subject: Basic Steps to Creating a Website [print this page] Basic Steps to Creating a Website Basic Steps to Creating a Website
Building a website has never been easier. More and more hosting companies are not providing web site builders and tools with their hosting plans. A web-hosting company is basically where your website lives so that people can access it. Most hosting companies will provide an array of templates and functions that will help you create a website that is professional and functional in no time at all.However, before you can start building a website, there are some steps you'll need to do first. If you don't already have a business or a product, you'll need to decide just what type of business you are interested in. This is often called finding a niche market or a smaller market within a larger one. In my opinion, this is the hardest part of building a website, deciding just what type of business you want to go into. If you are already in business or know what type of products, services or information you want to provide, building your site is the easy part.What Are You Passionate About?I recommend picking a topic or business that you are passionate about. You want to create a business and not just a website. Therefore create your internet business around something that makes you excited. This will give you the motivation and desire to keep it going while it is growing. When you are engaged in projects you love, it's not like working at all. It's more like fun.Research Topics for Public InterestAll topics won't make you money and some topics have heavy competition. You may need to select 2-3 topics and then do your due diligence to find out which one will be the most profitable. This is where research comes in. You will need to research your topic and popular keywords to see if there are enough people searching your subject.Research Topic for MonetizationThere maybe a large audience for your subject, but can you make any money off of it? Are there products, either tangible or digital that can be tied in with your topic? For example, if you are interested in "beach weddings" what types of products or services can you sale or provide? Perhaps you can create a list of the best hotels on the beach for a honeymoon. You would want to then find hotels that would give you a commission for each person you referred and who booked at their hotel. This is called affiliate marketing. You are selling someone else's product or service. Or maybe you could create your own product. If you are a creative writer with an artistic flair you could create wedding invitations that reflect the ocean and nature. Or maybe you could write an Ebook on how to have the perfect beach wedding. This is just one example.Finding, Creating, and Adding Content for Your WebsiteAfter you have selected your business topic, done your research and found a money-making topic, you need to fill your website with valuable content. You have several options. You can write these articles yourself, use other people's articles for free, or pay a small fee to have someone write articles for you. If you enjoy writing and are knowledgeable about your topic, it's not difficult to create your own content. There are also many article directories like Ezine Articles, Go Articles, and Article Base that have articles you can use for free as long as you include the author's byline. Lastly, you can hire someone through services like Elance and Guru to write articles for you, sometimes for as little as $10.00 per story.Selecting a Domain NameOnce you have planned your site and brainstormed your content it is time to register a domain name. Again, for the best search engine results, select a domain name that is a popular keyword and if possible get a domain that ends in.com. If "beach weddings" is your topic, then a domain like beachweddings.com would be ideal provided you did your homework and this is a popular search engine keyword with low competition. I recommend Go Daddy for registering your domain name. They have some of the best prices on the internet and are very popular with excellent customer service.Putting It All TogetherOnce you have completed the following tasks, it's time to build your website. There is no reason that you cannot build a website quickly and easily on your own with all the web-building products on the market. The web builder and hosting company I recommend most is Webs.com. I have built many websites for people using this company because it's fast, easy, and very cost effective in terms of their hosting plan. Also, you can build a shopping cart and add a variety of other features to your site.
