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Domain Registration Free Web Hosting Website Submission Searh Engine Marketing Tools |
The following steps will show you how to start a website and promote it at minimal cost using free web tools.
Getting Your Domain Name
You may use http://nameboy.com to
generate domain names by entering your desired keywords. If you already
have the domain names in mind, click on "SEARCH
FOR MULTIPLE DOMAIN NAMES" to check the availabilty of a selection
of your prospective domain names.
Once you have decided on your favorite domain name, you can go to any of the domain registration services to get it register. The price range from US$8 to US$35 per year. If you do not intend to spend more than US$9 then go to either Myorderbox or GoDaddy. I register my domain with both companies.
If you are on a tight budget, then get a free subdomain. For example, when I registered with Netfirms free web hosting, I also get a free subdomain, mwc.netfirms.com, which is a relatively short name and easy to remember. "mwc" is the acronym for my company, MyWebCulture.
The other popular option is to register a free website with Yahoo's GeoCities. My free GeoCities' website is http://www.oocities.org/timmguru which is a mirror website of my mwc.netfirms.com. Instead of a subdomain, you are given a URL under the main GeoCities domain.
Search for Free Web Hosting
You can search for free web hosting, go to Yahoo!
or Google and enter
the keyword "free web hosting". You will find plenty of them.
As mentioned before, there are Netfirms
and Yahoo's
GeoCities. They are both simple to use.
I prefer Netfirm as I can use FTP to upload my files and also use CGI scripting. However, you will have sponsored advertisements on your new free website. If you do not wish to have any ad then try Host Department.
You may ask: "Since you can get web hosting for free, why are people paying for it?"
Usually, free web hosting has limited features and functionalities. Most free web hosting providers do not allow you to have script and limit the individual files size that you can upload to the server. These are just some of the limitations. If you decided to do business online then go for paid web hosting. This will tell your potential customers that your are serious about your business and establish your credibility. Well, if you are just experimenting or giving free services and advices then it's ok to use freebies.
Content, content and more content
The most important thing that you have to focus is the content of your website. This is what bring real people. You want people to read what you got to say - so make it interesting, easy and pleasant experience for your visitors. Write on topics that you are passionate about. And keep it simple so that even a 12 year old can read. Focus on a single topic on one page. Keep the layout clean and tidy - nothing turns off visitors more than a cluttered page.
Content websites
There are different types of content sites. The type of site you choose to run will greatly affect the kind of work you need to do to create it and the time required to maintain it. The two most common content sites are online magazines and reference sites.
Online magazine websites
An online magazine can be a site about any topic and it is mostly article driven. Online magazines, like traditional magazines, require lots of content on a regular basis thus you need to update and maintain your website regular. The good thing is that you can often get article submissions from your loyal user base or syndicate content from other websites. That users database is an asset of an online magazine. Your frequently updated content creates loyal and repeat visitors thus enabling you to expand your site to include a community and or newsletters.
Reference websites
A reference site is very similar to an online magazine in how it provides information but it differs in that it does not require you to update it regularly. In many ways a reference site is similar to a book, whereas an online magazine is obviously similar to a magazine. A book will contain a simple table of contents, or an index, directing the user to the information they are looking for. Your reference site will emphasize a content catalog, index, or menu in it's design and navigation structure. The reason is that a reference site has a higher number of unique or first-time visitors, while an online magazine has a higher number of repeat or loyal visitors.
Reference sites have as high of a traffic potential as an online magazine but their growth is typically more linear. Also, as a book is thicker than a magazine, reference sites usually start out with more content than a online magazine. In fact if you're making a reference site you usually get most of your content before you even publish the site, however eventually it may be possible for an online magazine to grow to the size where it has more content in it's archives than a reference site.
The major upside to a reference site is that it will usually run itself, making your maintenance work much lower and your potential for residual income much higher. However startup work is often greater as you must obtain a large amount of content before initial publication and the lower number of repeat or loyal visitors makes starting a community much harder.
Next... Research keywords for your content
Monetizing Your Website
There are numerous way that you can make money with your website even if you are just providing information. These are 2 broad categories that I used: Pay-Paid-Click(PPC) and Affiliate Ads. Pay-Per-Click Programs: Affiliate Ads Programs: You can view how I implemented these affiliate ads right here on this section of the website. I do not get paid if you were to click at the ads. I will be paid a referral fees when you purchase the items via my affiliate URL. AffiliateSensor is my preferred ads partner as I can have more control on how the ads can be configured and display. AffiliatePowerAds serves graphics ads using standard format. You may have to change your website layout to accomodate the ads. CBClicks is a new viral advertising program started on 6 August 2004 by Armand Morin. You can have flexilibity in how your ads can be displayed. You can choose between horrizontal or vertical format, size and color. I really like these options, however, I have not seen graphical ads yet. As for Goolge Adsense and Quigo Adsonar, you will be paid a few cents to a few dollars when your visitors click at the their ads. See examples of Google Adsense ads above this report. You will find more information on their respective websites or visit my blog on Adsense, http://ebk.adsensepro.com , my unfinished ebook on "Make Money with Adsense".
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