Make A Website

You no longer have to be a tech geek to build a website. 

There are lots of online services and easy to use software that will allow you to make a website. 

Which service you use depends on what type of website you want to make. 

If you have never built a website or tried to make money with a website before, use Site Build It.  You will be guided through the entire process of developing a strategy, establishing a website, getting traffic, making money, and achieving the freedom that comes with online success.

If you want a blog, use Blogger or WordPress.  If you want to create a social network, use Ning.

If you have some technical skills, use the site building tools and software from Adobe and sign up with a good web hosting company.

No matter what type of service or skills you use to build your website, here's a few things to remember while building your site: 

SEO

As you build the pages of your site, learn about search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Put keywords in your titles, headlines, links and in the content of your site. Putting keywords on your site tells the search engines what your site is about.

Search engine rankings are determined by a calculated set of parameters called algorithms. The parameters might include keyword density, site theme, link popularity, title, and many other factors.  Each search engine uses different algorithms to rank their search results, but they all follow the same general principles.

Only 1 in every 20 search engine users will make it to the second page of results so creating a site that ranks well enough to get top billing could change the status of your business and your life. The traffic from search engines is important because it is free.

Search engine algorithms have been improving as they strive to produce the most relevant results. Search engine results once focused on keywords and then everyone began stuffing their sites with popular words that had nothing to do with their site. Web sites are now penalized by search engines for "keyword stuffing" and the advanced search engine algorithms have figured out how to avoid most tricks. 

The main focus of SEO efforts should be creating a site that will allow the search engines and your visitors to understand what your site is about without doing things that will ge your site penalized or banned.

LINK POPULARITY

We all know that links from other web sites are good. What you may not know is that the extra traffic being generated from outside links also influences your rankings at the search engines.

The theory is that sites with a lot of external links must be popular and relevant. The search engines rank your site partly based on the quality of the links.  They do this by determining how popular the linking site is and how many web sites link to the site that links to you.

Using one of the spam blaster services that creates links for you in "thousands" of directories and classified ad sites won't automatically improve your web site ranking. Directories with no visitors and no incoming links won't do much good for you no matter how many thousands of these directories you submit to.

Get links to your site by being impressive.

FIRST IMPRESSION

Most web users give a web site less than three seconds before clicking a link or hitting the back button. The biggest mistake on the web today is confusing front pages. Part of this results from the quality real estate your front page represents so the temptation is to fill it with all of your valuable content and links.

Your front page should make it very easy for visitors to understand who you are and if they are in the correct place. Use the front page to attract and route your visitors to secondary pages where detailed links and content will be more appropriate.

If your front page takes a long time to load, all of your pages will take a long time to load as far as the visitor is concerned.

A confusing front page tells the visitor that your site navigation is something they might have to spend time figuring out. Implant into your mind the knowledge that web users don't take time to figure things out, they simply hit the back button.

NAVIGATION

Make your site easy to navigate.  Your visitors should never have to stop and figure how to navigate your site. They should never be confused about what graphics they need to click or where they are.

Most web users scan a page for appropriate links rather than taking the time to begin reading navigation instructions or front page content. These "scan and click" visitors like to see easy routing options and obvious links.

Some people scan sites for content and some visitors will immediately type what they are looking for into a site search box. Implementing a search engine on your site will help improve site navigation while ensuring a more productive user experience for the searchers.

Don't forget to consider your users' hardware when preparing the navigation strategies of your site.  Try to limit your use of large graphics in order to have a site that is fast for everyone.

Some browsers don't have the ability to display sites built in frames so try to avoid frames or make sure you have a text link leading to a non-frames version of your site.

Test your design on as many platforms, modem speeds, and browsers as possible.  Also remember that people will view your site with varying levels of screen resolution.  This includes a wide range of mobile devices.

Always perform as much usability testing as possible. You want to know if you have confusing links or error messages before general visitors have access to the site.  Ask your family, friends, and co-workers to look at your "in-progress" site designs so you will get immediate feedback during the design process. 

MAKE IT STICKY

Give your visitors a reason to stay on your site and a reason to return.

Repeat visitors are created by earning their trust through honest interaction and quality content. We all have different target markets and each will require different approaches.  Over deliver in terms of content and usability.  This is the best strategy for getting people to use your site repeatedly while telling others about it.

The use of forums and message boards on your site creates a web community where people will return for additional information and communication.

If you have any questions, ask them in the forum

 Next: Set Up Tracking Tools