If you are wondering how to start making money online with a website, this is the page for you!
Please take time to read this
article completely because it will prevent you from making so many of
the common mistakes newbies make when trying to earn money online.
In fact, many people trip up in the very
beginning because they don't take the time to plan and understand how
websites generate traffic.
Choosing
a Profitable Topic
I wish people would spend more time
in this area. I believe that failing to
understand the importance of researching and narrowing down a topic is a big
cause for failure.
A profitable topic is one that has a
great deal of demand (searches) and minimal supply (existing sites). And one
way to determine how profitable a topic is to start with the search engines.
Sites like Google and Bing are great
barometers for supply and demand because so many people use them to find
information.
So before you jump in feet first
with your "great idea" you need to stop and think about how people
are going to find your site.
They don't just stumble upon
websites because they are on the Internet. They find them through things like
search, social media and word of mouth.
This is important to think about
because if your idea involves building an online store or a membership site
and you have absolutely no existing audience or brand awareness, you will need
a plan to generate traffic... and lots of it!
Even if you are not planning to
build a site like this, you still need to read the following info because it
applies to any kind of website.
Yes, a lot has changed with regards
to websites since I started, but the one thing that continues to rule is quality,
targeted content. The more you build that focuses on a specific audience,
the better off you'll be in the long run.
The reason I used the online store
and membership sites as an example is that's where people make the biggest
mistakes due to how people search the web.
You've got to establish a funnel of
traffic to your site first and I'll talk more about that below.
Start
With The Search Engines
A lot has changed over the years, so it's not nearly as easy
to rank in Google as it was years ago.
However, most people never give
themselves a chance because they make classic errors in the beginning. I
don't want you to do the same.
Narrow down your topic to something
very niche (meaning you target a very specific audience like woman who play
golf or recent college graduates looking for a job.)
The more niche your topic is, the
easier it will be to get some kind of targeted traffic from Google because your
content will be very focused.
Come up with a very specific topic
or even a problem and then target people who need help.
If you are trying to build a website
that will rely on user activity (membership, social/interactive sites) it's
best to start by building a content site or blog that is related to theme of
your website in order to drive traffic to it.
If your site is dependent upon
people joining/being active, you need lots and lots of traffic because the
majority of people who join will not remain active. It's important to have a
large pool of traffic to funnel to that site.
Here's another mistake many people
make...
They begin their journey by trying
to build a membership, store or interactive site and put all this energy and
money into customizing it and making it look pretty, but they have absolutely NO
IDEA how to drive traffic to it.
I'll say this again...
People don't just stumble upon your
website because you have a great idea. There are billions of sites out here
authored by people with "great ideas", so it's going to take some
work to get your site some visibility.
So let's say you want to build a
social networking site that targets teen parents. Rather than quickly launching
your network, first build a content hub to draw traffic to it.
That's because it's much easier
for a content site to get ranked in Google than an interactive website.
Remember, the engines LOVE
themed content.
Let's say you were a teen parent and
you want to sell a book that helps other teen parents.
Start by building a website or a
blog thats full of advice for teen parents. The more specific your niche is,
the greater the chance you'll generate targeted traffic that will be interested
in your content.
Compare a website that targets teens
to a site that targets teen parents. First of all, it would be very difficult
to rank well for "teens" in Google because it's such a very broad
phrase.
Not to mention, if your site were to
get found by such a broad word, you wouldn't know what your visitors wanted.
That would make it very difficult to target products and services to them.
Keyword
Research
So before you begin your site, start
by using a keyword tool like The Google AdWords
Planner or Long Tail Pro
(what I use) to find out exactly how people are searching for your topic.
Go for long-tail
keywords, which are phrases that are less competitive. Sure, not as
many people search for these phrases, but they are easier to rank for because
there's less competition.
You can watch me use The Google
Keyword Planner below...
As far as the numbers go, I like my
primary keyword phrase (main idea) to have at least 3,000-5,000 global
monthly searches. But I also look at many of the related keywords to make sure
there are enough phrases with at least 4-digit monthly searches.
I don't get caught up in the
numbers. Even if the phrase is lower than my idea range, if there are a variety
of related phrases with decent demand I'll still consider the topic.
Don't let the numbers paralyze you.
Also check out your competition by searching Google for various keywords and
analyze your ability to compete. If the majority of the sites are similar or
less than stellar, the topic may not be as competitive as you think.
Now, let's say I had chosen to search
for the phrase teenagers instead.
The global monthly search volume is 74,000.
That may sound great because there's a lot more traffic potential. However, the
phrase teenagers is way too broad. You won't know anything about what
the person is searching for.
Again, it would be harder to target
your content and products to such a broad audience. It would also be harder to
gain a top 10 ranking for that competitive phrase.
So once you've taken the time to
identify a niche, congrats, you are light years ahead of most people who often
rush and assume they have taken the best approach simply because they have a
"great" idea.
I hope you understand now that
having an idea for your website isn't enough. You need to research the demand
and have a plan for how people are going to find your site.
Make
Providing Value Your #1 Priority
No matter what kind of website you plan to create, the one
thing you have to think about is providing value and developing a unique angle.
So if you are trying to sell a book
you wrote on how to handle teenage pregnancy, you'd write a plethora of useful
content that teenage parents will value.
For example, you could create a blog
that offers emotional support and advice for teenage parents -- or more
specifically teenage moms.
Providing valuable free advice is
one of the best strategies for making money online because it builds up
credibility and warms your visitors up to buy products that you're trying to
sell.
People often begin their quest by
putting up ads for the products they want to promote. The problem is they
haven't taken the time to build up their credibility so getting that sale is so
much harder.
Remember, your visitors don't know
you from Adam, so you're going to have to earn their trust. And when you build
a website that encourages, educates, informs and provides an extreme amount of
value, people are much more open to supporting you and buying products you sell
or recommend.
Whether you're trying to sell other
people's products (affiliate marketing) or your own, you have to establish that
trust factor first.
So before you become obsessed with
making money, first plan out a way to let your content do the PREselling
for you.
- Build trust by giving away unparalleled information that your readers won't find anywhere else.
- Identify your visitor's main problems and provide solutions
- Be transparent and show your #1 priority is to help, not make money
Building
Your Website
The method you use to build your
site really doesn't matter in terms of success. Any kind of website can become
successful. What matters is what's best for how you plan to deliver your
content.
Most people today choose to use WordPress to create their websites, and that
is fine if you want a website that pumps out newsworthy articles on a specific
topic.
Think PerezHilton or TechCrunch
where all the latest posts are highlighted and sorted by date and category.
You can actually use WordPress to
create a more traditional layout like this, but it takes some tweaks here and
there. I talk about this in my WordPress guide.
Making
Money With Google AdSense
Google AdSense is one of the most
convenient ways to monetize a website -- especially if you plan on building a
site with a lot of content.
This free program allows you to add
Google ads to your pages and when an ad is clicked, you earn money.
While the concept is easy, making
money with AdSense is not if you don't have a lot of targeted traffic. That's
another reason it's important to take time narrowing down your niche prior to
starting your site.
If making money with AdSense is a
priority, you'll also want to take time to make sure there are enough related
ads for your niche.
Google makes this very easy to do...
1) Perform a Google search for the
topic or keywords you plan to target and look to see how many sponsor ads show
up above the results and on the right side of Google.com.
2) Use the Google AdWords Keyword Planner (you must have an
AdWords account first). When you perform a keyword search, the tool will show
you the average cost per click.
This shows you how much advertisers
are paying Google per click. As an AdSense publisher you will get roughtly 68%
of that amount.
So this will give you an idea for
what kind of earnings are available for keywords in your niche.
Now, of course your earnings are
going to depend on your traffic and how many people click your ads (1-3% is
typically the average).
Learn more about making
money with Google AdSense here.
Building
a Forum, Membership or Social Networking Site
After reading this page, you should
now understand how crucial it is for you to have a plan and build up traffic
before tackling this part.
You should not proceed to this step
until you already have a trafficked site that will funnel traffic into your
forum, social networking site, etc.
For example, when I launched Website Babble in 2007, 2createawebsite.com
already had a few thousand visitors per day. I used that traffic to promote my
forum and build up activity.
I would have NEVER been able
to build up that forum had I not had the traffic from this website.
Remember, interactive sites need
lots of visitors to get them going, so you need an existing traffic base first.
Don't make the mistake of trying to create this first.
So once you're ready to build this
part of your site, the good news is it's very simple to setup today thanks to
free scripts that many web hosts provide.
For example, if you want to build a
forum, once you sign up with hosting at WebsitePalace.com,
you can install scripts like a forum, shopping cart, WordPress and many other
scripts with the click of a link.
Back in the old days, this was a
major task but hosting companies have made setting up this functionality a lot
easier.
Creating
an eBook or Other Digital Goods
An electronic book (eBook) is a
great way to monetize your website. If you have a program like Microsoft Word
or Pages (Mac), you simply write your book in the software and use a converter
to convert the file into a PDF.
Then you can easily sell your book
by using vendors like Clickbank or eJunkie.
Learn more about creating
an eBook here.
Selling
Products Online
If you have tangible goods you'd
like to sell then you can integrate a shopping cart into your website through a
service like Shopify.
The cool thing about this option is
you can sync it up very easily with PayPal
and begin collecting orders for whatever you want to sell.
So whether or not you use WordPress or whatever site building platform,
Shopify works in conjunction with it because there are plugins available to
help you implement the service.
Selling
Ads From Your Website
Once your site begins to get
traffic, you may want to think about selling 3rd party ads on your pages.
If you don't want to deal with
scripts and manually installing your ad system, you can outsource something
like . All you have to do is paste some code into your pages and they will
manage the ad inventory for you.
Of course, the downside to using a
3rd party is you have to share more of your revenue with them. It's really best
to host your own ad management system.
If you plan to use WordPress there
are many solutions. I used to use OIO Publisher,
but you can also use the BuySellAds
WordPress plugin as well.
Building
Traffic to Your Website
If you have no traffic, there will
be no income. Make sure you read up on search
engine optimization, creating a Google
sitemap, email marketing, YouTube, Pay Per
Click (AdWords) and more.
What
About Setting Up a Corporation? Do You Need One for Your Website?
Check out this article that discusses what you need to know about registering your
business and setting up a corporation.
Need
More Guidance?
If you enjoyed this article, you
should check out my book Niche Website Success.
I go into far more detail about how I make money online and how you can achieve
success with a content/niche website like me.
I also have a video course on
affiliate marketing -- which is the process of earning by referring other
people's products from your site. I have been earning passive income with
affiliate marketing since 1998 and this course will show you how to get started
and offer tons of tips.
It also shows you how to setup your
site with WordPress and find a niche. It's a very thorough course with examples
-- definitely the most thorough product I've ever created.
Sign up here.
Ready
to Start Your Website?
To build a website, you need to choose and register your own domain and then sign
up for web hosting.
If you want to learn how to make
passive income with affiliate marketing, take my
course.
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