Webmaster Discussions

Developing a website is important if you want to be a player in ecommerce. However, you don’t want to just develop a website any old way. Instead, you want to develop a website for your audience. When doing research online you have probably seen generalized information on how to develop a website, however it is unlikely you have found significant information on how to develop a website specifically for your audience. The following tips will be really helpful to you to develop a website just for your audience.

Tip #1 Goal

First you need a goal when you are developing a website for your audience. If you do not know what you are looking to achieve then it will be very difficult to be successful. Also, it takes a goal to drive your website where it needs to be. A goal is what allows you to develop an initial plan for your website and helps guide you in developing your website as well.

Tip #2 Audience

Your audience is very important and should be considered in conjunction with your goal when developing a website. Basically, you are developing your website for a certain audience and these are the people that will help meet your goal so this is very important to consider. Just make sure you determine who your audience is before you begin developing your website.

Tip #3 Content for Audience

Once you have determined your goal and your audience it is time to determine the content that will be used for your audience. You might not realize it, but the type of audience you are focusing on will really affect the content you use on your website. So, make sure you have your audience targeted so you know what content will work best for these individuals.

Tip #4 Update

Another important tip for developing a website for your audience is to plan when you will provide updates. This might seem like something you could consider down the road when your site needs updating, but is really not the case. You need to know when your audience will most likely be viewing your site and when they won’t so you know when to provide updates. A little bit of planning will go a long way.

Tip #5 Format

The format of your website is also a very important aspect and one that will really affect whether or not you reach your audience. Once you know who your audience is you will have no problem developing a format that will reach them. Also, your format improves your site’s message, so it is beneficial in a variety of ways.

There are more than a hundred websites; in fact the number of website is exploding exponentially. If there were only a hundred Web sites, you might think they would each get a lot more attention, but that’s not the case. If there only a hundred web sites, no one would bother surfing the Web at all. It’s the large number of sites covering a large range of topics that has caused hundreds of millions of people to go online.

Web presence is not a zero sum game. That’s a term that economist use to describe a situation where one person making a gain means that someone else is making a loss. Instead, the more people who play the Internet game, that surf and interact online, , the more audience and money there is to go around. Because of this, other sites aren’t the enemy. Other sites are your friend.

Here in Toronto, there is a district that seems to be saturated with computer stores. You can get computer parts at great prices. There is intense competition, as the different stores compete on price, on the latest technology, on selection and quality. If you think about it, these shops are all cooperating. Even if the owners of the shop never speak to each other, even if they despise one another, they make the district the place to go for computer parts. And by offering such a huge selection overall, they make sure that anyone looking for a part is sure to find it there ? no matter how obscure. In contrast, the shopper at an unattached computer store may not find the desired part.

The stores are in competition, but competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. If you start an online site offering currency trading education and three other sites do the same, you are in competition with them. However your real competition is the similar educational tools in brick & mortar bookstores. If people start thinking that the web is the best place of tried and true trading strategies, then it helps you all.

All that is passive cooperation. It doesn’t require anyone to directly make plans with anyone else. Most of the active cooperation you are likely to be involved in will be with sites that are not offering exactly the same products and services that you are. Instead, you should try cooperating with sites that share the same audience but different products. A site that offers Country music may cooperate with a site that sells Cowboys hats.

The overall point is that there is a large ocean of potential clients out there, and when you cooperate with others trying to fish in this ocean, you increase your chances of success. Better to have 1% of a billion dollar market than 100% of a million dollar market.

Think about working together with others online ? learn from people who are doing what you want to do. The internet market is still growing ? in both the number of users, but even the current users’ willingness to engage in commerce online. Be a part of it ? even if it’s a small part, the rewards will blow your mind.

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

What technology tools do successful websites use? Remember that a website is a store front; it’s your customer service rep, delivery guy and your marketing department rolled up into one.

“We are open”
People don’t enter stores that have a closed sign at the door. (Well some do, but? you know, we talking about the law abiding kind here.) Nothing says ‘Closed” louder on a website than old content: old date references and postings. So one of the best things you can do is to get a script that keeps the current date front and center for your visitors. You don’t have to update it everyday ? it does it all by itself.

Now that people think you are home, and open for business, they may inquire about your product. You must have a customer service desk. This can take the form of a form where they fill out their name and email. It can be to simply subscribe to your newsletter or they may have a specific question. If you want to have a ‘stress-free’ site, try post an FAQ section ? Frequently Asked Questions. Then one of the important things you will want to have is an autoresponder.

An autoresponder will keep your site in the mind space of your potential clients who have signed up for your newsletter or requested more information. It will send out preformatted emails at defined intervals automatically. Did you know that after 5 emails, the likelihood of making a sale increases steadily? It may seem like you are being intrusive, but they will be able to unsubscribe if they wish.

Urgency Sells: When you offer limited time offers, you cause people to make decisions. You need a script that keeps a deadline up to date on your website. It would generate a line that looks like this: This offer expires on XX/XX/XX, so act quick!

The Popup Generator – Pop up windows that appear on your web site when a visitor enters or leaves your web site have been shown to dynamically boost subscriber rates and sales. Even if you don’t have any programming knowledge, you’ll be able to add a popup to your site with a single click

Tell A Friend Generator – No matter what promotional tools you use on your site, no tool is a match for the power of viral marketing. Use this generator to create a quick, one-step button that you can add to your web site that will let your visitors tell their friends about your site with just one click! Add this to your site and watch a whole new flood of targeted traffic come in!

All these types of scripts are available for free or for a small fee online. I suggest that in addition to these sites, that you visit lots of sites you would like to emulate and see what they do well, what strategies are particularly effective and find ways to incorporate them.

I know even just the little bit above seems overwhelming. Well perhaps a mentor, someone who has done all the above and more would be of interest to you.

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

So you want to build that website ? for whatever reason, perhaps you’ve started a business or simply wish to share pictures of the new addition to your family. Let me tell you it’s easier than you think ? all you need is directions that you can follow and you will soon be online.

Let’s talk what it will cost upfront. For $10 – $20/month you can have a working website (Imagine: www.yourname.com), available to anyone in the world with internet access. That’s a trip to your favourite fast food joint. (Yes, you can afford it!) There are also some ways of getting a free site ? still residing at www.yourname.com, but lets learn about all those weird internet terms first.

There are 3 basic components required to building a personal, custom website.
You need:
- A domain name
- A hosting account and
- Content written in HTML or some other web language.
I know, what’s a domain name!!!?

Here is an analogy I teach:

You live in a home that is built on a certain piece of land (that you rent or buy). That piece of land has a specific address.

Your website (a collection of individual web pages) sits on a hosting account that you rent. That hosting account is found at a specific address ? called a domain name.

Your Home Your Website
Your Street Address: e.g. 1 John St, Anytown
Your domain name: e.g. www.yourname.com
Your plot of land Your hosting account
Your physical house Your web content

Here is the 3 step process:
STEP 1: Choose your address
STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet
STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2

Let’s explain each step:
STEP 1: Choose your address (a domain name)
With the internet you can choose what you want your address to be (your domain name). What are you selling? What would make a cool name? Understand that after over 10 years of public internet access ? a lot of good names have been taken. So get creative, and be unique but understandable. An easy place to start with is your full name for a family/personal site or your product name for a business site. Make a list of about 10 possibilities that you like in this format www.yourdesiredname.com Move to the next step.

STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet (A hosting account)
With a quick search for the words “Web Hosting” on the internet, you get a list of web hosting companies ? all eager to sell or rent you some space on their computer. GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com are some recommended companies ? feel free to look into others, but there are thousands upon thousands ? so don’t waste your time searching for the cheapest (you pay for what you get, but $10+ will get you a decent hosting account.

Many of the hosting companies will either give you or sell you your choice of domain name at the same time you start your hosting account. Bring out your list from STEP 1, and when instructed in the purchase process, enter in your first domain name choice. You will be informed if that name is available or not. Keep trying out your names in order of your preference until you find on that is available. Finish the purchase process and let the hosting company instruct you on how to access you account. (They’ll send you an email ? and if you go with one of the companies I recommended, you can call them with your questions.)

STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2
You have some choices to make here:
A – You can ask someone to build you a site.
B – You can build it yourself.
C – Use a free website builder ? (like a blog)
Each has its pros and cons.

The first option is great if you can afford it and can find someone reliable. If you want cheap, post a job at your local high school ? someone in computer club will be able to help you for really cheap. The problem is that they may not always be around when you need them to make changes. Enter choice B

It’s great to learn a new skill, and you can learn for free online ? just invest a little time. Remember once you know how? you own that knowledge forever and you will never depend on someone else to build your site. Again search online for “how to build a website” They will tell you how to design, build and upload your site onto your hosting account form STEP 2.

If you don’t really require a customized design and all you want to do is place some text and perhaps some pictures online. I suggest starting what’s called a blog – these are often free, and have a really simple “HTML CODE FREE” way of adding your content. All you do is type and publish. You can often still have your own domain name here, but each blogging company is different. Again search online for blogging ? and read what the various companies offer.

Content
There is one thing that is really important and that ONLY you can do! That is come up with the content and the idea. Think about what you have to offer and what problem it solves for your visitors and prepare your content so as to answer that problem. E.g. You write great jokes. People are looking for jokes? your website should give people some jokes and perhaps they can register for your daily joke email.
Write simply, write short, write clearly. As time goes on, remember to keep your site fresh. Keep the content updated and relevant to your ideal visitors.

The goal of this article was to give you easy steps of how to get a website for yourself. Naturally you can learn more about each step, and there are many people who can give you help, but now you can start the journey. Create your list of domain names, purchase a hosting account (including the domain name you want) and build your site and keep the content fresh.

In future articles I’ll take about next steps:

- “I build it, but they ain’t coming to see it.”

- “I built it, but nobody’s buying”

- “I built it, but I don’t know how to improve it.”

A journey of a million miles starts with one step ? so go to step 1 and start. (Don’t worry ? this is not a long journey ? but it’s exciting!).

Here to Help You!

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It’s so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.