1. Find the right idea on your website
What is it that you are offering, does it have the potential to make money?
Do you have any competitive advantage of any kind?
Are you passionate about what you want to do?
What are you interest in?
You must be able to answer yes before you start building a website. After you have cleared this up, go online and register a branded domain name for your website. Remember that your domain is the face of your business and has huge implications when it comes to branding, site usability, and search engine optimizations.
What do you like to do, is anyone interested in what you have to offer?
Is there a need for what you have to offer and are you passionate about it?
2. Create an email list
Once you’ve created your website, start building your email list. Find a really good autoresponder. Get visitors to sign up by giving them an incentive. Try to build a relationship with those who have subscribed. Be active in communication with them. Create a blog and engage users through social media like Facebook and Twitter. It is also interesting to create keyword alerts using Google alerts so you know what people are saying about you.
3. Think SEO when building your site
When creating your website, be sure to take note of SEO. There is nothing worse than having your website revamped. Flash based websites are horrible for SEO. Consider SEO before, during and after your website has been designed. Hold on to your domain name for a longer period. The search engine gives preference to the site that has registered domain names for a longer period. Spammers never register their domain for long because they know they will be banned, thus making the site useless.
4. Start blogging
Now a day there are thousands of blogs created every day and they cover a variety of topics. Blogs are incredibly popular now and that’s because they are extremely easy to use and set up. You can use your blog to provide fresh content to your audience and this is great for the search engine. A blog is a great tool for your business. You can use it to connect with your customers; you can also use it to sell your products and services. Either way, a blog is the perfect launchpad to get your business off the ground.
Use excerpts to display your post. The excerpt allows readers to see more topics and just click on the post thought they are interested in. I did some testing comparing the two and found that displaying exceptions gave me better results. Get feed burner, it tells you where your subscribers are coming from and what items they are reading and clicking. It also tells you how much your readership increases over time. When you have a good number of readers, you can proudly display the number of subscribers. Optimize your blog for SEO.
5. Create new content on a regular basis
A blog is only as good as its content. There are thousands of blogs being created every day, but only a few survive after just a few weeks. You need to create posts that are interesting and provide value to real people. Think about a content development strategy. Post ideas pop up randomly: on the train, in the shower, at the gym, or over lunch. Always have a pen with you at all times so you can write down your ideas. Blogging is about building relationships and gaining their attention and trust. For your post to stand out, your headline needs to catch the reader’s attention and describe the main point of the content at the same time. Content ideas can include doing an interview with an industry expert, reviewing a product, creating a podcast or video, you can also get reader feedback through your blog.
6. Promote your website
You can write an amazing article on a topic and no one is reading it. Your blog should allow you to communicate and connect with other people interested in your topic. Maximize the comments you receive on your blog. Ask questions at the end of each post, ask people to comment with their comments. Start commenting on other people’s blog. Please use your real name when making comments. Get the blog owner’s attention. Get in touch with other bloggers both online and offline. Don’t be afraid to contact prominent blights.
7. Practice rhythm practice
Create a privacy policy and link it to each page. Use the privacy policy generator to create your own. Have a contact page created. Use an online form where your visitors can fill in their information and contact you with their request. Have an about me page created. You need to include your image so potential links can be sure that you are a credible site worth linking to as well. Be sure to take note of your content. People are more likely to link to professional articles than grammatical and spelling errors.
8. Guest Post
To get more traffic to your site, you should start guest posting. It’s the most effective way to build exposure for yourself and your business when you’re just starting out. You’ll reach a new audience, gain valuable links, and develop a key relationship with other bloggers in your niche.
9. Ask questions and become an expert
You can start asking questions on Q/A type sites. Be active on these sites and provide value where you can.
10. Write a review of all the books you have read in your industry
I have noticed that some product pages get a lot of hits every day and the reviews are read by thousands of people interested in learning about a particular topic. Start writing reviews of all the books you’ve read in your industry and leave a signature link to their URL. This can help you get targeted traffic and back links to your site. You can also create a product listing that mentions your URL in the author bio section.
11. Go local
Organize a meeting related to your topic. Meetup is a great site where you can find interested groups related to your topic. You can find one in your area or start one. The in-person relationship can easily turn into an online bonding relationship. Connect with local media personalities and become an expert in your industry. This will make you the main contact if they need more information and you will get a lot of exposure. Also try updating your business information in the local search engine. Many of the big companies I know are big on social media. For example, you can create targeted ads for people who live in your area. You can also search for users who live in your area. Another good idea to attract local people is to optimize your page title to include where you are located locally. Instead of having “Financial Agency”, use something like “Financial Agency based in Luxembourg”. Also use keyword research, such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, to find out which keywords get the highest search frequency and optimize accordingly.
12. Social networks are the key
Sign up to the leading social networking site that is relevant to your business. Unless you live in space, you should have heard of Twitter, a microblogging service that allows you to create short messages to reach your follower. Twitter has become an important method of communication. It can provide a valuable drop for your links. Facebook is also about great micro-blogging which I love too. Try creating a fan page for your business on Facebook.
13. Do guerrilla marketing
This is a great marketing strategy to market your business if you are starting out on a low budget. Create t-shirts for your site and give them away whenever you can. Hand out bumper stickers for your website. It’s worth the cost, even if only a few people stick it on their car, toilets, or poles. Try going around schools and public places related to your site and post flyers on the wall and bulletin board. Always be prepared to hand out business cards or leave them lying around. You never know who will pick them up and take a look at what you have to offer, and if you’re really tough, tattoo your URL on a highly visible part of your body.