The internet is an information gateway. But many people seem to forget that when they think about wanting to start a web biz. With the steps outlined in this article, the author takes these implications into mind and gives a great guide on how to start a web-based business.
It is not easy or hard to start a small web-based business. It just takes a certain level of commitment and planning to do so successfully. Many people fail to treat a web biz like a real business, but rather treat it like a hobby. This is one of the biggest adjustments that you must make if you're thinking about starting a web biz. Aside from that, though, there are other things that you can do to give yourself a better chance at being successful with your web biz.
1. Do a little market research?
By doing market research, you find out if there's a need for your product, who your target market is, and how much competition there is.
The internet is an information gateway. Therefore when most people come online, they don't come to buy things. Rather, people come online to find solutions to their problems.With that said, your job is primarily concerning providing information, not blasting consumers with ads that they probably don't care about.Therefore, your success with a web biz is going to depend how well you're able to provide solutions to the consumer's problems. That has to do, in large part, to web SEO.
Keyword research tools: (Google's Keyword Tool & WordTracker)
Key things to consider
* Of the 5-7 keyword phrases you're choosing, are there at least 75,000 searches being done each month.
* How competitive are those keywords? As a newbie, try to go for less competitive keyword phrases.
* Is the market for your product heavily saturated? Again, this goes back to competition. The less experience you have, the more you want to avoid heavy competition.
In addition to keyword research, checking out forums and discussion boards in your particular market will give you a good idea of what products/services are already available and provide you with ways to measure the best ways to promote and market your product. In addition, you are able to ask your market directly what types of products/services they are in need of.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to plan and do as much market research as possible before diving head first into a web biz. After all, it's a business you're starting, not a hobby. You will be wasting your money and time if you make the mistake of taking miscalculated risks?
2. Launch the web biz.
One of the first things you'll need in order to launch your web biz is a domain. Keeping SEO in mind, you'll most likely want to pick a domain name that is somewhat related to the overall content of your site. Therefore, if your web biz is about travel to europe, you way want to include either one or both of those words in your domain.
The next issue, is web hosting. I highly recommend host4profit to newbies, but if you know a little bit about web hosting and have a bigger budget, then find the service that meets your needs the best.
After you have your domain and web hosting in place, you're going to need content, and lots of it, might I add.
The kind of content you have on your web site will depend on the type of product/service you're providing and your target market. Anywhere from setting up a blog, podcasts, a forum, articles, videos, etc... Regardless of the type, take the adequate time to plan what you're going to add to the website.
In addition to content, you will need to monetize your web site. How else will you make money? Either place ads of your product/service or ads from affiliate products/services. Either way, visitors enough will not make you money. You need to sell something in order to do so.
3. Promote your web biz.
This last step is probably the most challenging for newbies to tackle, but it is probably the most crucial one to understand and apply effectively.
Here are some effective and free ways to promote your web biz.
* Social networking
* Blogging
* Your email signature
* Press Release
* Article marketing
* Social bookmarking
* Forum marketing
The point is to use as many ways as you can to let your target market know about your product/service.
Social Bookmarking: Drastically Improve Your Web Biz Site's Traffic
Social bookmarking, although increasing in popularity, is one of the most underused web marketing tools by newbies, perhaps due to lack of correct information. The Web Biz Geek sets out to eliminate some common misconceptions and lay out some simple guidelines for how anyone, even a newbie, can use social bookmarking effectively as a web marketing tool for their web biz.
How to Not Fall Prey to a Business Scam
Falling prey to a business scam, as horrible as it may sound, is a common issue that many newbies face. It's disheartening, and worst of all, you feel helpless as a result. The good news is that there are true legitimate jobs to be found online. The only way to find them, though, is to stay clear of all the business scams that might get in the way.
How to judge whether or not an Internet business program is legitimate.
Ever heard the saying "If it sounds like it's too good to be true, it probably is"? Don't be the victim of another get-rich scheme. To find legitimate work at home opportunities online, there are a few guidelines you should follow.
