Due to the present state of the economy, many people are looking for ways to make money. While working from home has been a popular trend for several years, it is now turning into a necessity for many people. As a result of the ever increasing unemployment rate, many people are searching for ways to make money online. After losing my job in 2008, I joined the ranks of the unemployed who are looking for ways to work from home.
There is a sea of information on how to make money online. However, a lot of the information is difficult for the average computer user (like myself) to understand. The average computer user may be familliar with terms like search engine; email; and homepage, but they may not be familiar with terms like RSS feed; SEO; or pings. Undiscouraged by all the things that I did not know, I was determined to start an online business. I would have to educate myself as I went along. I began by making a list of the things that I needed to do to make money online. This is what my list looked like:
1. Decide on the type of business
2. Select a web host
3. Build a website
4. Decide on the contents of the site
5. Publish the site to search engines
6. Get traffic to the site
7. Determine how to make money online
I decided to document my progress along the way, so that I could share what I’ve learned with others. You won’t find a lot of fancy computer lingo here. I simply elaborate on each item from my “to do” list above.
First of all, you must have an email address. Most of the activities that you do online will require that you have a valid email address. You will need your email address to login to any online accounts that you may have.
1. Decide what type of business you want to start. Do you want to sell products or services; start an affiliate marketing business; or publish an e-book? You may even decide that you don’t need a website at all, but only a blog where you provide your expertise on certain subjects. I decided that my online business would be a resource for those interested in earning money by completing cash surveys. Since I enjoy writing, I also decided that I wanted a blog on my website. Knowing the type of business makes it easier to determine the type of website that is needed.
2. Select a web hosting plan. It is recommended that you purchase a business web hosting plan, which often includes your own domain name; website email addresses; site traffic statistics; and many other important features. The top web hosting services are Yahoo, Google, and MSN. I have a Yahoo Small Business web hosting plan for about $12 per month. It’s very important to have your own domain name, otherwise you will not be able to register for some products and services that are crucial to the success of your online business. For example, you must have your own domain to register with Google Adsense or Adwords. Your web host provides instructions on building your website; publishing the site; submitting the site to search engines; and many other topics.
3. Build a website. Building your site is easy. Many web hosting plans allow experienced web designers to design their sites themselves, while also offering template designs for the average computer user to choose from. Once you select a design, all you have to do is fill in the blanks.
4. What will be the content of your site. For example, if your business will sell products or services, you will need to have a catalog on the site. If your business is affiliate marketing, you will need to have links to affiliate sites. Keep potential visitors to your site in mind while building your site. Ask yourself these questions: Is the site visually attractive? Is the site easy to navigate? Does the site give too much information or too little? Are the fonts easy to read? Is the content interesting? Be sure to check, and re-check for errors before publishing your site. Publishing the site is easy too. All you have to do is follow the instructions that your web host provides.
5. Submit the site to search engines. To get your site listed in major search engines, be sure to submit it to Yahoo, Google and MSN. You can also submit your site to online directories. Some of these directories charge a small fee, while some of them are free. For example, I was able to list my website in the DC Registry free of charge.
6. Drive traffic to the site. There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. An inexpensive and effective way to drive traffic to your site is to link to other sites. For example, each article that I publish to Ezine Articles has a link to my website, which drives traffic to my site. Another way of driving traffic to your website is by registering with social networking sites; such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. You will need to include links to your website on your profile pages. You should also join relevent groups to get more exposure, which results in more traffic to your site.
7. How will I make money? After all, this is the ultimate goal. If your online business is to sell products and services, your main focus will be to advertise your site. You will need to purchase ads on major search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and MSN. You should also consider placing ads on social networking sites like the ones mentioned in #5 above. I realized that there were several ways that I could make money online. I could earn money through my affiliate accounts; by writing articles; and through Google Adsense.
The success of any website is determined by how much traffic gets to the site. This is where SEO (search engine optimization) comes in. This is the process of improving ranking in search engine results. This will be one of the next items added to my list of things to do to make money online. I will eleborate on this and other topics in upcoming blogs.
Tags: Adsense, Adwords, affiliate marketing, Online Business, Search Engines, website
