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Webmaster Outpost
( Strategy, Downloads, Products, Articles )
by Webmaster Outpost Staff
Strategy: "Content first, Affiliates last" – Don't expect people to come and visit your site if there is nothing but affiliate links from top to bottom. Think of content as the free sample that attracts customers into your store; make it appealing enough so they want it and just make sure they leave through an affiliate link.
The best way to successfully create a revenue generating web site is to have content that allows tight integration of affiliate links. If you can put together something that interests people and then lead them to more information, they will follow naturally. If you just bring them to a page littered with affiliate links, you're just rolling the dice. Treat your web site like a business, not a casino.
Choose a topic that you feel comfortable writing about. The planet is full of people who share similar interests; so don't be afraid to pick a topic that perhaps is not so popular. In many cases a site designed around an obscure topic has a better chance of generating revenue.
If you are going to choose a topic that is commonly found on the Internet, come up with a unique perspective. The key is to set yourself apart from the millions of other web pages out there. Once you pick a killer topic, the rest is easy.
If you want to make serious money from your web site, you'll have to make some small investments along the way. The first investment you should make is to pick an appropriate domain name.
You have two choices: (a) pick a domain name that matches your topic exactly, or (b) choose something that's offbeat, but catchy. Option (b) will require more work, but can be a lot more fun and fruitful.
Once you have some ideas, you'll need to research their availability and once you find one, register it. Registration can run anywhere from $20 to $100 (USD). You should put together a bunch of alternatives before you check availability, and be prepared for disappointment.
When we conceived the idea for this site, our topic was a place for webmasters to hang out and learn to make money with their sites. We wanted to call it the Webmaster Service Center and our domain name was going to be servicecenter.com, but that was already taken. Luckily, one of our alternatives (webmasteroutpost.com) was available.
You probably connect to the Internet from your home using a dial-up, cable, ISDN or perhaps even DSL modem. In these cases, you're computer is only on Internet when you connect, and you are often assigned an IP address dynamically each time. Why is this important?
For other people to access your web site, it needs to reside on a computer that is always connected to the Internet with the same IP address. Often when my friends visit they ask to see my web server. I have to explain that while I live in New Jersey, my web sites actually reside in California.
There are many companies that provide hosting services for web sites for a monthly fee. You will need to research a company that offers services that meet your needs. Certainly, key factors like reliability and affordability are more important that geography. That's why we picked a firm in California, and since everything can be arranged online and via e-mail, location doesn't matter.
When picking a web host they are two important points to pay close attention to. First, the web host may specify the amount of physical space your site may occupy. Quite often you will see offers of 10mb, 25mb or 40mb. If you site is only going to have a few dozen pages and images, you should be able to fit into a smaller location. Keep in mind that sites can grow quickly over time depending on what you're trying to accomplish. It is import to plan for some growth as web hosting companies usually charge significant amounts for extra space.
The second thing to look for if whether or not there is a limit on the amount of bytes transferred via your site. Every web page is constructed out of HTML and on your computer will have a physical file size. So do the images! When you click on a web page, the entire file of HTML instructions is downloaded from the site, along with the images.
So, if your home page and images is 10kb and 1,000 people visit it during a month, your transfer rate is 10mb. Some web hosting services put a 2gb or 4gb limit and then charge a hefty fee per megabyte (mb) once you hit your limit. This sounds like a lot, BUT if your web page is 30kb (like ours) and is downloaded by 100,000 people a month, the transfer rate is 3gb and well over a 2gb limit.
This is something you should be aware of, but really is more important for the future of your site. For most sites it takes several months (even a year) to get to the 100,000-visitor point. Sometimes, however, it is better to choose a web host that has more flexible terms than to have to keep moving your site from host to host.
Before you even start to play with HTML, organize your ideas and write out the base content for your site. When we build a web site, we start with an outline of major sub-topics, which typically equates to a separate page, and then becomes the basic framework for the home page.
We do the same thing with each sub-topic, and then write a short 1,000-word article for each sub-topic. You can (and should) always go back and add more thoughts over time, but if you want to get the site up and running quickly, just focus on the major points.
All of this is done in a word processor for one major reason: SPELL CHECK! So many webmasters are careless when they write their content, and it costs them dearly. There are many reasons why (as you will learn), but for now just trust us. If you have a grammar checker, turn that on as well.
We also like using a word processor since we can double-space the content, print and revise it a couple of times. Think of your content as the free sample in the supermarket. If it doesn't taste good, will you consider buying the product? Invest a little time in writing your content, and you'll see a much better return when you launch your site.
Now for the fun part – designing the content into web pages. We have two guidelines we follow when designing a site: (1) don't make it look like every other site, and (2) make sure it can be read easily.
When you were a child in grade school, originality was always one of the things that the teacher rewarded you for, even if the thing you created wasn't the best looking. The same is true for web pages. While you can look at other web sites for ideas, it's best to just do your own thing.
But, (and this is important) make sure the end result can be read without straining your eyes. Some people use extravagant backgrounds, or extreme color combinations. For your affiliate links to be successful, they have to be visible. One trick is to always put your content in a table with a plain white background and black or blue font, then you can have all kinds of funky backgrounds and images around it.
For more information on the importance of selecting a proper host read Lisa Schmeckpeper's article "Hosting - The Silent Partner for Your E-Business".
Continue on to Web Site Promotion: Preparing Your Pages for Getting Noticed