In fact, SEO is so powerful that can bring a lot of visitors to your website. It is, by far, the most effective methods because of these 3 obvious reasons:

1. The Traffic is FREE.

You don´t need to pay a dime for getting visitors through this method. So, this traffic is not based on pay per click, pay per impression, pay per view or anything like that. You will get tons of visitors at absolutely no cost.

2. The Traffic is Unlimited.

Actually, there is not any limitation for the volume of traffic. Because the search engines are the most popular places for people to find websites, so there is a big crowd looking for your website via search engines. Since you won´t have to pay anything, then there won´t be any budget restriction that would limit the traffic volume. The traffic is there and most of it can be yours.

3. The Traffic is Targeted.

Like I said before, people usually go to the search engines to find something by searching a specific keyword and see the results. So, if you optimize your website in a way that would come up in the search results, then chances are that people would see your website and find what they wanted. So, this traffic is called targeted and converts better. It is your visitors that decide to visit your website and are aware of this fact.  

With that being said, it is too important to know the basics of SEO and implement this strategy when you are building your website. Although, this step is a part of marketing a website, but it should be started from the very first steps of building a website. It might even begin at the Brainstorming phase. 

The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

First off, I need to admit that SEO is not a simple technique. In fact, it can be regarded as a complicated technology being instructed by professional experts and adopted by industry consultants. Since the rules are always changing, there need to be authority resources updating the needed information and strategies. So, you need to know that SEO is a very complicated science.

OK, I know that you may have been a little bit confused or disappointed. Well, don´t be! Basically, you don´t need to be a guru in this case. I promise if you know the basics of SEO and implement them properly, you will get great results. While learning the latest SEO strategies is always recommended, but it would not be necessary to know every single technique in order to get a lot of traffic to your website from this method.

All the SEO you will need to know is about a few points. Just learn the basics and implement them. Period!

SEO Basics:

1. The fist step is in the Brainstorming phase. Do you remember that I told you to choose some keywords that are high-demand and low-supply? Well, if you have done it properly, you have already passed the first step of SEO. You need to optimize your web pages around those keywords and key phrases, terms that are not too competitive. If you choose a very competitive keyword, you will have minimal chances to come up in the first page of search results. Bear in mind that showing up in the first page is too vital.

As you may remember from the Niche Finding step, you´d better choose keywords with a reasonable amount of demand meaning more than 100 searches per day and also zero-to-low competition meaning under the 30,000 web pages. That way, your job will be much much easier. Choose the most high-demand keyword as your main keyword and write down the other relevant keywords.

2. Next job is to register a domain name including your main keyword. Remember, it helps search engine find your website better and figure out the main keyword of your website. They would index it in their database, connect your site to those keywords and display it in the search results.

If the domain name is taken, don´t panic! There is still hope. You can use your keywords in the URL Address or Sub-Domain. It would work, as well.

3. Putting the main keyword of a web page in its “Title Tag” is the next step. The Title Tag is the name of your page and looks like this in your website HTML code in the “Head” section:

<title>The Title Of Your Web Page</title> 

Title Tag helps both visitors and search engines figure out what your web page is about. So, it plays a very large role in the SEO technique.

4. Inserting your keywords in other HTML Meta Tags is another SEO basic. As I said before, Meta Tags are some HTML codes inserted in the Head section of your web pages. The most popular ones are Meta Description and Meta Keywords. Put your keywords in the Meta Tags in the right way.

5. Now, it is time to put your keywords in the body of your web page. The first element is your Headline. Adding your keyword in the Headline and at the very beginning of your website is a good sign for your visitors and search engines. Then, use your keywords in the text of your content. You can and should put it as bold, italic and other colors, too.

6. Finally, you have to get some backlinks from other websites with an Anchor Text. Anchor Text is a visible hyperlinked text on a website. For instance, instead of inserting http://www.makeawebsitenow.com, you could use an Anchor Text like this one: Make Your Own Website and point it to that URL Address. That way, both people and search engines would get a better picture of the inserted link and follow it right to the web page.

Something that you should consider all the time is that don´t ever try to cheat search engines by overdoing something or overusing your keywords in your text. If search engines find it out, which they definitely do, they will consider your web pages as SPAM, punish you and ban your website from their database. Then, you will no longer have any single chance to come up in the search results. That way, you would miss a great opportunity. So don´t do it! 

You see, these are the basics of SEO that you should learn and implement. So, it would not seem to be hard if you know what to do. Trust me, if you take the above-mentioned tips into account and use them in your site building process, you will get tons of FREE and targeted traffic. So, don´t overlook this method!

To be honest with you, there are a lot of tips and tricks about Search Engine Optimization that I don´t know and I don´t think I would need to know. But, the choice is yours. You can move forward and learn more about this great technique. But, please get the information from reliable resources; places where give you the right SEO tips and advice. SEO Lab is one of those reliable resources that I highly recommend, because I have personally tried it and got great results. I hope it helps you, too.

Stay tuned and get more tips and tricks by subscribing to my Blog RSS Feed. You would not want to miss any single post, would you?

See You!

Hooshmand Moslemi

To be honest with you, if your content is not valuable, you would lose your audience very soon. People are looking for high-quality and fresh information, stuffs that give them value. You need to provide your visitors with helpful content. Otherwise don´t expect any success!

Different Types Of Content

Currently, there are millions of web pages on the World Wide Web in different topics and subjects. But, if you pay close attention to their contents, you will soon realize that there are only 4 different types of content:

• Text
• Image
• Audio
• Video

Each and every website may contain one or more of the mentioned content. Period!  

What Is a Good Content?

A good content brings a lot of traffic to your website. But, first off, you will need to know what a good content is. Basically, there are a number of features a great content may have. If you take them into consideration, you will be able to create a good content for your website. Here are a few tips:

1. Your Content Should Be Unique.

It is the uniqueness of your content that makes it outstanding. Honestly, nothing is more harmful to a website than a duplicated content. Don´t ever copy other´s work! Your content should offer something new and unique in a way. Just copying someone else´s content may hurt your reputation. If necessary, quote other´s content and give them credit by mentioning their names and websites. If you read something valuable and want to add it as your site content, write it with your own words. That would be fine. But, never copy! 

2. Your Content Should Be Valuable.

A valuable content is something that gives value. It can be a helpful article, an instructional video, an inspirational music or a fresh news. The very first question your visitors may ask is: “What´s in it for me?” Even if you are going to sell or promote something, do it in a way that your audience would find it valuable. By over-delivering great information to your visitors, you will be giving value and getting credit.

3. Your Content Should Be Relevant.

You have to deliver content to your visitors in a way that they would need or expect. If they are looking for a particular piece of information, provide them with what they want exactly. Remember, relevancy is the secret key to success in this process. Putting the right things in front of the right people is called a successful business and you should take it into account, as well.

4. Your Content Should Be Fresh.

Would you bother visiting a website that has not been updated for a long time? I would not! Both visitors and search engines love fresh content and they rush to check out websites with new updated content. If you want your site traffic to boost, update your website more frequently! An updated website is like a live web page and ranks high in the search results.

5. Your Content Should Be Accurate.

Whatever your content is, it should be accurate. Providing false information may hurt your credit. Sometimes, your content can be regarded as personal opinion, but it still needs to be correct and well-formatted. For example, if it is an article, it should be accurate, well-written and spell-checked. If it is a news, it should be well-reported and source-checked. Remember that people would very soon notice false information and ignore it.  

How To Publish Your Content To The World Wide Web?

Once you are done with your site design and content, you will have to publish it to the Internet on your host. That way, your visitors would be able to see, read and use your actual website content when they check out your web pages.

Publishing a website to the Internet is not that hard. You can either use a content management system, an HTML editor or an FTP client to publish your web pages. In the next posts, I will get through each of them in more detail.

As I mentioned before, providing a great and fresh website content gives value to the audience and brings credit to the author. In fact, this step is not a separate step in the whole process and should be done in parallel with other steps. You will soon realize that even Marketing and Monetizing steps are totally dependent on creating a good content. Stay tuned, because I will be revealing more information in the next posts. Subscribe to the Blog RSS Feed right away!

Regards,

Hooshmand Moslemi

You have to organize and manage the contents of your website by categorizing, dividing and labeling them. That way, your visitors can easily see, locate, find and read the information on your website and also search engines can simply find and crawl your web pages in order to index them.

Your website should be designed in a way that entices and encourages the visitors to do what you want them to do. That action can be a simple click, fast download, a signup or a sale. No matter what that action is, you want to convert your visitors to desired users such as members, subscribers or customers. A well-designed website has a high conversion rate meaning that a great percentage of the visitors are converted to desired users.

In order to design a good website, you need to consider the following points:

1. Divide Your Website Into Different Web Pages!

Dividing your website into a number of web pages is the first thing you should think about before designing your website. You would not want to put every thing on the main home page, right? That said, you should break your website into several sections, each is designed for a specific purpose.

There are 2 types of web pages you will consider:

General Web Pages: These are web pages like Home, Contact, About, Advertise, Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions and so on. These kinds of web pages are necessary for any type of website. Once created, you don´t need to update them all the time. A link to each and every of these web pages should be put on every single web page.

Specific Web Pages: These are web pages that are about a particular topic or sub-topic of your website. In other words, these pages are your fresh content, something that you will be adding more regularly.

2. Build a Layout As Your General Site Template!

You need to build a layout for your website that will be followed as a template. It is an important factor for being remembered by your visitors. It would be complicated if every single web page of your website looks different.

3. Create a Nice Header & Footer!

A nice header and footer would make your website look more professional. In your header, you would put your website logo and probably other elements. In the footer, you would add other components, as well. Like I said before, you need to have a site layout and it might always contain the header and footer.

4. Make a Beautiful Logo!

Your logo would reflect your website or brand name. Spend some time and create a good-looking and meaningful logo, including your site or brand name. As you may know, people always look at the logo and it can easily be remembered, if designed carefully. Your logo could be a simple image, a nice graphic or just letters such as your site name. Remember, your logo might fit your site layout. In other words, your logo and your site template could complete each other.

5. Build an Easy-To-Use Navigation Bar!

A navigation bar is another necessary component of your website. It is the section where your visitors look at in order to locate and find the various parts they need. A typical navigation bar should contain a list of your web page URLs, a search function, and other available categories of information in a particular content area. This bar should be placed in a right position meaning that everyone could see and locate it. Your website navigation bar might fit the general template, as well.

6. Add Your Content In the Right Place!

Your content is your website core element that attracts visitors and search engines. So, you should put it in the right place of your web page. It must be both user and search engine friendly. For instance, avoid putting your main content in frames. Texts, Graphics, Audios and Videos are different types of content that you will be adding to your web pages. Try to match them all with your general website template. In the next posts, I will be talking more about creating and adding content to your web pages.

7. Make Your Website More Functional!

It is an important factor especially when your visitors are going to use your website. It should work well. If you are offering a service, it would be functional. People don´t like getting error messages on your web pages. Always check your site functionality and solve possible issues. Moreover, try to build a site that uploads very fast. Your visitors don´t want to wait too much to see your website. It might be accessed simply and quickly. Avoid using annoying elements such as Pop-Ups or Pop-Unders. Trust me, your visitors would hate them.

Designing your website is not a simple process. It can only be improved through testing and tweaking. The above-mentioned points are just a few important elements you have to consider before designing your site. But, there are more facts, as well. Since you have got only a few seconds to make a good impressions on your visitors and keep them staying longer on your website, then your site design plays a really big role in this situation.

Whether you will be designing your site by yourself or hiring someone else to do it for you, you would not want to underestimate this step of your online business. Trust me, if you put more time and money on your project particularly on this part, it will pay off. An attractive website can always help your business stand out from the crowd.

In the next posts, I will get through this step in more detail. So, stay tuned and get the latest posts by subscribing to my blog RSS Feed!

To Your Success!

Hooshmand Moslemi

What is a Web Hosting?

A Web Hosting is a type of service that allows you to host your website on your domain name. In other words, it provides you space on a server where you can upload any kind of files to which makes your site accessible via the World Wide Web. So, whenever someone types your domain name in their Internet browsers, they will be able to see your web pages.

Getting a Web Hosting is necessary for everyone who wants to build a website. If you don´t have any hosting service, you won´t be able to put your web pages on your domain name. So, when your audience types your domain name, they will just see a simple page saying it is a parked domain name or anything like that. They won´t be able to see your actual website.

Different Types Of Web Hosting Services

There are a number of various web hosting services on the Internet. Each of them is created for specific use. While everyone has different goals, needs and priorities, it is better to determine which one suits you. Here is a quick review of the most popular web hosting services:

• FREE Web Hosting: FREE, But Limited & Advertisement-Supported Service.
• Shared Web Hosting: Shares More Than One Website (Domain Name) On the Same Server. 
• Reseller Web Hosting: Allows Clients To Become Web Hosts Themselves & Resell the Service.
• Dedicated Web Hosting: Allows Clients To Lease the Entire Server Not Shared With Anyone.

First off, I highly recommend you to get a paid web hosting service. Don´t go for FREE accounts, because it is not worth it. A FREE web hosting is always limited and ad-supported. Besides, you don´t have full control over your host. Again, it is about being professional. Don´t let your visitors think you don´t own one of the most essential components of your business which is web hosting. You want people to give you credit. A paid web hosting is a must have tool for every web business owner. Period!

On the other hand, you don´t need to have some of the above-mentioned web hosting services. You don´t even need to know them all. But, before ordering a web hosting package, you should take some important points into account.

Here are a Few Important Features Of a Good Web Hosting Plan:

1. It should allow you to host unlimited domain names on your hosting account. Quite frankly, you would not want to pay for every single hosting service for each of your registered domain name. Select and order a web hosting service that allows unlimited domain names.  

2. The disk space of your hosting plan should be high. Later, you will want to upload some large files such as audio and video to your website. A great web hosting space would enable you to do that without worrying about lack of capacity. Normally, 600 Gigs of web space is recommended.

3. The third important feature of a good web hosting service is the bandwidth. In a nutshell, bandwidth is the amount of traffic that is allowed to occur between your website and the rest of the Internet. In other words, it is the measurement of data sent from your web host’s server down to the visitors computer. So, if you get a lot of visitors and they download large files from your website, then you will need a great amount of bandwidth. A good web hosting plan should offer more than 5,000 Gigabytes of Bandwidth.

4. FREE instant setup is another feature of a good web hosting service. I don´t think it would be wise to pay extra for installing the web hosting for you. It must be fast and FREE. When you pay for a hosting package, this feature should be included in the price.

5. Uptime guarantee is something many people simply overlook. Most of the web hosting companies offer 99.9% Uptime Guarantee which means that if your website is not up 99.9% of the time, they will compensate you. So, they strive all the time to achieve that level of uptime and guarantee your website activity and availability in 99.9% of the time.

6. Money-back guarantee is a plus for a good web hosting plan. It makes you more confident and secure. If you are not happy with the service, you should be able to request a refund and get your money back. Usually, it is offered as a 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

7. You should be able to build and design your website with an easy-to-use web development application. A FREE site builder is something that a web hosting plan should always offer you. Although, you will be using other tools and software such as Microsoft Frontpage or Dreamweaver, but a FREE site builder in your hosting account would be helpful, as well.

8. There are some other components that a good web hosting package should have. Actually, you don´t even need to know them all and their functions. But, one day, you will need them in a way. Features such as CGI, PHP 4 & 5, RoR, Perl, MySQL, SSH, SSL, IMAP, POP and cPanel hosting. 

9. FREE 24/7 support is the most important feature of a good web hosting plan. If you have any questions or problems about your service, you should be able to get full support from the customer service. And it should be absolutely FREE.

These were some of the features you have to check out before ordering a web hosting plan. At the moment, a normal web hosting package may cost around $10 / Month. Once you order a plan, you don´t need to pay for any extra or hidden fees. And always remember to buy from a reliable web hosting service.

HostGator is one of the world´s largest web hosting companies that offers popular and affordable web hosting plans. This service is highly recommended by many webmasters and Internet marketers.

But if you want more options, I suggest you to check out the link below and take a look at the recommended resources:

Web Hosting and FREE Domain

In the next posts, I will cover more aspects of web hosting services and their features. Stay tuned and get the latest posts by subscribing to my RSS Feed.

Wish You the Best!

Hooshmand Moslemi

What is a Domain Name?

In a nutshell, a Domain Name is the address of a website that people should type in their browser bar in order to go to that specific website. In fact, your domain name is the name of your site, business or brand name. This is the first element your visitors notice when they visit your website.

Domain Names are used in form of URLs (http://www.YourDomainName.com) and represents one or more IP Addresses (http://216.239.51.99/). So, instead of typing that IP Address in the browser bar, you can just type the domain Name even in form of www.YourDomainName.com or YourDomainName.com.

The Structure Of a Domain Name

Basically, a Domain Name is composed of two or more parts. The first part is the section after the final dot (.) and is called Top-Level Domain Name. It can be either a Generic Top-Level Domain Name Extension such as .com, .net, .org or a Country Code Top-Level Domain Name Extension such as .us, .ca, .de.

The second part is the section before the final dot(.) and is called Second-Level Domain Name. This is the main part of your domain name and reflects the name of your business, brand name, keywords or topic. This is the part that you are going to choose and register. Of course, you will also determine which top-level Domain Name you prefer.

Choosing the right domain name will always bring great results. Successful business owners have good domain names and admit the importance of this fact. If you too want to build a successful website, then you should think about choosing and registering a good domain name. That way, you audience will 

• Find Your Website Better
• Remember Your Website Better 

What is a Good Domain Name?

Although there are tons of points you have to notice before registering a domain name, I thought it would be enough to mention the most important ones. Take the following tips into account before registering a domain name:

1. Don´t ever try to take FREE domain names. Remember you are going to build a business and your website and its components are your properties. You have to own them and have full control over your stuffs. A FREE domain name does not give you the full rights. Besides, FREE domain names are parts of a main domain name. So, a FREE domain name is normally too long, ugly and unprofessional.

2. If you have a business or brand name, choose it as your domain name, as well. But, if you don´t, pick a good name. As you may remember from the previous step, you had to find some hot profitable keywords. Choose the best one and check if it is available. That way, you will be able to have a keyword-rich domain name which may help your audience find you better through search engines.  

3. Always try to choose a domain name that is short and easy-to-remember. Bear in mind that your visitors should be able to memorize it very easily. I would personally prefer to choose a name less than 20 characters.

4. Your domain name should be easy to read, as well. If you are going to use some abbreviations, fine! But, don´t try to use some strange or unfamiliar names. Like I said before, if people can read it with ease, they would also remember it simply.

5. Avoid using misspellings. A misspelled domain name looks ugly and unprofessional. Only if you have the correct name and believe that many people may spell that name incorrect, you can register a misspelled name, as well and redirect it to the correct one. It would be smart. but if the correct name is someone else´s domain name, you will be wasting your time and money.

6. If possible, don´t use hyphen (dash) in your domain name. A hyphenated domain name may look easy to read for visitors and easy to distinguish for search engines, but it may not be easy to remember and does not look professional. If possible, register both hyphenated and non-hyphenated domain name. That way, you will ensure that you won´t lose any visitor.

7. While there are tons of Top-level Domain Name Extensions, I would prefer to choose only .com because they are more popular. If you can, go and register similar names in different extensions such as .net, .biz, .name, .info. But, .com are more powerful.

Where To Register a Domain Name?

Domain names can be registered by Registrars, companies accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and/or by a national authority. If your chosen name is available, you will be able to take that domain name and register it as your own.

The price of a domain name is usually too cheap and can be paid one time per full year. Sometimes you may get it for FREE if you order a web hosting service, as well. The normal price for a domain name is about $10 USD/ Year.

Always try to register your domain name from a reliable and popular registrar company. There are a number of websites where you can buy a domain name from. GoDaddy.com is the world´s largest registrar on the Internet and I highly recommend it. In the next posts, I will reveal more resources where you can get cheap domain names and even buy or sell your own. Stay tuned and subscribe to the RSS Feed right away!

Cheers,

Hooshmand Moslemi

For those who don´t know what a niche market is, it is a segment of a market that has specific targeted customers. In other words, a niche market is a focused portion of a market, addressing a need for a product or service. So, in most cases, terms such as “Words”, “Keywords” and “Key Phrases” can be used as the synonyms of Niche Markets.  

In the Market Research process, you were supposed to keep in mind 3 important factors while researching a market for your website (Demand, Supply & Profitability). In fact, this step is the practical aspect of a market research process and at the end, you will be able to find a profitable potion in the market that you can start building your website in that niche.

Since most of your customers will find your website through search engines, it would make sense if we focus our market research on this media. Then, we can go to the next level and expand our research process. But now, the following factors will be focused and monitored on search engines and in most cases, Google.

First select one of the general or broad terms you came up before as the main topic for your website. The point is to find a list of other related terms or keywords to your topic and determine if they meet the criteria or not.

There are some criteria for each and every factor and I am going to go through all of them. Bear in mind that most of the numbers are for estimation purposes only.

1. Demand

It is defined as the number of searches done by people on the Internet. If we find out how many people search a specific word or keyword in a search engine, then we will simply get a better picture of the existing demand out there.

A profitable niche is a high demand part of the market meaning that there are already a lot of potential customers looking for that specific topic. The more the number of searches, the greater the potential.

Basically, you should select a keyword that is searched more than 100 times per day (+3,000/Month). This estimation just tells you that there are a quite number of searches done each and every month. So, you would determine if it is worth building  a site around that keyword or not.

On the other hand, you have to check the trends, as well. Just because the number of searches is high doesn´t mean it applies all the time. Sometimes, an occasion or a news could create some demand in the market that won´t last forever. Checking the trends over a longer period of time would give you a better indication. If that specific keyword has been searched on the Internet for a long time without any big difference, then you would consider it as high-demand keyword.

2. Supply

It is defined as the number of competition out there and shows how many websites are using the same keywords on their web pages. As I mentioned before, you should check out this factor through search engines and determine how much the strength of competition there is. 

I would only recommend using the big and famous search engines in this approach. And as you may know, the leading search engines are Google, Yahoo! and MSN. In most cases, I would prefer to focus my research only on the most powerful one, Google.

You can check this factor by entering your specific keyword in the search engines between quotes(”"). That way, only the web pages having that keyword in the exact order will come up and you will see the number of your competitors. Remember that your potential customer would not type that keyword in the quotes. It is only an indication for you to figure out the strength of competition.

If you pick a low-supply keyword, you will have better chances to beat your competitors. So, it is too important to select a zero-to-low niche market at the beginning in order to avoid competing with a large number of other established websites.

Basically, that number should be less than 30,000 web pages. More conservatively, it is better to go for less than 10,000 web pages. In fact, it depends on the first factor. If your keyword has a decent number of demand (+200/Day), you can still consider 30,000 web pages as a low-supply keyword.

Sometimes, you would better check other elements of competition, as well. For example, how many web pages are using your specific keyword in their “Title”, “URL Address”, “Text” and “Anchor Text”. In the next posts, I will talk about them in more detail.

3. Profitability

It is defined as the grade of potential profitability and measured by checking if there is enough money to spend or not in that specific niche market. 

You may find some high-demand and low-supply keywords, but don´t start building your website around them until you find out they are profitable. Otherwise, how would you be able to make money from your website?

Checking the potential profitability of a keyword is not a simple task. Basically, this fact can only be gained through testing and analysing the results. Since, this is your first website and you don´t have any previous test results then you should use your logic in this approach.

Basically, if there are potential customers in a specific niche market, then there should be some advertisers willing to spend money for promotional purposes, as well. People want good results from their projects and if there is not enough money to spend, they would not keep their projects running.   

So, you can get a better indication of a potential profitability of a specific keyword. Just type it in a search engine like Google and check if there are some sponsored links at the right side of the results. If yes, chances are that there are already some advertisers making money in that market.

Also, you may check if there is any related affiliate program for your topic or not. In most cases, you don´t have your own product or service and want to monetize your website by promoting other´s stuff. So, if there is not any single affiliate program out there, you would not be able to monetize your web pages.

Just enter your keywords along with terms such as “Affiliate Program”, “Referral Program” or “Partnership Program” in the search engines and see what comes up. Check out the results and if you find a relevant program, join it.

As you may see, finding a profitable niche market is dependent on the above-mentioned factors. If you overlook them or do the process wrong, you will hardly succeed. Later, you will realize how important it is to pick the hot keywords for your niche market, even in the steps like Marketing and Monetizing.

Now, you have come up with some related keywords that are high-demand and low-supply with some potential profitability. At this point, you can start building your website based on those keywords. In the next posts, I will get though them all. Of course, you don´t want to miss out any single post, so subscribe to the blog RSS Feed today!

See You!

Hooshmand Moslemi

Niche Finding is the result of an accurate and appropriate market research process which will be explained in the next sessions as the last step of brainstorming a website. Now, we are going to go through the process of researching a website.

At this point, you have chosen your website type (model) as explained in the last part. Also, you have come up with some topics that are in your interests. Some general and broad terms that you are knowledgeable or passionate about. Now, you are going to research that topic, market or industry to check if it is worth creating a website in that market or not.

During the market research process, you have to take 3 important factors into account. After gathering the needed data and information on the basis of those important factors, you will then need to analyze it deeply and carefully. It will end up to some specific information which will be used as the basics of the Niche Finding process.

3 Important Factors You Should Always Keep In Mind While Researching a Market:

1. Demand

The very first aspect you have to consider during the entire market research process is to check if your chosen market (topic or industry) is in demand or not. It is an extremely crucial factor for any business owner to know. If there is not enough demand for a specific topic, then chances are that you will hardly be able to build a profitable online business around that topic. So, your market should be high-demand. The following questions may help you get a better picture:

• What is happening in the market at the moment?
• What are the hottest market trends in your topic?
• How many people are talking about your topic in the market?
• What are consumers talking about the products in your market?
• Who are the market potential customers and where are they located?

You see, the above questions are very helpful in this step and you have to consider them all the time. After narrowing down your chosen market, you will find out some sub-topics in your broad market that are more specific. Your job is to list as many high-demand sub-topics as possible and record your data. Then, you might bring your data to the next step and check the second factor. 

2. Supply

The second factor in this process is to determine how much supply there is to meet the current demand. In other words, you have to check the competition out there in your market and find out the quantity and quality of them. So, get the data you gathered before and check the supply for each and every of them. The point is find a low supply market. A topic or sub-topic that has a zero-to-low competition. That way, you will be able to make a wise decision. The following questions would be helpful:

• How many website are talking about your topic?
• How many products or programs are meeting the demand?
• Is the quality of the current supply convincing and satisfying?
• Is there a missing link in your current competition that you can cover?

Bear in mind that there are more questions and aspects you should think about for checking the current supply. Don´t overlook this part. You will hardly succeed if you simply underestimate the strength of competition out there. You will soon realize how important this factor is even in the very last steps such as monetizing and marketing. So, don´t ignore these elements!

3. Profitability

Just because you have found a high-demand and low-supply market does not necessarily mean you have discovered a winning and profitable market. The third factor of a good market research for a website is to determine if the market is quite profitable or not. If there is not enough money to spend in that market, how would you be able to earn money and run your online business around that topic?

Asking the following questions may help you understand the concept of profitability:

• Is there any product or service being sold today by your competitors in the market?
• Is there any advertiser out there willing to pay to promote their products or services?
• Is there any affiliate program that pays you commissions for promoting their products?

As you may see, these questions give you a better picture of profitability in a specific market. If you can find a high-demand and low-supply topic with convincing amount of profitability, then you will definitely be able to discover a hot niche market which you have to start building your website around.

Niche Finding is an amazing result of a good market research. It should not technically be considered as a fully separate step. Perform a complete market research for your future website and you will have accomplished the Niche Finding step, as well. In the next posts, I will cover Niche Finding in more detail, which is the ultimate goal of Brainstorming phase.

Stay tuned and subscribe to the blog RSS Feed today, because I am going to provide you with more valuable information! 

Take Care!

Hooshmand Moslemi

The reason why I have put this step in the first phase of site creation process is that without a clear plan you won´t be able to get the job done. After setting goals for your business and generating some ideas for your website such as your site type and topic, then you will need to follow the goals and commitments step by step. You should know how to get started, what the steps are, how to collect the needed information, tools and resources and how to get the job done.

What To Do First?

So, the very first task is to ask a few important questions before starting your project. In fact, these questions will exactly determine a more clear plan for your web business:

1. How much time you can dedicate to your online business?

2. How much money you can spend for your website projects?

3. How big is your financial goal for the short and long term?

4. What are your human resources for your new web business?

5. How much automated will the entire process be in percentage?

6. How personalized do you really want your Internet business to be?

These are the questions that help you set a better plan for your future website. Although many of them could be mentioned a little bit earlier in the step of idea generating or goal-setting, but I think it would be a good idea to mention them here in the Planning step, as well.

Creating a Mind Map

After determining your answers, you will be ready to set a complete plan for your website. My advice is to at least pick a pen and write down every single step on a piece of paper. If you don´t like writing, use an application for creating mind maps in order to brainstorm and plan your projects in an easy way. I would recommend an online program called bubbl.us that is absolutely FREE.

Always be as organized as possible. Build your step by step plan, put it in front of your eyes and stick with it. That way, you will exactly know what to do every time you want to work on your project.

For a better picture of what I am talking about, browse this website carefully and write down the steps. I have laid out a complete action plan that walks you through the entire process step by step. At least, you will figure out how site building works and what the steps are. I suggest to check out the About page where you will see a clear diagram.

Stay tuned and subscribe to the blog RSS Feed, because I will be providing more valuable information in the next posts.

Be Happy!

Hooshmand Moslemi 

To be honest with you, this step is the hardest one in the entire process of making your website. If you overlook or underestimate the importance of this part, you won´t be able to create a profitable web business. So, spend more time in this step and don´t move on to the next steps until you have completely finished the needed tasks.

What Do You Need To Do For Generating Website Ideas?

Basically, you have to complete 2 important tasks for generating an idea for your website. In fact, you need to determine the following elements:

1. Website Type:

Website type is a model of website that is specialized in a particular use or service. In fact, it is too important for you to select a special website type because it helps you become more specific and build your website according to that type. Although the basic principles of site building would apply to any type of website, but the details would vary. Website type normally reflects the goals of the website. Here are some of the more common types of websites on the Internet:

A) Commercial Website B) Personal Website C) News Website D) Educational Website

E) Organizational Website F) Entertainment Website G) Blog Website F) Hybrid Website   

2. Website Topic:

This is the main theme or subject of your future website and reflects a specific topic in your market. Actually, that topic should be something you are knowledgeable or passionate about. Something that you will be able to add content more regularly. That´s why you need to pick a topic that is close to your interests. Later on, you will narrow down your topic in the market and find specific segments called niches. That process is called Niche Finding and is the last step of brainstorming phase.

Now, pick up a pen and paper and write down a list of topics that are close to your: Knowledge, Experience, Passion, Interests or Hobby. I don´t think It would be that hard. I bet everyone can make a top 10 list of his/her favorite topics.

If you have still difficulties in choosing a main topic for your website, follow the tips below:

- Go to a directory website and browse their lists. Websites like dmoz.org or dir.yahoo.com are great places full of website topics. You can even narrow down and find some sub-topics as well. Write down the top 10 topics that are close to your favorites.

- Rank your potential website topics from your favourite to least favourite one. That way, you will have the best idea at the top which you can start narrowing down that topic and find more specific sub-topics.

At this point, you have completed the Idea Generating step, been able to choose your site model (type) and pick some website topics. Remember that this step is not called Market Research or Niche Finding. This is only for idea generation purposes and gives you raw information that you will be using in the next steps.

Idea Generating should be considered as the basis of the entire process and next steps are performed around this point. In the next posts, I will walk you through the Planning, Researching and Niche Finding steps. So, stay tuned and subscribe to the RSS Feed right now!

Take Care!

Hooshmand Moslemi

The purpose of this step is mainly tracking the traffic resources to your website, finding out where your visitors come from and how they interact with your website. It is so important that many smart marketers and webmasters do it on a daily or even hourly basis. Correct tracking and accurate analyzing could mean more profits for every business owner. So, if you want to be one of those successful people, you need to put high weight on this vital step, as well.

As a matter of fact, like the previous steps, tracking should be performed and monitored from the beginning. It may be regarded as the last phase, but some elements must be put in the building step, as well. So, as you see, nothing is totally separated here. All steps are like loops of a chain.

This step can basically be divided into 2 parts. One of them is more technical and the other is analytical. No matter if you are a beginner or an expert, you can do it with the right knowledge and powerful tools. Here are the 2 parts:

1. Tracking

In order to find out how much traffic you have received, where your visitors have come from and how they have interacted with your website, you need data and statistics. In short, tracking technically means getting those data and stats and it can be measured by some tracking tools and programs on the Internet.

Today, you can track everything and receive data and stats such as number of your site unique visitors, page views, hits and downloads. You are now able to find out incoming and outgoing links. You can also get data on more specific details. For example, you can find out how long your visitors have stayed on your web pages, when they have come to your website, which country they live, which Internet browser they use and much much more.  

2. Analyzing

Analyzing your website is actually the most sensitive part of the entire process. If you analyze the data and statistics you have received from your tracking efforts in the right way, you will boost your profit and increase your revenue.

With an accurate and deep analysis you will realize what is working and what is not and then you should cut off the poor elements and strengthen the positive ones to make the highest possible profit. That´s how business works.

So, nothing is more effective than testing, tracking and analyzing your website. More details about each of the above-mentioned parts will be covered In the next posts. Subscribe to the blog RSS Feed in order to get the latest updates.  

To Your Online Success!

Hooshmand Moslemi