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The_technical_stuff
| The technical stuff
(including how to build a fantastic website, all the elements
you need to consider and how to make it work with little or
notechnical abilities). It can be done. I’m almost certain that
many people reading this Ecourse have no technical skills at
all? I’m not embarrassed to let you know that I don’t have great
technical skills… I’ve learned how to build really basic
websites, but nothing fancy (I don’t think the Profit Puppy site
is going to win any design awards in the near future!). The fact
is you don’t need to have great technical skills to make a good
website. In some ways having limited web design abilities gives
you an advantage because you won’t get caught up in, what can
sometimes be, confusing details. As a novice you’ll be able to
focus on what counts … That is; making money, marketing your
site and getting visitors. If you have no money, then you will
need to learn how to do all of these things yourself which will
slow you down considerably. If you can afford to pay someone
else to design your site, then you can get a great site designed
at a tiny fraction of the cost (compared with what it would cost
to start a “real” bricks and mortar business in the offline
world). Web design can be a be a bit overwhelming when you are
starting out, especially if you haven’t done it before - it’s
hard to know what you should do and where to start. However,
once you’ve been through the initial process it gets easier and
easier. To start with, let’s look at all the “technical”
elements that you need to include for consideration on your new
site. We will be covering several of these aspects in more depth
in later issues, but for now, I’ll provide an overview of the
things you will need to get started: Domain name – you need a
domain name for your site (E.g. www.yoursite.com) Web hosting –
you need to get your site hosted somewhere so other people can
see it. An auto-responder email service – you probably want to
have some kind of email auto-responder set up. This is can help
communicate effectively with your audience by send them a series
of emails from you automatically. Copy (i.e. words). Design –
you need to get a template designed for your site. Audio - audio
has proven to generate more sales and interest to visitors. A
shopping cart service – if you are planning an ecommerce site
and want to be able to accept online payments, you will need a
shopping cart service where you can accept credit cards via a
secure server. A merchant account – to accept credit cards you
need to have your own, or a third party merchant account. An
affiliate program - you may want to have your own affiliate
program. We’ll talk about this in future issues of the Ecourse.
If you can combine the above elements and put them together
effectively, you’ll have the essence of a great website. Keep in
mind that you may not need the shopping cart service, the
merchant account, or the affiliate program if you are not
actually selling your own product.
Below, I’ve provided valuable information about how to build the
9 most important elements of a successful website: The Domain
name and Web hosting I will be examining domain names in more
detail in a later issue of the Ecourse, but for now, I’ll assume
that you need a new domain name for your site. A goodplace to
start is somewhere like http://www.mydomainfriend.com/ - this is
a great keyword combination tool that I built for researching
and finding new domain names. My Domain Friend helps to
simplify, what can be, a quite often lengthy and tiresome
process. When you find a suitable domain, there are number of
cheap services where you can register it for under $10. For more
info on domain names and web hosting check out
http://www.profitpuppy.com/hosting.htm An Auto-responder service
If you want to build a profitable site you should definitely
consider an auto-responder service. If you get someone to your
website, there’s a good chance they may never come back. By
using an auto-responder you can build a valuable relationship
with you your visitors and increase the likelihood that that
they will visit your site again (unless they unsubscribe!).
There are many different ways you can use auto-responders. For
example, you might start an Ecourse, or remind your visitors of
upcoming events or product developments in a newsletter.
Auto-responders are crucial if you want to maximize the profits
from website. In a later issue of the Ecourse, I’ll be showing
you how to put together great sounding newsletters to help you
get more bang for your buck. So, how do you set up an
auto-responder? The best (and easiest) option is to go with one
of the many third party services that are available on the web.
For more information and a list of the best auto-responder
services visit:
http://www.profitpuppy.com/compare-autoresponder.htm
Writing copy for your site Words are the MOST important element
of your site: Effective copy is the one factor that will ensure
that visitors react in a way that you want them to (whether it’s
to buy something or simply to browse the information available
on your site). Of course, the way you write for your site
depends on what type of site you are building and what you want
to achieve. If you are building a site with sales in mind,
you’re going to need a copywriter to carefully draft a great
sales pitch.
If you’re not a confident writer, you’re going to have to find
someone to do it for you. The bad news is, a good copywriter is
hard to find. However, if you fancy yourself as writer, you
should start out by trying to develop the content yourself
(other sites are always a good reference point!). If you are
building an affiliate marketing site you should concentrate on
well worded copy to highlight the programs and products that you
are promoting. General writing tasks, like this, are a much
easier undertaking as there is usually a wealth of available
existing information about your products or programs (sometime
affiliate programs will even provide you with useful copy for
you site). “General” (as opposed to specialist) writers are
usually much easier to find. In my experience, you can provide
much more powerful content if you can afford to outsource your
writing tasks to an experienced copy writer with a great
understanding of your product or service. By taking this
approach, you will have more free time to spend researching new
opportunities and managing the other elements of your site which
could be making you money. To find a good copywriter, have a
look at the services on:
http://www.profitpuppy.com/freelance-sites.htm In general, you
can expect to pay around $15-30 per page (around 400 words).
It’s possible employ writers for around $5 per page, but don’t
expect polished copy for that price. For a reasonable copywriter
you will be looking at a minimum of $50 per page. Not
surprisingly, great copywriters charge hundreds or even
thousands of dollars per page.
Designing the site As with the other elements of your site,
there are a few options here; you can learn how to do design a
site yourself (if you don’t already have the skills). The
disadvantage of this method is that designing a nice looking
site can be quite a lengthy process. Again, if you have the
budget for it, I would recommend outsourcing the work,
especially if you are just getting started. Freelance web
designers (unlike good copy writers) are everywhere. Contracting
your web design tasks to a freelancer is usually an inexpensive
and sound option. For more information about hiring a freelance
web designer, check out the list of resources at:
http://www.profitpuppy.com/freelance-sites.htm Another (and less
appealing option) is to get a local firm to design a site for
you. If you reside in the USA or UK this is likely to be an
expensive proposition (sometimes up to 500% on what you can pay
for a freelancer) – I wouldn’t recommend this option unless you
have money falling out of your pockets : )
If you would prefer to talk to the person that is designing the
site, think about alternatives like hiring a university student
or someway studying graphic design. You can often find someone
who has great web design skills and is relatively inexpensive.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask for some examples of work before
employing someone. It’s important to know that they can create
site design that you are going to be happy with. The last option
for designing a site is to use an application like Site Build
It. (Go to http://www.profitpuppy.com/designingwebsite.htm for
more information on this package). There are some distinct
advantages to using software like this - it does everything for
you, including the domain name and hosting, auto-responders. The
best thing about using Site Build It is that will also help you
to get listed in the search engines. Audio, shopping, merchant
accounts and more…
For an easy way to place audio on your site:
http://www.profitpuppy.com/instantaudio. For a comparison of
shopping cart services:
http://www.profitpuppy.com/shopping-cart.htm.
For information on setting up a merchant account (so that you
can accept onlinepayments) have a look at
http://www.profitpuppy.com/accepting-payment.htm
Profitpuppy.com
About the author:
info@profitpuppy.com
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