You've all heard about people making their fortunes on the internet. There seems to be a vast number of people making some form on incoming doing this or that. Well, this is my that. I have a number of websites running as a way to help me become a better web and graphics designer and maybe even make a buck or two on the side. The sad reality is that chances are none of my websites will make it beyond initial opening stage. Why you ask? Well simply put, the web is flooded with everyone else trying to do the same thing. Let's look at my Yamaha C3 website and pick it apart shall we?
Yamaha C3 Collective
I am a big fan of scooters. I've never owned one but I know a lot about scooters; how to fix scooters, modify scooters, and shop around for them. After all my research I feel that I am a bit of an expert on the subject. Enter Yamaha C3 Collective. I figured that since I enjoyed learning about my favorite model of scooter that I should take everything I've learned and put it up on my own website, complete with Google Adsense and some affiliate links. Sounds reasonable right? I think so. Well here comes the problem. Getting attention to my website and building a user base.
Getting attention in a large crowd often means you have to do something that may seem silly or desperate. In my case, I want the people who are looking for information about the Yamaha C3 to be able to find my website. Enter SEO (search engine optimization).
Every time I add a new page to my website I need to consider what words I use in the articles. They should be relevant to the Yamaha C3 and to the information on the page, be it tires, engine mods, etc. The pages meta data should pertain to the page as well. It's a never ending battle because major search engines like Google change the way they index data all the time in order to give their users the most relevant search returns. Meaning, that even after I make a perfect page it may not be enough to get me ranked high up on Google searches.
So what else can I do?
How about a marketing campaign? Well I don't have any spare money to be able to sink it into a hobby site about Yamaha C3's so I need to explore other options. One way to generate a lot of traffic is to have other websites link to your site. Furthermore, the more websites that link to your website will increase your ranking on major search engines. Imagine finding the beginning of a spiderweb and following all the pathways to the center of the web. Eventually, if you follow the threads you will find the center of the web and the spider as well. Now the threads are other websites and I'm the spider. I want other websites to link to me so that when people follow the threads they'll eventually get to the center of the web and find my site. It's now time for me to ensnare my audience.
It's not enough that people are coming to my website. I need them to stay there for a while and then return the next day. Repeat traffic is what drives your site. A user base will make or break your website. I must make sure that my site is easy to navigate, full of useful information, offer something other similar websites might not, and most importantly be a genuine public service. Something like a website about the Yamaha C3 means that there will always be new information coming out about that scooter so it's up to me to make sure I find it and list it on my website. Staying up to date is extremely important when running a website. Even if you only ever update your site once a week, at least you're doing something for it and your users. Remember that your are taking on a responsibility to the public when you create a website and therefore you must keep it up to date, bug free, and interactive.
Oh yeah, don't forget to visit
Yamaha C3 Collective too.
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