I am one of those people who always wanted a website, but had no idea how to use the internet. I was able to check my email and that was it. I’ve never heard of ISP, FTP or all those other “words”.
When I discovered that I had Microsoft FrontPages website builder, I was determined to learn something about html. Then when I found out that I could make some money by having a website, I wanted to start yesterday! And here I am, I still know almost nothing, but I have a website! So believe me when I tell you: “If I can, you can!”
Here are some basics to get you started:
1.) Choose a theme. Decide what you want your site to be about. Be sure to choose something that you find very interesting to keep your site new and exciting and keep your visitors coming back. Research, research, research! Get lots of information for your visitors to read. Add a lot of content to your site, not just link exchanges. Search engines (like Yahoo and Google) love content.
2.) Get web hosting and a domain name. The host is who maintains your site on the Internet and your domain name is www. What you want me to say .com. You can get free hosting, but these are generally not good for making money. They usually post their own ads and won’t let you post any. But, if you’re looking for a free hsot to start with, I’d look at Bravenet. They have a ton of freebies that you can use like website templates, web beacons, chat rooms, guestbooks, and much more. For cheap web hosting and domain names, I like 1&1. I bought my domain name and web hosting from them for $4.99 a month!
3.) Design your site. This is the fun stuff (if you’re the creative type). You can do it yourself or you can pay a professional to do it. If you don’t know anything about html, you can buy a program like Microsoft FrontPages or Dreamweaver and do it yourself. These programs make designing a website easy! You can also find free web templates that have the basic design, you just have to add the words.
4.) Get affiliates for your site. Now this is where the “make money” part comes in. Being an affiliate means that you are helping companies sell their products. They will usually pay you a commission for the sale of their product or for a click on their link. Be sure to choose affiliates that match your theme. Some good places for affiliates are Google AdSense, Commission Junction, and Click Bank.
5.) Start advertising. Add your site URL (the link to your site) to all your signatures. Tell everyone you can about your new site; family, friends, co-workers, everyone! Add a link to your site in all your emails. A good site to check is http://www.MomPack.com. There you can find many other moms looking to help you advertise.
6.) Start earning money!
For more tips like these, visit us at www.MomOnABudget.com