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Step-by-step Guide To Building A Successful Website (Part 2)

In part 1 of this article you learnt about the importance of doing keyword research, and about registering your domain name. Part 1 also covered the importance of creating good content, capturing your visitor's email address, and understanding the needs of your site visitor via web-stats.

In part 2, you'll learn about hosting, promoting and automating the site creation process. And you'll read about some extra considerations that help make a website successful.

Part 1 is here...
http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/how-to-build-a-website-1.shtml

And part 2 continues below...

==> 6. Monitor your site stats

You must know how many visitors your website gets, where they come from, and what pages they view.

And this means that you must have access to your website stats. (Otherwise, how will you know what your visitors really like, and what they don't like, about your site, other than by asking them, of course - see the rest of this article!)

==> 7. TEST, TEST, TEST!

We're nearly there. But not quite. Make sure you test, test, test what you have created.

Test to see what your site looks like in a variety of web browsers (IE, Netscape and Opera on PC platform; IE, Netscape on Mac platform; and - if you can - see what your site looks like on AOL). Test to see that your e-mail capture works, and that any
scripts you use work too (e.g. Perl/CGI, PHP, ASP, JavaScript etc.). Test everything, really.

There are tools to help you, but this really does require some time and effort on your part (even though all you really want to do is announce your site to the world!)

Be patient, and test first. It's worth it.

Some testing tools
- http://www.hitbox.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?tools/doc
- http://www.netmechanic.com
- http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp

==> 8. Promote! Promote! Promote!

Perhaps I should have mentioned this step a little bit earlier.

That's because website promotion begins with the design and content of your site and, to a lesser extent, the metatags you use.

Metatags are not that important nowadays, but if you want to learn more then read my "Use Keywords And Metatags To Get The Click" article
- http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com/bin/ap.pl?keywords

Site content is more important than ever,though. Make sure you put important keywords in your website copy. (You can read tips on how to do this in the above article.)

Anyway, you need to concentrate on the major search engines and directories, and try and utilise the pay-per-click and pay-per-inclusion search engines (if you can afford to). It's all explained here, really
- http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com

You could also promote your site using articles (like this one), or via links on other sites you own (if you have other websites).

(And if you want someone else to do it, use these professional services.)

==> 9. Automate, automate, automate!

Once you've created your first site, and worked out a decent site design, you'll want to make creating your next site quicker (or make it easier to modify your first site). And there are various tools and techniques you can use to achieve this:

- USE TEMPLATES.

Create your site using templates if you can (Dreamweaver lets you do this). Templates allow you to make a change once, and apply it to all of the pages that are based on the template. You can even base a site on several templates, as I do below

Example - http://www.shoptour.co.uk
Learn more - http://www.freesitetemplates.com

- USE SSI

Use server side includes (SSI) if you can. Again, this allows common elements to exist in a separate file, that are then included in any pages that you want. Change one file, and the change occurs on all the pages that contain the particular SSI. SSI pages usually end in .shtml (usually set up by your web host) but this is not not essential, as shown below

Example - http://www.textmefree.com/send-bulk-sms.html
Learn more - http://www.bignosebird.com/ssi.shtml

- USE JAVASCRIPT

Use JavaScript where appropriate. JavaScript can help you with keeping the right date on your site, as well as navigation, form-filling (and lots more). I use JavaScript for a trivial purpose on the site below - it shows 'site last updated'. But better use of JavaScript can save time and make your site more useful.

Example - http://www.digital-radio-guide.co.uk
Learn more - http://javascript.internet.com/

- USE CSS

Use cascading style sheets (CSS). CSS, once set up, lets you change fonts, font colors, underline styles etc. throughout your site, simply by editing your style sheet. Very powerful stuff. (Some designers now use CSS instead of tables to design their pages.)

Example - http://www.pocket-pda-handhelds.co.uk
Learn more - http://willmaster.com/a/18/pl.pl?187part

All of the example sites above utilise SSIs, CSS, templates and JavaScript as much as possible. I wasted a lot of time in the early days, updating each and every page. Now I spend my time more productively.

You can automate the tasks that you perform in lots of other ways too. Just observe yourself for a week - what you actually *do* - and try and think of ways of automating the most obvious tasks, if you can.

==> 10. Extra considerations - get feedback!

The best way to to improve or develop your website is by simply asking for advice from the people who know best: your site visitors.

Every site should have a feedback form or prominent e-mail address, which can put you in touch with your site visitors. Encourage them to get in touch and make comments.

And if you really want to know, put up a survey or two
- http://www.surveymonkey.com

== Aside ==
Putting your email address and contact forms onto a website is a great way to get spam, alas! There are ways of avoiding this, and I strongly advise that you read my '3 Tips To Help Webmasters Reduce Spam In Their Inbox, Today' article
== Aside ==

==> 11. Extra considerations - make money!

So how can you make money from this successful website?

Well, you can either use the website to promote your own products or services. Or you can take advantage of affiliate marketing, and make commission from other people's complementary products or services (simplest example: promote books sold on Amazon).

I explain this process to my site visitors too, just so they are aware of the my relationship with the main merchant I'm promoting. Here's an example
- http://www.best-digital-cameras.co.uk/about-us.html

(You can learn more about affiliate marketing from that link, too.)

Or you could earn money 'selling' pay-per-click advertising; e.g. Google AdSense

And, finally...

==> 12. Extra considerations - keep on improving

Trying to keep this article as short as possible(!), I'll quickly mention some final considerations. Most websites should try to do the following:

o Add recommend-to-friend script, with a good reason why visitor's would want to recommend your site to a friend

o Make sure most links on your homepage link internally (rather than externally to other websites)

o Add endorsements or testimonials if appropriate. (Even my freebie site does this: http://www.textmefree.com/ !)

o Create ICRA filters (or similar). This shows how child-friendly your site is. Visit http://www.icra.org

o MORE IDEAS?
For more about how to build a web site, visit building-a-web-site.com

Thank you. I *really* have taken enough of your time.

I just hope that this step-by-step guide to building a successful website helps.

(And if all of the above sounds really too complicated, I seriously urge you to consider investing in the all-in-one tool that is Site Build It! :-) )

Steve M Nash

MORE TIPS, ARTICLES & RESOURCES:

BEGINNERS Start Reading Here... When Do I Start Making Money And Where Does It Come From? How Do I Start A Home Business How To Build A Website... Step-by-step Guide To Building A Website (Part 1) Step-by-step Guide To Building A Website (Part 2) How To Promote A Website... 7 Simple Ways To Promote Your Website 21 Reasons Why The Next Website I Visit Might Be Yours MAKE MONEY BASICS Make money from AFFILIATE PROGRAMS Choosing the Right Affiliate Programs 5 Simple Strategies To Boost Your Minisite Sales How to Easily Increase Your Affiliate Commissions Why Most Internet Businesses Fail! SELLING ONLINE and other advance tips, anyone? 3 Tips To Build Promote and Profit More From Your Website How To Use Other People's Money For Your Business Interview with Internet Marketing Success Story Most Overlooked Business Opportunity Why Test? GENERAL TIPS to help anyone doing business online? "Essential Tools Every Online Entrepreneur Needs" 3 Tips To Help Webmasters Reduce Spam Protect Yourself Online Keep on LEARNING here... At Least 6 Success Tips For A More Profitable Year, Online I Don't Know Everything and Neither Do You

PS Want to know my top tip for succeeding online?

Answer: Use SBI! (Site Build It!).

SBI! (Site Buildt It!) is an all-in-one internet business-building software service that allows people from all walks of life, and with all kinds of skills and desires, to succeed online. How? Well, SBI provides you with the tools to build your site (whether complete beginner or web expert) and a long-term site-building philosophy (see how SBI! works here!) that enables you to create successful content-based websites that both the search engines and your site visitors like. All you have to do is provide your Brain, Attitude and Motivation (or BAM, for short). Simple really, and do-able...

Check out my free guide to SBI! here...