Tips from the diary of a newbie
Well, I’ve been away for too long. Actually, it’s only been about 2 weeks that I haven’t done anything noticeable in the site. Now trust me, I have been busy. I’ve been developing a funny section to the site. And I will be very happy when it is ready. (I have a feeling you’ll like it, otherwise I’ve wasted all that time for nothing.) But on the other hand, I have neglected the main reason why I’m here: For you readers. This is not a good thing.
So I would like to make it up to you. Let me explain: When creating a web site with the intention of trying to make a buck or two, you must keep your eye on the target. You must have a well-defined goal. And when you work on the site on a day-to-day basis, you must be reminded of the goal. I personally believe that this is one of the mistakes that I am guilty of. I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) but that isn’t an excuse. It is something that just means that you have to try a little bit harder to focus. However, the benefit of having ADD, is that when you are focused, you ARE focused. Literally everything else just melts away. Anyhow, I digress. The main issue is how to get your site into a position that can bring people in and keep them there.
Got a Goal?
Well, you have your domain registered and your site space bought. But what is the purpose of your site? If your site is just to go “Hey world! Look at me! Look at pictures of my pet poodle! Ain’t she cute?” Uh… expect a little bit of disappointment when the traffic doesn’t show. It’s not your fault, it’s just that no one really gives a crap about your dog wearing a sweater. In all honesty, save it for the relatives. Let’s say that you are the classic geek and you decide that you want to prove to the world at large that Elvis was really kidnapped by aliens and is currently working in
Who are you here for?
Cool, you have a goal. Congrats. Now here’s another question: Who do you want to see this? I’ll give you a hint: the answer is not “EVERYONE”. I know you’d like everyone to know about what happened to poor Elvis in that alien-ran sweatshop, but realistically, there are only certain groups that will ever go for it. They are your base. Treat to them. If you know that pretty much that only 16-45 males are going to be at your site, then you probably have a porn site, and you should read my other article: “ So you wanna be an internet pimp, but still want to live with mom? “ but if not, you should make sure that almost all items on your site deal with the target audience. I worked radio sales for a few years, and the music that they play isn’t by accident. They target a particular group, and play only music that the particular group would like, along with the advertisements that would be of interest to the target age group. Do not try to have a site for quantum physics, and then on the side have stuff for “bikini babes”. It’s kind of a “one or the other” type of deal. Don’t try to be a “jack of all trades” kind of site. Stick to what you know best. * note, this is my worst part. I love to have a site that is a “be all, do all” site, and I really think that hurts the viewers in the end.
What it look like?
Well, you have two of the essential questions nailed down. Hmm now what the heck is this thing gonna look like? Maybe throw a picture here, a textbox there. Some links over there, hmm… maybe have a green and red color scheme going on. This has been the pit-fall of soo many “would-be” webmasters. The idea rocks. They have great content, and a brilliant idea. But when you get there, HOLY CRAP!! MY EYES!! ARGGHH!! –you get the point. Now I have had a comment or two about my layout (mainly font size) so no one is perfect. However, before you ever sit down and write one line of HTML code. Draw out the site. Literally, take it to pen and paper. Layout where you want each section to go. If you are lost, here are a few places to look around for ideas.
The main goal is to have a very good idea of: A) What the site will look like. B) How to navigate from one place to another.
While designing, keep in mind that you want to make sure that people can figure out how to get around your site with minimal effort. Just because it seems easy to you, doesn’t mean that everyone can figure it out: ask a friend to see if they can figure out your design without explaining it to them. (No one will explain it to them once the site is online) If they can, you’re good. Otherwise, you will have to use their input and redo the layout/ navigation. My best tip for you is to K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). Don’t believe me? Look at Google. Simplicity at it’s finest.
Now if you happen to have quite a bit of money handy, you could always hire a web developer to create that stuff for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. But if you’re a poor slob like the rest of us, you better start cracking. I personally believe that this is the hardest step, and one of the most important.
Setting up shop
This is the part I leave totally up to you. There are literally thousands of providers out there with some pretty decent deals. I used register.com for my domain name registration. The name you pick for your site is very important. It can either make or break a site. For example: which is easier to remember? A simple, yet brilliant name like, ohh I don’t know… let’s say: JAKKAR.COM.
See? Easy to remember, only 4 different letters, and rolls of the tongue soo nicely( JÄ – CAŘ). Ok, ok, I think you get the picture. Anyhow, that is far easier to remember or type than: heyihaveproofthatelviswaskidd
nappedbyaliensandworksinasweatshop.com. So when you come up with your name, try to keep it simple, relevant if you can. (again, this is something that I am guilty of not doing) . Oh! And most importantly, not taken already. (sorry, bob.com is already gone). Now for a place to setup up your shop. If you have a real good computer and know how to do so, you can set up your own personal dedicated server. For the rest of us slobs, there are server places out there that will rent space on their machines. For my server, I used serverroom.us. If you want to try either of these, that is fine with me. You might even find a better deal elsewhere. Just shop around before you buy. Also you will have to see what the server supports for languages (programming languages, that is)
I guess now would be a good time to ask yourself whether or not you know how to program (write) web pages? Again, if you are rich, you can hire someone to do that all for you without having to lift a finger. But again, we will assume that you are not rich (henceforth, you are here). If you know how to program and all of that good stuff, great. If you don’t, again, here are a few sites to look at just to get started in a general direction.
Actually, the list goes on, and on. But this should at least give you a starting point. Now when it comes to any dynamic content, IE: you want users to send pictures, or fill out forms, you will need some type of language for this. There are dozens of languages out there that you can develop with to do this. Which language you pick is up to you.
Q: Uh, I heard this one language is better than the others. Is this true?
A: Not really, it’s a matter of personal taste. People will swear by their favorite language. Each language has its own ups and downs. So pick what is most comfortable to you, and which language is best suited for your needs.
Now, you should have at least the basics of what you want on the site, and how you will implement it. There are a few further suggestions for you. One is blogging. With a blog, you do not have to create any further coding to implement it. And it gives you a chance to update content on your site. Technically, you can have your whole site just a blog. Many people do this. I have this site 50/50. There are some parts that I do not want attached into the blog. (again, personal preference) if you are looking for a blog software to go with, the most popular is www.blogger.com Which is what this site is running.
Another thing to look into is revenue. Now if you mainly have this site set up to earn money, you have to have either your product, service, whatever set up in such a way that it is easy for users to access. And if you still want to earn money, but you do not have either a product or a service to push, do what most people do. Use your site as an ad platform. Google’s adSense is one of the bigger ones out there, and there are several other ones out there. Most are based on a “per click” basis. Ok, We’ll assume you don’t understand what that means. “per click” means that there are ads placed on your site for other sites. When someone clicks on the ad on your site, you get money. (like $.05) . I know it doesn’t sound like much, but say you have 1,000 clicks on your ads a month. Hmm, let’s look at that $0.05 per click times 1000 clicks in a month...
0.05
x 1,000
----------
$50.00
Ok, well that turns into something a little bit better. You just got $50 for doing nothing. I wish I had that job! Now to be honest, not everyone that comes through your site is gonna click on the ads. Actually, it would be nice if every 1 out of 1,000 visitors clicked on the ads. But if you end up with a lot of traffic, anything is possible. Real quick, a friend just emailed me a pretty decent link that had some relevant information about placing ads on your site: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/2005-traffic-adsense-revenue-growth/ . Of course after awhile I was getting sick and tired of listening to the “I just made $5,500 a month, just on ‘pay-per-clicks’!” but the man has some pretty valid points.
Off and running
Okie dokie! You have everything ready. You have the site set up with your domain name; content is being either uploaded, or entered. Now you can either sit back and wait for the millions of users to come on in, or you can start working on a regiment to keep the site fresh. (If you take the first option, I hate to break it to you, but you’ll have a looong wait).
Lets’ stick with the second option:
- Keeping it fresh. What other relevant information can you add? Do you need to have more user interaction? Add videos? Pictures? Message boards? Think of ways that each time a user shows up, there will be something new for them to look over and keep them coming back.
- Feedback. Hey! What can I do to make the site easier for you to use. Even though you did a good layout, there is always room for improvement. Ask the users what they think, and implement what you can. Even though they may initially sound like an attack on you, it’s most likely constructive criticism.
- Let people know you are out there. Sometimes word of mouth does wonders and you will get the word out about your site, and that will generate people into your site, but sometimes it’ not quite enough. There are several other entries on this blog that cover some ideas to generate traffic. Look through the blog.
- Keep track of the traffic. There are thousands of ways to do this, but there are some pretty decent free places out there which will run a counter on your site, with some information about who came from where, how long they stayed, etc, etc. Again, I have some of this information already out on some of my older posts. Check them out.
And just as a little bit of a help for me. If you read this, and hopefully it was slightly useful for you, just drop me a line, or tell a friend about it. But I would love to hear any success stories from this. Email me any success Stories (will publish)
Part II will be posted soon.
posted by Corbett @ 3:36 PM
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