Making Money Online - Building Your Website

Like I have said earlier, if you want to succeed in Internet Marketing and Making Money Online, at some point you will need your own website, so why not start as you mean to go on and build your website from the onset.

The first step in creating your own website is to have some form of website builder, preferably where you will require as little technical know how as possible.

There are many products on the market today which will help you in Making Money Online, from cheap one page instant creators to the all bells and whistles super ones which are obviously at the top end of the market.

I personally would recommend a fairly low cost one to start out with, something like Xsitepro. Xsitepro is very reasonable in price, it’s not the best on the market, but it is easy to learn and does all the jobs that you need for starting out, just take a look around this website, which by the way was completely created by this software.

But that is obviously up to you and your budget, you might be in a fortunate position to go out and purchase Dreamweaver, one of the best, but also one of the most expensive.

Or you might already have a basic system lying around on your computer which came with your system when you first purchased it like, Microsoft FrontPage.

Either way, you will need some kind of web building software.

Next, you will need web hosting, so that you can upload your website up into cyberspace. Now, there are literally hundreds of companies offering varying types of reasonably priced hosting plans, so you need to shop around (see previous article).

When doing this, just give it a little thought; don’t just shop for the cheapest, as the cheapest doesn’t always mean it is the cheapest. For example if you took out a really cheap hosting plan, with a very small package, if you suddenly had thousands of visitors coming to your site, your bandwidth would exceed its limit.

Then the hosting company starts to charge you for additional bandwidth used, and this could prove to be extremely costly.

It’s always best to go for a plan which gives you reasonable storage and bandwidth to begin with and also gives you the opportunity to upgrade if you need to.

Hostgator with their baby plans are usually a good starting point, but like I said, there are many to choose from and only you can make that decision.

At the time of purchasing your hosting (or earlier), you will need to purchase a Domain Name for your website. This is an area where you really need to give it some thought.

Remember the Domain Name represents your business and the type of website you are going to launch. It’s no good having a name like bestdietonearth.com if your website is all about baseball!

You should remember that many regular names would have already been taken, so you will need to be a little bit imaginative.

From my point of view the best place to look up domain names is IPower. This company has one of the largest domain name search facilities, and it’s great to use, even if you don’t intend to purchase from them.

You don’t need to purchase both Domain Name and Web Hosting at the same company, so if you think Hostgator is great for hosting and yet you want to purchase your domain name from IPower, that’s fine.

One last thing to remember concerning hosting – always try to purchase a plan which will give you easy access to c-panel (control Panel). As your business grows, you may want to build databases, or place scripts on your site and c-panel allows you to do this a lot more easily.

This will be where you place your product so prospects can inform themselves about it and make a decision about making a purchase.

Obvious as we all know - but remember your web site will be the store front for the products and services that you offer online. You will need to convert visiting “window shoppers” and browsers to paying customers.

Your website needs to be planned to smoothly guide the customer through the learning and sales procedure. Ensure that the Grammar and spellings in your sales copy text is correct, mistakes will cost you credibility.

Having said that, there are some Internet marketers that make “deliberate mistakes” in their sales copy to engage the visitor and persuade them to read more of their sales copy. They will say something like: if you can spot the five spelling errors in my sales copy you will receive a free gift or something similar. Surfers will know the difference though - so check and double check your spellings and grammar thoroughly.

The textual content must be well presented in order to draw the attention of both potential customers and the search engines when they trawl your site. Think about font size and colour and whether it is easy on the eye. Exploit “keywords” and “key phrase” rich text in your sales copy; the latter being common phrases that people may enter into search engines when searching for certain products or services. Don’t purely use informational sales copy, it needs to be appealing to your site visitor and actively sell to them.

Another very important factor to consider when building your site is Browser compatibility. The majority of people use Internet explorer (versions may vary- the latest being version 9) and Mozilla Firefox (versions may vary- the latest being Minefield BETA). How your website is portrayed in other people’s browsers can make or break you.

The last thing you need is your site looking very unappealing / incomplete, or at worst - crashing their browser. I certainly would not return to a website that had crashed my browser, also it could raise people’s suspicion regarding online security issues. Although there are a great many people who surf the web, a good deal of these have grave concerns when it comes to using a credit / debit card online.

Images

Images will enhance your website; no one likes to see just pages of text. Pictures break up boring text and are essential if you plan to sell products that customers desire to view prior to purchasing.

However, although the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true, its value when it comes to search engines decreases - as their spiders don’t observe pictures. To alleviate this potential problem, Image HTML coding should also include what is known as 'alt' tags, which is a text version of the image. This will also attract Search engine spiders, particularly if the image is linked to another page.

Other Graphics

Using other graphics in addition to photographs can also enhance your website’s appearance and break up long lines of text. Graphics will also add a splash of colour to your site and will help prevent the glazing over of the reader’s eyes!

Flashing graphics may not be a good idea as they can very easily deflect the reader away from the sales copy. Furthermore, some people may suffer from a medical condition that could be aggravated by flashing graphics, others will find them irritating.

As much as you may think that flashing graphics will look good on your website, it can be hard to avert the eyes away from it to read the sales copy. The eyes will automatically be drawn to the flashing graphics involuntarily.

Navigation
 
Website Navigation should be kept simple and easy for your customer to use. The general “rule of thumb” is to stick to the "three click rule" this is where a visitor can gain access to any information concerning your product or service within three clicks of any other part of your website.

Put careful thought into cross-browser compatibility issues, many intricate menu systems can cause chaos with browsers. Provide a Search Facility for Your Website to enhance the visitors experience, browsing through many pages can be very time consuming.

Web Pages

In addition to your home page, sales copy pages and checkout page, you should consider adding further informational pages such as:

About us/Contact us Page

This page is vital to gain visitors trust in using your site and explains a little about your business and your way forward in the E-Commerce world. The page should also provide other contact details for your business and any other relevant information to instil consumer confidence.

If you don’t provide this kind of page, you will not do yourself any favours and could possibly encourage mistrust in your site. Some visitors may wonder if you have something to hide; I myself am reluctant to shop at websites that have no contact details to speak of.

Disclaimer/Privacy policy

Having a Disclaimer/Privacy Policy page is another confidence booster to your visitor and protects your business from potential legal action. It is quite natural for consumers to query how their personal information will be used and will expect to see details regarding your policy on this subject. It is pertinent to do some research to get an idea of the content needed to implement this page.

Cookies

E-commerce businesses use cookies for a variety of reasons: to track activities of visitors concerning different aspects of the website and navigation of the site. Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, businesses must notify their customers about their use of cookies and offer an opt-out facility for those who do not want to allow them. This means that you must provide the consumer with a "privacy" or "cookies" statement that explains how they are being used and how they can be turned off.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)

As with offline shops, many consumers have questions about products or services. The usual questions could be asked many times, so to save both yours and the consumer’s time - have a FAQ with the answers readily available. With everyone in a rush these days and our “want it now” society people aren’t prepared to wait.

Make it easy for them - so they don’t just click off your site and go to your competitors. Any questions asked that you have not anticipated prior to setting up your FAQ; simply add them on as they arise. Lastly, ensure the accessibility of this page is easy to reach. Don’t fall in to the trap that many other web site owners have, that is to list questions that are irrelevant and hardly ever likely to be asked.

Use your web space effectively, think of questions that your potential customer may have and add any genuine questions that have been asked. This will save you a whole load of hassle and time in the future and present a more organised image of your business.

Testimonials page

The best recommendation for your product/service is by this method. Obtain feedback from your existing customers and ask for their consent to publish their remarks on your website.

Testimonials can be placed on a page of their own, or in-between your own statements about the product. Testimonials will always add value to your integrity as a business as many prospective customers will feel more at ease when purchasing from your site.

No testimonials? No problem! You could always give a product away free in exchange for testimonials. Many Internet marketers have employed this method to gain testimonials for their website. In addition, this can also be considered as a legitimate business “expense” so will not leave you out of pocket.

Please be aware of the new ledgislation as of 01 Dec 2009 regarding Testimonials.

Additional Options

• Exit Surveys

Some website owners have implemented “Exit Surveys” in to their sites so that if a customer leaves without purchasing - they can find out the reason why. This can be very useful and you could learn some valuable lessons regarding their reasons and use them to improve your website etc.

Pop up/under windows have been used for this purpose –although be aware that pop up/under windows could annoy a lot of visitors. If you do decide to go ahead with a pop up anyway, keep it short and to the point. Some visitors will fill it in and some will just plain ignore it and leave your site anyway.

• Satisfaction Surveys

It is always good to know that your customer has had a pleasant experience when they purchase from your site. You can gain invaluable knowledge from these surveys and strive to keep the compliments coming.
A good time to introduce a satisfaction survey is after a customer has completed the checkout procedure, or you could send a follow up email asking them to complete one.

An incentive such as a discount voucher could be given for customers who fill in your survey. There is always the option of getting a “Third Party” organisation to conduct them for you, either by telephone or email and suchlike.
Include a Forum / Discussion Board

• Having a forum/discussion board on your website will enable you to communicate with your visitors. As they get to know you on a more personal level, their trust in you will grow. Moreover, people are more likely to buy products from somebody they already know and have confidence in
• In turn, this will result in regular visits to your website to take part in discussions with like minded people
• You will be able to gain knowledge about your visitors by evaluating the discussions that they have. This is especially significant if they discuss your website or product. This could give you an insight if your products need improving your marketing methods etc
• You could also gain credibility by supplying the answers to questions asked by your visitors. By answering their questions, you will be acknowledged as a specialist in your given field of expertise
• As your website’s forums popularity grows, you could gain an additional income stream by selling advertising space
• Swap ideas, advertising and such with other businesses through your forum