A Reality Check Before Starting an Internet Business

Filed Under (Web Design) by John Neyman on 04-09-2008

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by John Neyman

The siren call of starting a business on the Internet is hard to resist. Work when you want, do it from home, make lots of money (even when you’re asleep) - what’s not to like, right? You’d be a fool not to jump in and start building that website or writing a blog!

Not so fast. There are more Internet millionaire “wanna-bes” than you might think. And many have spent more than a few years and more than a few thousand dollars in a vain effort to start a profitable Internet business.

It may seem that “everybody” is making money online, but that’s simply not the case. And not many people will admit their frustration, partly because no one hates admitting failure but also because perception is everything online. If you are perceived as a failure, no one will buy from you, which makes you fail even faster.

So what are the disadvantages and roadblocks that potential Internet entrepreneurs encounter?

The first is the learning curve - it’s steeper than you might think, and there’s no single “how-to” process to follow.

Succeeding at an online business requires mastery of several key abilities, not all of which directly correlate to doing business offline. For example, you not only have to build a user-friendly and relevant website or blog, you have to drive traffic to it, all without making any mistakes that cause you to lose credibility in your prospect’s mind and cause them to click away from your site.

Not easy!

And though there are countless experts, books, and how-to courses on how to start a business online, it’s hard for a beginner to know who to believe, and there are multiple online business models to choose from as well.

The second issue, which was mentioned above but which warrants more attention, is the problem of driving traffic to your website. Novice Internet marketers know they want their site to be found in the search engines, but often vastly underestimate the amount of competition they have for the keywords and search phrases they desire.

The Internet reality is that top-ten rankings for most popular keywords is extraordinarily difficult to achieve - which means that the novice “Interpreneur” will need to master the art of advertising online, which can become quite costly.

The third and final obstacle mentioned here is that it’s very easy to become distracted when building an Internet business.

If you subscribe to Internet ezines or visit Internet discussion forums, which are recommended methods to build knowledge and connect with potential customers or partners, you’re bombarded almost daily with new ways to make money. New advertising strategies to try. New top-secret, never-before-revealed-to-the-public ways to get more targeted website visitors than you’ve ever imagined. And so on.

And while some of these strategies may be an excellent fit for a particular online business, many will not. Since inexperienced Internet marketers find it difficult to make that distinction, they waste time and money delving into new income models before mastering the income method they’re using now.

Hopefully, if you’re considering starting an Internet business, this article will serve as a “reality check” for you. It’s certainly possible to make a substantial secondary or primary income online - but it’s much more likely if you have a good grasp of the obstacles you’ll probably encounter along the way.

Our services at leaders excel include any where from a personal website to an elite Premium business package website. Our premium package features include creating a personal header with your company’s logo that communicates your product and/or services.

Check out Leaders Excel Solutions at www.leaderexcelsolutions today for all of your website needs.

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The 411 on Web Hosting

Filed Under (Web Design) by Matt Hedges on 03-09-2008

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by Matt Hedges

Working with a web host provider means anyone can have a little place to call their own on the internet and have people come visit them. This service enables people to upload images, have graphics and content about them on the site and tell some interesting tales about them or life in general. Some web host providers will offer this space in addition to the internet connection itself. They will likely host everything in a data center. Not every firm operates in this manner though and some will provide space with internet connections that are not owned by them. The correct name for this type of service is a collocation. It will provide an opportunity for many visitors to contact you and correspond or allow them to see your content. All hosts, including the small ones will provide the ability to host files and have some storage space. Some more advanced providers will provide a larger selection of tools and services to customers including the ability to manage email accounts and to utilize script installation tools.

Web host features you should be aware of:

Be aware of your budget, how much you need for storage and how much bandwidth your site is liable to use. Think about other things like if you offer shopping facilities, can you cater for your customers? Having a Secure Sockets layer encryption will enable this as will offering a shopping cart to your customers. Many people have web sites to encourage discussion and they have forums or boards on their site. To properly run one of these applications like CGI scripting, Perl or PHP can be really useful. Many people find database requirements to be really useful for running their site and this means packages like MySQL, Postgre SQL or Miscrosoft SQL server can be a great addition to your site. With so many applications available, it would be easy to have them all. However, they all cost money so only buy what you need. To do this best, try and gauge how much bandwidth you’ll require, learn what storage you’ll need and do you really need items like spam protection or site construction tools.

You need to have a web host firm you can trust to ensure that if anything goes wrong, they will be able to fix it and help you recover from any breakdowns. The following are a list of Do’s and Do Nots you should be aware of when trying to select a host company.

Somethings you need to Do:

Study all the firms: You can never do too little research so you should compile a list of what you need to be aware of. Analysing and comparing firms to the requirements on your list will enable you to make a good choice. Always bear in mind you can ask other users and post on discussion forums for advice from others about a company. If a company has won awards, find out what for and if it is relevant to today. Issues like how many data centers are used by a firm or what is their current staff situation like or how quick are they to react when you need support help are all important. A good way to find out more would be to contact another company who has used the host and gauge their opinion on them.

Create a list of what you require: Items like bandwidth size and space for storage are vital for all site owners and a list should be made of what you really need. A higher level of these functions would be good but is it worth paying for? If you don’t really need them could you use the money in other ways? If you believe you may need these features but are not definite, try and find a host that offers some room to grow. This will give you a better chance of avoiding big bills for exceeding your usage limits.

Ensure you have a Plan B: If you do not have a back up plan then it is very foolish indeed. You will learn that not every web host is reliable and some will let you down. This isn’t as much of a problem is a site offers backup and some new sites do. Having a strong back up facility can ensure you lose less data and can recover quicker. If your host does not offer these features, move to another host that does offer them.

Ensure you will be offered support: It makes perfect sense to contact a firm before any deal is agreed and asking some questions about their experience and service. You can learn a lot by seeing how quickly they respond to your questions and how well your queries are answered.

The Don’ts:

Have more options other than cost: You should never make your web host choice all about price. If you do this you run the risk of having a very poor service. If you need quality then be prepared to pay for it. A starting point for working out a good cost would be around half a cent for a gigabyte of bandwidth. If you would like a better quality bandwidth for your site then you should be willing to pay a price around four times higher.

Ignore the chance to use a free web host: If you want people to take your firm seriously, avoid this common mistake. Free web hosts are able to offer this service by offering adverts on the site. It is obvious that customers are not a fan of this and many users will not consider you a serious firm if you do this. It is also true that some of the advertisements on the site can cause damage to your computer. This is another thing consumers disapprove of and will weaken your reputation. If you are getting customer credit card information and want to be seen as reputable it is always best to work with a web hosting professional.

Be wary of testimonials from “customers”: Please be advised that each testimonial that you will read with regards to a company may not be the truth. The host will very often create these testimonials to make the firm seem better than what they really are. Some of these reviews may be trustworthy whilst others may be complete fiction. You should always try to read reviews from diverse sources and forums and to gain as many views as you can. A great way to do this is to find clients who have used the company and ask their opinion. Other customers who have used the host before of the company/signature will offer honest evaluations on the company the service they offered. If there are contact details beside a review, why not contact the person and get more news about the firm.

Do not look for web hosting that incorporates free domain: A large number of people like to find a web host who will also provide a domain free of charge along with its main package. If possible, try and keep these issues separate. The way this approach can work is if the domain is registered in your name and is your property. Sometimes this is not the case and the web host will register it in their name and grant you the opportunity to use it. If the name becomes popular they may seize control of it or if you want to move hosts, they may try and hold onto the name.

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Related Blogs

The Inside Secrets of Web Design

Filed Under (Web Design) by Computer Geek on 03-09-2008

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by Computer Geek

The number one rule of any website design is to make sure that it performs optimally under all conditions. It is a huge mistake to assume the belief that visitors need to be entertained with fancy flash works which usually requires long loading time, when the truth is exactly the opposite.

Tips for a well designed site

1) Leave out splash pages if you want to have a higher performing web page.

Splash pages are popular with most sites today but many of them have a lot of images and graphics that can slow down your computer. These lavish images and graphics don’t really have a purpose. They’re just fancy additions. What you want to keep in mind is how to keep your visitors on the site and having to many or “loud” graphics can send them away.

2) Banners must be kept minimal

Websites in the past had a lot of banners which were useful at the time but nowadays they’re just a nuisance. Using to many adds makes your site less credible and your visitors will either ignore them or just leave your site. Instead, use affiliate links in the text of your site so people won’t view it as just advertisements on your page.

3) Navigating your site should be easy

The navigation should be made very simple that even a young child can manage to find their way around. Avoid the use of flash menus or multi-tiered menus because generally they are not a good idea as far as easy navigation is concerned. If you make it difficult for them, they will leave your site. A site map will help them find what they want and should be factored in to the website design right from the start.

4) Make sure you visitor knows where they are

It’s easy to get lost on a site that includes many pages and making sure this doesn’t happen will keep your visitors looking. To make sure they don’t get lost, include clear titles on every page and add a different color to hyperlinks that have already been visited. This will keep your visitors happy and not straying to your competitors site.

5) Don’t use a lot of audio on you site

If you want to avoid irritating your visitors, don’t include music or audio that will send them to another site. Music can enhance your visitor’s experience but too much of it won’t. Keep your audio to a minimum and include controls your visitors can use to change the volume or to turn it off. If you use audio effectively, you visitors will keep returning to your site.

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Web Design Salary

Filed Under (Web Design) by Alex Hawk on 25-08-2008

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by Steve Walters

A career as a web designer is a wise choice. The web design industry is rapidly growing and its income provided is highly sufficient. Let’s take a look a few key aspects.

Growing E-Commerce

A lot of online businesses have set up. It’s understandable because they don’t need inventory, overhead is cheaper, and sometimes they don’t even need to actually own the products to sell them.

With some online businesses, all they do is pass on orders set by customers online to wholesalers who ship the products. The online business acts as a middleman, taking a cut off the profit.

Places like Wal-Mart have items that are available only online. And to accommodate this, web designers are needed to create, maintain, and optimize the website.

Web Design Salary Increases

Like most salaries in other fields, web design salaries vary depending on the person’s experience, education and location. Although web design work can be done remotely, smaller companies prefer to work with web designers in their local area because they can meet face to face.

Coroflot Salary Survey

There was a survey, conducted by an employment agency called Coroflot, that asked for the salary levels of web, interior, graphic, and industrial designers.

The results of the study showed that all the designers had a similar lower spectrum salary of about $15,000 per year. In the mid-range, the web designers’ salary was greater than others’, with web designers earning $56,700 on average and interior designers making $15,000 less.

Also on average, graphic designers earned $13k/yr, industrial designers $3.5k/yr less than web designers.

At the upper end of the spectrum, industrial designers earned the most, with an annual income of $210,000. Web designers were second with $200,000. Graphic designers followed at $185,000, and interior designers at $100,000.

Also according to the survey, nearly 70% of web designers held a Bachelors degree, 20% a Masters, and the rest a high school diploma.

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Search Engine Optimization

Filed Under (Web Design) by Michelle Ming on 25-08-2008

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by Michelle Ming

People often discuss Search Engine Optimization in the internet marketing and website design world. They wonder how it works, if it’s worth the time and money spent to optimize their site. They wonder how SEO techiques and methods help gain higher rankings for their websites. There are myths on how to effectively improve search engine results without having to hire an SEO expert: adjusting Meta Tags, utilizing doorway and gateway pages, submitting multiple domain names, resubmitting pages on a weekly or monthly basis, and in-house self adjustments. People often utilize these common unproductive myths of optimization to try and improve search engine results.

Meta Tags were originally created to better aid webmasters by assisting search engine tools discover what content a website provides. Meta Tags are imbedded directly into the HTLM document for easy revision without webpage visitors being able to see them. Cloaking Doorway and Gateway pages, often prohibited by or treated as unwanted spam in most search engines, redirect visitors without their knowledge to another pages. Quick and easy fixes like Meta Tags, Doorway and Cloaking pages often do not work for increasing search engine results. Rather, they carry the risk of getting your website banned.

“Less is sometimes more.” When referencing website optimization, multiple websites are not cost effective because of the unnecessary work to maintain and build multiple sites. You narrow the focus of content on your site and limit the ability to cross-sell your other products when utilizing multiple keyword domains. Once webpage information is found by a search engine database, resubmitting is ineffective because that information doesn’t disappear with time. There are many false claims that resubmitting helps improve ranking, but in reality, there is no impact whatsoever.

Many try to optimize sites on their own, despite various effective options for improving internet marketing exposure. Website optimization is a very complicated task. It involves far more than just changing title tag keywords and phrases or just simply tweaking Meta Tags. Clients who utilize the technical knowledge of professional SEO services tend to rank at or near the top of major search engines. The search technology and algorithms used for defining rating on a search are reevaluated on a daily basis. As a result, website optimization is a task better left to the professionals.

Companies who utilize the services of a professional Search Engine Optimization company gain much higher prioritized rankings in search engines and receive more targeted traffic to their websites, since most people locate a website or products and services via search engines and not the website URL itself. Those who are searching for a specific product or service like yours would also most likely be directed to your website with optimized search results. In the end, a company will gain much higher and prioritized ranking in search engines if they utilize the services of a quality SEO campaign by professionals.

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A Beginners Guide to Social Media Marketing

Filed Under (Web Design) by John Neyman on 25-08-2008

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by John Neyman

In the past few years, Social Media and Social Media Marketing have become buzz- words. This is due to the popularity of sites like MySpace, Digg, etc. The social media have two components - user generated contents and the ability to form networks of friends for sharing contents.

In sites like MySpace and Facebook users create their profile pages and use texts, pictures, and videos to embellish the pages. They can then share those contents with others in their friends’ network, or the social network

In sites like Digg, YouTube, Flickr users submit a summary of news articles, pictures, videos and they vote on the contents submitted by others. Popular contents are featured on the homepage and it drives massive amount of traffic.

There are many variations of the two models described above, including a combination of the two.

Using the social media sites to promote your product or services (or a website) is called social media marketing. There are two types of traffic you get when your content becomes popular in a social media site.

The primary traffic or the direct traffic comes from the site where it becomes popular. For sites like Digg, it can be huge and your site should be ready to handle the surge in traffic without crashing.

When your site becomes popular in a social media site, people talk about your site and the post that becomes popular. They will put links to the content. The secondary traffic or the indirect traffic flows from those links long after the surge due to the primary traffic is over.

So, what are the benefits of primary and secondary traffic from the social media sites? The primary traffic exposes your site to people who have no other means of knowing about your existence. Some of those visitors will become regulars to your site if you are providing something that they want on a regular basis.

The greatest benefit is the natural links to your site given by others because they want to discuss your offering. Natural links from a large number of relevant sites improve your search engine rankings and organic search traffic.

Social media marketing lets you expose your site to a large group of people. If your search engine traffic has leveled off, shifting your focus to the social media marketing and becoming successful in that will take you to the next level in search engine traffic.

The only other alternative for increasing your search engine traffic is pay per click advertisement. If you are already running a PPC campaign, you can continue your PPC campaign through out the year to sustain increased traffic from search engines at a cost.

Social media marketing is free and making your site popular a couple of times in a year is enough to sustain increased traffic through out the year.

Our services at leaders excel include any where from a personal website to an elite Premium business package website. Our premium package features include creating a personal header with your company’s logo that communicates your product and/or services.

Check out Leaders Excel Solutions at www.leaderexcelsolutions today for all of your website needs.

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