your product, message or service.
To do that you need to use the search engines and to do that
successfully you need to optimize your web pages for the search engines. And
what search engines want is good useful content."
Danny Sullivan
"..to me quality content is the bedrock to
success. If you have a firm
foundation, good material that also makes use of the key terms you want to be
found for, everything else only adds to helping it succeed.""...algorithms
change and search engines come and go...good content pleases people,
people then link to it and links are enduring. They'll keep you flying in the
long run."
Dr. Ralph Wilson
" ...Real estate brokers tell us of three
important factors in appraising a particular piece of property. They are, in
this order: location, location, location. Translate to marketing your business
on the Web and these become content, content, content. For business Web sites,
it usually means information. "
"an example follows....
Benjamin Riggnor wants to move his small coin collecting shop to the Web, so he can reach a global
audience, rather than just people in McLean Co., Illinois. On a limited budget
he hires a web designer and ends up with three web pages:
- Welcome page which also tells about his business
- A list of 60 coins he feels would be of wider interest
- An order form
He advertises his website to the basic search engines, and after a few weeks,
if he searches hard, he can find Riggnor Coins under the words "coin collector".
He gets a few hits, sells a few coins. But mainly he wonders: What's wrong? The
answer is found in a word: Content. "
From what these three experts say content or good
information is what is needed to make your new web site more than just another
grain of sand on the beach of the world wide web.
Content and proper use of the search engines is the ticket to success. You need
to optimize your web site's pages with keywords about your product or service
that the search engines will recognize and then return the results to the web
surfer who seeks the information. But How?
Let's see how
the elements of the web site go together and then produce the desired result.
Content (information)
This is what the web site contains. The words that
makeup the information you include on your site. This is very important, why
because, remember what the experts said, the way your web site reaches your
target market is through the search engines and they hunt for content, like pigs
hunt truffles. No content the search engine walks away and your web site never
shows up to web suffers. Don't be fooled into thinking you can just plug in some keywords and
bang you will have content. It's been tried, the search engines are too smart
for that. They have ways to weed out keyword spamming. In fact they can even ban
you if they think you are keyword spamming them. (for more in depth information on this
topic
click here)
We have help for you if you need it. A
free E-Course that helps you write for the net. It comes in PDF form and
can be downloaded to your desktop.
To take a look click
here, Need help creating content for your web site try this free ebook click here
keywords (part of your content)
These are a part of your content but they also need to
be used properly for them to achieve maximum value in your web site. If you read
the articles recommended below about keywords you will understand how important
they are. Also you will see how to analyze them for high value and how to use them correctly
on your web site.
keywords and how they
work here are some detailed free articles click here
Analysis ( of your keywords and their search engine
appeal)
A free resource for doing this job is
,this offers a free trial and allows you to see what demand there is for
various keywords you are using in your web site.
Yahoo keyword selector tool is a tool that is also free
and can be found at Overture.com in the advertising tool section. This will allow
you to see the search popularity of your keywords. It also offers a bidding tool
to help you evaluate the competition among other similar web sites.
An all in one free tool that offers great information
and help you is "SEARCH IT"
click here see how it works. This is a product developed by Sitesell.com,
you will see a pop under ad but the tool is totally free and one of the most
useful resources out there.
Search Engine Optimization
This is the process of making your web pages appealing to
the search engines. A whole industry has sprung up around this process charging
big money. But you can be successful without the expensive fees if you use a
few tools that are available to you. Here is a link to several free articles
This link takes you to Search Engine Watch,http://searchenginewatch.com/
which is a
website run by one of our quotable experts Danny Sullivan. There you will find
tons of free expert information. There are opportunities to subscribe to a news
letter or web site membership, if you wish to but just making use of the free
information is more than enough to help you optimize your web site for the
search engines. (College courses use this web site extensively to show their
students how and why various techniques are used and their usefulness.)
Also if you want even more information on the search engine
process another location at the same web site run by Danny Sullivan is this one
Search
Engine Watch Webmasters
It provides more free information
from the experts on the hows and whys of the search engines.
Ok, you have all the elements, you have your plan,
general and specific, you have a good amount of expert advise and resources to
draw upon. Now It is time to select a web site builder so you
can combine all of the elements and actually make your own web site.
What web site Builder is best for you? How
to choose...click on the statement below that best describes you.
1. I have no time to build my own web site I
need help.
2. I can build my own web site with some step
by step guidance.
What you need to know about selling products
online from your web site.
If you have decided to sell any type of product online
then you are going to need answers to most if not all of the questions listed below.
Click here
to find some answers.
- What is an online store ?
- How to find payment system providers?
- How to set up a merchant account?
- Which are the best payment systems for my business?