Following is a summary of the contents of our first two guidelines to achieve a successful business started:

Step 1: Decide what your business will be

Step 2: CREATE A WEB PAGE

This article extends the ideas for CREATING A WEB SITE. In the last article we discussed the design of the site that provides a critical first impression to visitors. Remember that web site design is better to have no online presence of a bad one.

As important as the design is to convince visitors that your site is worth a visit. This is normally done through quality content on your site.

A quick tour of cyberspace will show that there are many websites looking to contain nothing of value to visitors. Such sites do not have the longevity necessary in today's cyber-culture savvy. Style and substance must go hand in hand.

Since the content is the key to development of web sites, you must determine who your target audience. If fishing is your target audience, it would make little sense to include Grandma's recipe for apple pie Sarah. Does not take much time to visit a variety of websites that contain advertising for products that have nothing to do with the website. It is also easy to find websites that contain content which, while interesting, have little to do with the products, goods, services or information that the site is expected to offer. When a web site owner misses its target audience to leave the impression that they have little skill in providing the same thing as the visitor entered the website - the very thing I wanted to go out with.

Once you decide who your target audience is necessary to determine the content and direction of your site.

For example, if you're selling fishing equipment, can have other content related to fisheries such as fishing tips and fishing areas, etc. You want to provide content that will keep your visitors coming back for more.

Many site builders have found a message board to be an effective tool to bring like-minded consumers together. You can make this happen on your website with very little time commitment required. Whatever the focus of your website, the bulletin board must operate with a similar approach. This may provide an additional tool to attract visitors to your site.

Visitors can be consumers of any products or information. If effectively serve their information needs can still get a financial return through links to business resources that can benefit visitors. It is also possible to create your own shop that serves a specific segment of the fishermen. If you do not want to develop your own store, you can link to the outputs that provide an economic return on each sale from your site. You can not get rich from this approach, but provides an added benefit for visitors and may be another means of encouraging their return.

Unless you are independently wealthy will have to find a source of revenue to pay for site development and hosting costs and other ongoing. Ensure that the development of open space on its website to allow the inclusion of advertising sold once your site is removed. Always think ahead.

Their website is something like a canvas waiting for a brilliant piece of art to take shape. With care, a map of the pages you need for your site. First, you need a website - then determine what other pages you need.

Your site must accurately explain and summarize the mission of your website. Working through the mission with the words carefully to minimize while maximizing the clarity of the statement of purpose. If you are selling a product or service in your home page should draw the attention of your visitors immediately. Do not make your search for visitors to discover what your site does - is a very short game play.

The following is a list of common pages visitors expect from a web site:

Contact Us
About Us
Products
Services
Links

These pages are often called by other names, but once you identify the major categories of the homepage will have to divide its contents into the appropriate pages. One of the cardinal rules of site development is to always make your site easy to navigate. What this means is that users should be able to easily find what you want. If you find the material they need requires a search on the site, you may have lost a customer in return. Do not make them search for content. On the other hand you should always provide a prominent link back to your homepage on each page of your site.

When you place multiple ads, flashing images and text on its website, the visitor may leave confused and frustrated. Keep things simple - no more than produce a web page and make your content easy to read. A key component of this objective is to maintain a consistent source and used universally as Arial or Times New Roman. The little-known sources will not be displayed properly for all visitors and can offer more frustration.

Make sure no spelling mistakes anywhere on your site! Spelling errors make a web site look very unprofessional. It does not take long to load the contents into a word processor to check for common errors in spelling and grammar. Having someone to test your pages can also be added to the professional goals you want.

If you need help in developing quality content for your site, you may want to consider hiring a freelance writer to help with content development. Will be well worth the investment!

When developing content for your website, please note that your text should be search engine friendly as possible. Let's talk more about this in Part 4.

Please look for Part 4 of Building The Pathway to online success.