7 Resources and Guides to Create a Successful Website From Day One
The internet is loaded with websites, blogs, and content galore. With all of this content cluttering the internet, you might be thinking about how you can get in on the action and start a website or blog of your own. Maybe you already have a website of your own already, but aren’t sure how to increase traffic, get more attention it, or even make some money in the process.
Great news! Today we are going to dive into a simple seven-step strategy to walk through the process to set yourself up for success from day one. Each of these tips and methods are crucial to the overall launch and success of your site in the long run.
Let’s get started.
1 – Come Up with a Great Domain Name
Just like house or business has a street address, an online site or blog will have as well. Much like a home address, all domain names are different and once one is registered, no one else can have it. This is why it’s extremely important to come up with a great name for your site.
When going through this process, try to get a COM, NET, or ORG domain name, as these are most trusted and well-known. Also make sure your domain name is short, easy to spell/remember, and is associated with the focus or niche that your site and content is going to be able.
Once you’ve decided on your domain name, you can register it through a platform like GoDaddy or Namecheap, and then connect it to a web hosting provider.
2 – Choose a Quality Web Hosting Provider
One of the most overwhelming processes to starting a new website or blog, is trying to find out what web hosting is best for your site. Most site owners will be fine with a shared hosting plan, which usually costs less than $10 per month. Depending on the company you go with, you can usually create as many sites and domains as you like, all on the same shared server.
The reason why shared hosting is relatively cheap, is because there are often hundreds or even thousands of customers all on the same server. When your site gets bigger and starts making money, you may want to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated hosting solution.
To learn more about the many different companies and options out there, be sure to read up on these web hosting reviews. Not only will you find a ranking of the top hosting solutions on the internet today, you will also see real customer reviews, hosting up-time, upgrade options and more.
3 – Go Live with Your WordPress Site
When it comes to designing a website, you don’t need to be a designer or have any technical skills to create a great looking site. Thanks to the power of WordPress, anyone can download and install their free CMS software and never need to touch a line of code. Best of all, this free platform is extremely easy to use — even for someone that has never had a website or blog before.
While we highly recommend going live with WordPress on your site, it isn’t the only website builder or platform to choose from. You can also invest some time in researching other options like Drupal or Joomla. They aren’t the most popular CMS solutions, but millions of websites are still using these platforms to power their websites, ecommerce stores, and online brands.
4 – Create Content with Real Focus and Value
We already mentioned that the internet is flood with content, and much more than we actually need. With this in mind, you need to create a content focus for your site that not only provides value, but won’t waste your time and focus to build. One of the best ways to accomplish this, is to create pillar content.
By pillar content, we mean content that can continually be referenced to and provide value for years to come. Most people don’t realize that a website or blog can become quite successful with only a few articles, and it’s more about the content promotion aspect, than content creation.
5 – Promote Your Content through Social Media and SEO
As we just pointed out, content promotion is extremely important when trying to create a website or blog online. The more backlinks, social shares and references to your site, the better. This is why it’s likely better to go live with a site that has ten articles, and spending more time on the promotion of these articles versus trying to always come up with new content.
When it comes to the promotion of your site, there are many ways to reach new audiences and increase your site rankings. Some of the best SEO methods include manual email outreach, guest blogging on other sites, sharing content on social media, and also internally linking your best content to other pages within your site.
6 – Implement a Monetization Model within Your Site
Many people will start a website in hopes that they can start making money online. While this is completely possible, it’s not the easiest thing to accomplish. If you want to make money with a website, you need to have great content that provides value, a continuous flow of traffic to your site, and also a monetization method that works with your audience.
Some of the best working methods to accomplish this are affiliate marketing, Google Adsense, selling direct advertising on your site, and more. To learn more about each of these methods, you can take a look at this site monetization guide.
7 – Become an Established Brand or Authority in Your Space
The ultimate goal for every site owner and blogger, is to be well-known and respected within their industry. To make this possible, you are going to need to have really great content on your site, and put in the time and effort to promote it effectively.
One of the best ways to get this job done, is to start guest blogging on other sites and bringing attention to your content and expertise. Guest blogging works extremely well because you get exposure to new audiences and sometimes even backlinks and social shares in the process.
The keys to creating a success website or blog.
Now that you’ve walked through our seven step process for finding success with your site on day one, it’s time to implement these methods over time. The launch of your website or blog is something that won’t take much time, but the promotion, ranking, and monetization will all come together in the following days, weeks, and months.
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