How To Build A Successful Website In 2024

 

Believe It Or Not

 

A lot of people, in fact most people that create a website strive to make money online either directly or indirectly with their online presence. Surely, they would not mind earning some form of income from the effort they put into their site. While this is possible, a lot of site owners find it tough earning a decent income or any income at all.

 

Don’t Be Deceived

Making money online is not as easy as taking a stroll in the park where everyone admires your joggers and your toned physique. You see, online, no one knows you – at least not yet, until you build your presence. There will be obstacles, there will be challenges, some self-festered and some beyond your control.

The tendency to fall into the “it’s impossible to make money online” trap is very real. After trying a few times without success you give up. Online businesses take time to grow. You’ve got to keep tending it. It may be crawling at first, but with some persistence and hard work it will be up and running – and yielding income, good income

What this post is about

This post will reveal to you steps to take to towards building a viable website.

 

1 1. Take The Step

                           

 

The fear of failing puts many people off starting their online business. It stops them from moving from the thinking stage, to the doing stage and executing their ideas. You don’t need to read all the web pages before taking that first step, you’ll learn along the way. You’ll make mistakes, re-evaluate and bounce back better. There is no one book or online post that can give you a fool-proof assurance of success. It’s a step at a time.

 

 

    2.      Niche Vs Passion

 

If you search online for the most profitable niches on the internet, you will be slapped with a list of the so called ‘lucrative’ niches. Pick one of these and build your internet business around it without a passion for the topic and it will most likely end in disaster.

 

This is so because soon enough you will run low on motivation to continue due to your lack the passion for the subject. It is your passion that keeps you going. When things are not going smoothly or according to plan, your passion gives you the will power to trudge ahead. If it’s gardening that you have passion for, wrap yourself around it and stay away from pet grooming. Trust me you’d be better fulfilled, in all ramifications.

 

3. Good Website name.

 

You are in a discussion with someone and it leads to him asking what the name of your site is, you tell him and his reaction puzzles you? Well, perhaps the name sounds weird or overly complicated. As for names go, keep is as simple as possible. Also the name or title should not be misleading or confusing. You should not have a title that goes, Pet Care, and then you begin to talk about Bonsai gardening. I, certainly will not visit the site again because that is not what I am looking for.

 

4. Hosting

What is web hosting? Simply put, it’s the piece of online estate you purchase or rent to display your web site on the internet. What is the use of well researched, well written content if no one is able to see it? Any meaningful and serious aspiration for online presence must have a good hosting plan.

There are numerous hosting companies with different hosting plans, ranging from free to paid. This can be further broken down into

·      Shared Hosting – most affordable asides free hosting and

·  Virtual private server (VPS) - often used by large businesses. The playou choose depends on factors such as, nature of your web site and your budget.

·  Dedicated Hosting – has dedicated server used only by the web site You have control over the server and its properties.

· Cloud Hosting- has an almost limitless volume of storage and bandwidth and is becoming increasingly popular.

·    Reseller Hosting- I like to refer to this as subletting. An account owner can host a website or websites on behalf of a third party, with the resources allotted to him by the hosting company, which he is presently not in need of, making some income on the side.

 Your web host must provide the following-

 

· Security - Every online business desires a safe working  environment and they want a web host that will provide this.

· Support- A good hosting service must provide adequate technical support to its clients, ensuring that user experience is flawless.

·  Uptime- The website must be available and accessible on line as much as possible. Persistent down time can affect user experience and lead to loss of viewers.

 

5. Content 

Content, made up of all that is contained therein, on your website must be carefully created and placed. Things to watch out for include -

 

·  Quality - if you want readers hanging around your web site, you had better be dishing out good quality content. This ensures you get both unique and returning visitors. Your content must be well researched and written.

·  Simplicity - Content must be simple and easy to read and digest. It must not be over burdened with complex grammar that interrupts the comprehension process. Don’t try to impress anyone, I assure you, they won’t be. 

·       Fresh Content – intermittently dilute your old content with fresh ones. This does not mean the old content has lost value, especially well researched content that can continue to attract readers for years as your articles are continually discovered, but adding fresh content attracts return viewers, and aids in search engine discoverability.

·  Clear and relevant images – good clear images attract viewers and compliments your articles in a positive way. Just ensure it is related to your topic. You can check out the article Six ways good images benefit your Web Page

 

6. Social Media 

It makes sense to have a number of social media handles. Advantages include

·       It encourages interaction with readers and viewers

·       Improves feedback from users

·       Makes your content easy to share

·       Gives an opportunity for marketing

7. Engage in Search engine optimization (SEO)

And for good reason. If you want your website showing up within the first page of search engines and thereby open to large traffic, you have to take SEO seriously. Actions that aid Search Engine Optimization include-

·       Keyword Research - Keywords are the words or phrases that searchers enter in to search engines to get information about a topic. They must be properly researched and put to good use.

·       Website loading speed – The faster your website loads, the easier and faster it shows up in search engine results, leading to higher ranking. A load time of three seconds or less is ideal as even as low as two seconds above that can lead to site abandonment.

·       High quality back links – These are links from another website to your own site. It helps create traffic to your web site.

·     Mobile friendly – Websites that are optimized for mobile viewing often rank higher and get more views as the world tends towards mobile devices. Websites that are not mobile friendly miss out on mobile viewers.

8. Utilize webmaster tools 

Webmaster tools enable you to keep an eye on the overall health and performance of you web site. They help you keep track of the following-

·       Page views – Views, all time, monthly, weekly and daily can all be tracked with a view to taking necessary steps to improve on site performance.

·       Time that visitors spend on the website.

·       Check for broken links to correct them.

·       Page download time.

·       Bounce rate, to improve the user experience and engagement time.

Take Away

There are several factors involved in building a viable website, and each one deserves careful consideration and execution. If you want a website that attracts viewers and ultimately yields income, you must pay adequate attention to it and continually analyze, evaluate and make necessary changes as required.