By Robin Nobles (c) 2003

New Web sites are springing up online by the millions. However, when they don't reach a level of success, the Web site owners assume that they can't make money off the Internet.
Wrong.

The one thing that is important to know, however, is that you do have to work to make money online. Just like having a regular offline business, the online business needs to be taken care of, the Web site continually updated, and the customers made to feel safe and secure when doing business with you.

So, let's devote this article to simple things you can do to have a successful online business. Remember that books have been written on this subject, so this article won't be all inclusive by any means.

But, for the average Web site owner, it will give you simple steps to take to turn your online business down the right path toward achieving success.

Future of the Internet --

In January of 2003, Roy H. Williams, who is widely known and respected as the "Wizard of Ads", finally declared, "Now is the time to get in." For years, Roy has been watching and predicting the Internet's future. Back in 1996, he declared, "The Internet is a baby born premature." He even predicted the great dot com crash that we're still recovering from.

So what does Roy have to say about the future of the Internet? Roy says that the buying public has finally figured out how to use the Internet and what it's good for: specifically, "information gathering and features-based comparison-shopping."

What does Roy suggest for Web sites today?

1. Ignore heavy graphic sites and focus on providing information for your visitors.

2. Build confidence by interacting with your Web visitors and anticipating and answering their questions.

3. Don't think "advertising" – think information delivery.

4. Focus on Web site architecture (a simply designed site) and exceptional writing.

5. Help your visitors find what they're looking for within a few minutes of landing on your site. If you make them hunt for information, they're gone.

So, with Roy's predictions in mind, let's look at some ways to make our Web sites stronger, more visible, and have a better chance at being successful.

Purchase Your Own Domain Name --

Having a professional image is very important on the Web, and it begins with having your own domain name. Having your Web site located at AOL or one of the free Web hosting companies takes away a level of professionalism.

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Naming Your Domain --

Before you rush off to purchase a domain, let's talk for a minute about naming your domain. Most businesses want to name their domain after the name of their company, which is understandable. However, if you can name your domain using keywords that people might be searching for when looking for the products or services you provide, you're giving your site a small edge with the search engines.

For example, if the name of your company is Simply Southern, and if you purchase the domain name simplysouthern.com, you're not using any keywords in that domain name, and someone seeing that domain name will have no idea what your site is about.

So, why not purchase simply-southern-catering.com, which will give the engines (and your visitors) a keyword phrase that describes your site: catering.

Your E-Mail Address --

When you set up your own domain name, be sure to use that domain name in your e-mail address, such as:

Robin@searchengineworkshops.com

Again, this adds a level of professionalism to your business. In my case, I have an e-mail address through my local ISP, which is how I access the Internet. I use a nickname in that e-mail address. Therefore, rather than use that e-mail address, it would be better for me to use the above e-mail address that's connected to my domain name and online business.

Professional Image --

When you have a Web site, you want to portray a professional image. You want your visitors comfortable enough with your online business to purchase whatever it is you're selling.

So, don't let your 12-year old nephew design your Web site with cutesy graphics of cartoon characters. Instead, have it designed by a professional. To save money on Web design, you can always have the designer create the main page of your site and maybe one or two interior pages, and then develop a "template" for you. Templates are "skeleton" Web pages containing just the basic design, and you can then cut and paste the rest of your pages into the template and finish up the site yourself, if you're comfortable with working on your own site.

If you have a software program that allows you to create and work on Web pages (which is called an HTML editor), you may be able to find templates for that program that will allow you to create your own site with a professional look. FrontPage is an easy to use HTML editor that is just like working with a word processing program. If you can use Word, you can use FrontPage. At the URL below, you'll find a huge assortment of templates that were created just for FrontPage, which makes creating your own site very easy.

thetemplatestore.com You can also read this article about FrontPage, which contains a link to an online tutorial for learning how to use the program.

Or, if you'd rather have someone else create your Web site for you, look in your yellow pages and find someone locally.

Robin Nobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists, has trained several thousand people in her online search engine marketing courses and is the content provider for (GRSeo) Search Engine Optimizer software. She also teaches 2-, 3-, and 5-day hands-on search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe with Search Engine Workshops.