28 Ways to Make Money with Your Website

There are several lists with “ways to make money with a website” on the Internet, but none of them seem to be complete. That is why I decided to create this one. If you know a method that is not listed below, just let us know and we’ll update it (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) .

Notice that ways to make money with a website are different from ways to makemore money from it. Methods to increase your traffic or click-through rate will help you make more money, but they do not represent a method of making money per se (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) .

For example, one could suggest that blending AdSense ads with the content is a way to make money from a website. In reality it’s not; it’s just a way to make more money by improving your ad click-through rate. The real monetization method behind it is a PPC ad network (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery) .

The list is divided into direct and indirect methods, and examples and links are provided for each point. Enjoy!

Direct Methods

1. PPC Advertising Networks

Google AdSense is the most popular option under this category, but there are also others. Basically you need to sign up with the network and paste some code snippets on your website. The network will then serve contextual ads (either text or images) relevant to your website, and you will earn a certain amount of money for every click (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels of the website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode the fold or blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The CPC, on the other hand, depends on the nice of the website (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery) .

Mortgages, financial products and college education are examples of profitable niches (clicks worth a couple of dollars are not rare), while tech-related topics tend to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as low as a couple of cents per click (ASUS EEE PC900 battery) .

The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic traffic (the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because these visitors were already looking for something, and they tend to click on ads more often. Social media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low CTRs because these visitors are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads (Dell RM791 battery) .

List of popular CPC advertising networks:

• Google Adsense
• Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN)
• BidVertiser
• Chitika
• Clicksor

2. CPM Advertising Networks

CPM advertising networks behave pretty much as PPC networks, except that you get paid according to the number of impressions (i.e., page views) that the ads displayed on your site will generate. CPM stands for Cost per Mille, and it refers to the cost for 1,000 impressions (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

A blog that generates 100,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising banner with a $1 CPM, therefore, will earn $100 monthly.

CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The better the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more advertisers). The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the CPM. The bigger the format (in terms of pixels), the higher the CPM (sony vgp-bpl9 battery) .

You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more in some special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a high page views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

List of popular CPM advertising networks:

• Casale Media
• Burst Media
• Value Click
• Advertising.com
• Tribal Fusion
• Right Media

3. Direct Banner Advertising

Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization methods. First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the 728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and the 125×125 button (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery) .

The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big audience to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing the sales process, the banners and the payments (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery ) .

Related links:

• How to Find Advertisers for Your Website
• Finding Advertisers for Your Blog
• Direct Advertising Sales for Beginners
• Openads Ad Server
• OIO Publisher Ad Platform

4. Text Link Ads

After Google declared that sites selling text links without the nofollow tag would be penalized, this monetization method became less popular (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) .

Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites, though, some using the nofollow tag and some not.

The advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text links directly through his website or use specialized networks like Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) .

Text link marketplaces and networks:

• DigitalPoint Link Sales Forum
• Text-Link-Ads
• Text-Link-Brokers
• TNX
• LinkWorth

5. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice on the Internet. Under this system you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (the affiliates) sell directly or indirectly its products and services, in exchange for a commission. Sometimes this type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost per lead) based (Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 battery) .

Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools, from banners to text links and product reviews.

In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual companies and publishers like Dreamhost and SEOBook, or join affiliate marketplaces and networks (Dell Precision M70 Battery) .

List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:

• Commission Junction
• ClickBank
• Azoogle Ads
• Link Share

6. Monetization Widgets

The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website. Examples include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these services operate under a PPC scheme, others behave like text link ads, others yet leverage affiliate links (Acer Aspire One battery) .

Their main differentiator, however, is the fact that they work as web widgets, making it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its website.

List of companies that provide monetization widgets:

• WidgetBucks
• ScratchBack
• SmartLinks

7. Sponsored Reviews

PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning (related to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid posts). Soon other companies followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe, refining the process and expanding the paid blogging model (SONY VGP-BPS8 battery) .

Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific product or website (because it might compromise the editorial credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ Battery) .

If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews directly, cutting off the commissions of the middleman.

List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:

• PayPerPost
• Sponsored Reviews
• ReviewMe
• BlogVertise
• Smorty

8. RSS Feed Ads

With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel (Sony VGN-FZ460E battery) .

Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.

Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on their feed directly. John Chow and Marketing Pilgrim are two examples (Hp 520 battery.

Related links:

• Feedburner
• BidVertiser
• Pheedo)

9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events

If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies to sponsor them individually (Toshiba Satellite L305 Battery) .

This method increases the monetization options for website owner, while giving advertisers the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced commitment.

Mashable illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the site, including the possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites (Toshiba Satellite Pro M15 Battery) .”

Problogger also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project asking for sponsors.

10.Premium Content

Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge for access to the premium content and exclusive tools (Dell XPS M1530 battery) .

SEOMoz is a good example. They have a very popular blog that gives advice and information on wide range of SEO related topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become premium members. It costs $48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools and other exclusive material (Toshiba Tecra M10 Battery) .

11. Private Forums

While the Internet is populated with free forums, there is also the possibility to create a private one where members need to pay a single or recurring fee to join.

SEO Blackhat charges $100 monthly from its members, and they have thousands of them. Obviously in order to charge such a price for a forum membership you need to provide real value for the members (e.g., secret techniques, tools, and so on) (Toshiba NB100 Battery) .

Performancing also launched a private forum recently, focused on the networking aspect. It is called The Hive, and the monthly cost is $10.

These are just two examples. There are many possibilities to create a private and profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that will make it worth for the members (Toshiba Satellite 1900 Battery) .

List of popular forum software:

• vBulletin
• Simple Machines Forum
• phpBB
• Vanilla

12. Job Boards

All the popular blogs are trying to leverage job boards to make some extra income.Guy Kawasaki, ReadWriteWeb, Problogger… you name it (HP Pavilion DV5 Battery) .

Needless to say that in order to create an active and profitable job board you need first to have a blog focused on a specific niche, and a decent amount traffic.

The advantage of this method is that it is passive. Once you have the structure in place, the job listings will come naturally, and you can charge anywhere from $10 up to $100 for each (Toshiba Satellite P15 Battery) .

List of popular job board software:

• JobThread
• Web Scribe Job Board
• SimplyHired Job-o-matic
• Jobbex

13. Marketplaces

Sitepoint is the online marketplace by excellence. Some websites and blogs, however, are trying to replicate that model on a smaller scale (Ibm ThinkPad X41 Tablet battery) .

Depending on your niche, a market place that allows your visitors to buy, sell and trade products could work well. Over the time you could start charging a small fee for new product listings.

The problem with this method is that there are no standard software on the web, so you would need to hire a coder to get a marketplace integrated into your website.

You can see an example of a marketplaces being used on EasyWordpress and onMashable (Toshiba Satellite A200 Battery) .

14. Paid Surveys and Polls

There are services that will pay you money to run a small survey or poll on your website. The most popular one is called Vizu Answers.

Basically you need to sign up with them, and select the kind of polls that you want to run your site. Most of these services operate under a CPM model (Toshiba NB205 Battery) .

15. Selling or Renting Internal Pages

Million Dollar Wiki made this concept popular, but it was being used on the web for a long time around (check Pagerank10.co.uk for instance).

These websites sell for a single fee or rent for a recurring fee internal pages on their domain. Usually they have either high Pagerak or high traffic, so that people purchasing a page will be able to benefit in some way (Toshiba Satellite M100 Battery) .

Implementing this method on a small blog would be difficult, but the concept is interesting and could be explored further.

16. Highlighted Posts from Sponsors

Techmeme probably pioneered this idea, but somehow it has not spread to other websites. The tech news aggregator displays editorial posts on the left column, and on the sidebar they have a section titled “Techmeme Sponsor Posts (Toshiba Satellite P10 Battery) .”

On that section posts from the blog of the advertisers get highlighted, sending qualified traffic their way. Considering that the monthly cost for one spot is $5000 and that they have around 6 sponsors at any given time, it must be working well (Toshiba Satellite P15 Battery) .

17. Donations

Placing a “Donate” link or button on a website can be an efficient way to earn money, especially if your blog is on a niche where readers learn and gain value from your content.

Personal development and productivity blogs, for instance, tend to perform well with donation based systems (one good example being Steve Pavlina) (Toshiba Satellite 3005 Battery) .

A small variation of this method appeared sometime ago with the Buy Me a Beerplugin. This WordPress plugin enables you to insert a customized message at the bottom of each article, asking the readers to chip in for a beer or coffee (Toshiba Satellite 1200 Battery) .

18. In-text Adverting

In-text adverting networks like Kontera and Vibrant Media will place sponsored links inside your text. These links come with a double underline to differentiate them from normal links, and once the user rolls the mouse over the link the advertising will pop. Should the user click on it the site owner will make some money (Toshiba Portege 2000 Battery) .

Some people make good money with this method, but others refrain from using it due to its intrusiveness. It is also interesting to note that very few mainstream websites have experimented with in-text advertising (Toshiba Tecra 8000 Battery) .

19. Pop-ups and Pop-unders

Pop-ups are a common yet annoying form of advertising on the Internet. If you are just trying to make a much money as possible from your website, you could experiment with them.

If you are trying to grow the traffic and generate loyal visitors, however, you probably should stay away from them. Just consider the hundreds of pop-up blockers out there: there is a reason why they are so popular (Toshiba Satellite T4900 Battery) .

Ad networks that use pop-ups:

• Tribal Fusion
• PayPopup
• PopupAd
• Adversal

20. Audio Ads

Also called PPP (Pay Per Play), this advertising method was introduce by Net Audio Ads. the concept is pretty simple: play a small audio advertising (usually 5 seconds) every time a visitor enters into your website. The user should not be able to stop it, creating a 100% conversion rate based on unique visitors (Dell XPS M2010 battery) .

The company is still rolling tests, but some users are reporting to get from a $4 to a $6 CPM. Regardless of the pay rate, though, this is a very intrusive form of advertising, so think twice before using it (Dell Vostro 1000 battery) .

21. Selling the Website

Selling your website could be your last resource, but it has the potential to generate a big sum of money in a short period of time.

Market places on online forums like DigitalPoint and Sitepoint are always active with website buyers and sellers (HP Pavilion dv9000 battery) .

Keep in mind that they most used parameter to determine the value of a website is the monthly revenue that it generates, multiplied by a certain number (the multiplier can be anything from 5 to 30, depending on the expectations of the seller, on the quality of the site, on the niche and other factors) (IBM ThinkPad T60 battery) .

Some people also make money trading and flipping websites. They either create them from scratch or buy existing ones, and after some revamping they sell them for a profit.

Related links:

• How To Buy A Website And Flip It For Profit
• How To Sell A Website – How Much Is Your Website Worth?
• Where to sell a website? How to go about selling it?

Indirect Methods

22. Selling an Ebook

Perhaps one of the oldest money making strategies on the web, using a website to promote a related ebook is a very efficient way to generate revenue (Toshiba PA3399U-2BRS battery) .

You could either structure the website around the book itself, like SEOBook.com, or launch the ebook based on the success of the website, like FreelanceSwitch did we the book How to be a Rockstar Freelancer (Compaq Armada M700 Battery) .

Related links:

• Writing an ebook for your blog
• How to sell ebooks
• Processing payments for your ebook
• How to sell digital products online
• List of ebook selling software

23. Selling a Hardcover Book

Many authors and journalists leverage their blogs or websites to sell copies of hardcover books. Examples include Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell (Dell Latitude D830 Battery) .

While most of these people were already renowned authors before they created their website, one could also follow the other way around. Lorelle VanFossen did exactly that with her Blogging Tips book. First she built her authority on the subject via her blog, and afterwards she published the book (Dell Vostro 1400 Battery) .

List of self publishing and publishing services:

• Lulu
• Self Publishing
• iUniverse
• WordClay

24. Selling Templates or WordPress Themes

As more and more people decide to get an online presence, website templates and WordPress themes become hotter and hotter (Dell Vostro 1500 Battery).

On this segment you have mainstream websites like TemplateMonster, as well as individual designers who decide to promote and sell their work independently.

Brian Gardner and Unique Blog Designs are two examples of websites that make money with the sales of premium and custom WordPress themes (Dell Vostro 1720 Battery).

25. Offering Consulting and Related Services

Depending on your niche, you could make money by offering consulting and related services. If you are also the author of your blog, the articles and information that you will share will build your profile and possibly certify your expertise on that niche, making it easier to gain customers (Dell Vostro 2510 Battery) .

Chris Garrett used a similar strategy. First he created a highly influential blog on the blogging and new media niche, and afterwards he started offering consulting services to clients with related problems and needs (Dell Vostro A860 Battery).

26. Creating an Email List or Newsletter

Email lists and newsletters represent one of the most powerful marketing and money making tools on the Internet. They offer incredible conversion rates, and the possibility to call people to action in a very efficient way (Dell Vostro A90 Battery).

Creating a big list is a difficult task though, so if you have a popular website you could leverage it to increase the number of subscribers on your list.

Yaro Starak is a famous Internet marketer, and if you visit his blog you will notice that right on top he has a section encouraging visitors to subscribe to his email newsletter. Yaro generates five figures in revenues each month from his email newsletters, proving that this method works (Dell Vostro 1700 Battery) .

List of software to manage email newsletters:

• AWeber
• SendStudio NX
• PHP Autoresponder
• Constant Contact

27. Mentoring programs

People are willing to pay for someone or something that will teach them and give them knowledge (as opposed to mere information). Education is one of the biggest industries in the world, and the online landscape behaves in a similar way (Dell Vostro 1320 Battery) .

Creating a mentoring program related to the niche of your website could be very profitable if you manage to structure and promote it adequately. There is a wide range of media and tools that you can use to deliver the information, from text articles to audio and video lessons (Dell Vostro 1310 Battery) .

Brian Clark leveraged the success of Copyblogger to launch a mentoring program teaching people how to build membership and how to sell content online. The program is titled Teaching Sells, and it costs $97 monthly. Sounds expensive, but they have over 1,000 members (Dell Vostro 1015 Battery) .

28. Creating a conference around the website

If your website takes off and becomes an authority on its niche, you could create a conference around it. Depending on the size of your audience, the event could attract thousands of people, and you could make money directly from conference passes and sponsors (Dell Vostro 1014 Battery) .

Search Engine Land, for instance, created a series of conferences that visit several cities on the United States and on other countries as well. The conferences are called Search Marketing Expo, and the tickets and passes cost thousands of dollars (Dell Studio 1555 Battery) .

Google Checkout vs. PayPal

Read this review of Google Checkout vs. PayPal to find out how Paypal's merchant services compare to Google Checkout. In this review we cover the pros and cons of using Google Checkout and PayPal. Also get information on using both Google and PayPal (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) .

If you have an online business, you need to have a way for customers to pay for your products and services – and this includes accepting credit cards. Luckily, the Internet has made it possible to easily and cheaply accept a number of payments, from credit cards to electronic checks (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) .

There are a number of providers, and two of the most popular are Google Checkout and Paypal.

Beyond their affordability, Google Checkout and PayPal are popular because they are third party payment processors that allow customers the ability to pay for items and services on a variety of sites without having to spread their personal payment information around (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery) .

Instead, it is stored at one place, and the vendor never actually sees it, since payment transactions are handled by Google or PayPal. This creates a feeling of privacy that is desired by some online shoppers (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

Google Checkout

Google Checkout aims to allow Google users the ability to easily buy products and services with only one login. If your customers are logged into Google, and they participate in Google Checkout, it is extremely easy for them to pay for merchandise and order services at a variety of Web sites (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery) .

There is no need to enter personal information in over and over again; just use one login to make all the payments.

Another feature that makes Google Checkout desirable for online businesses is the fact that it works with the popular AdSense and AdWords features. Google's ad network helps businesses place their ads in search and on Web sites (ASUS EEE PC900 battery) .

If your business participates, Google Checkout works with these programs. You can pay your transaction fees with money you have in your AdSense or AdWords account, making it cheaper (Dell RM791 battery) .

Additionally, businesses that use Google Checkout get a little shopping cart icon next to their Web site name in search results and in ads. This indicates to shoppers that the business accepts Google Checkout, and it can draw in more customers and clients. The integration of Google Checkout to work with other Google services – which are quite popular – is one of its biggest advantages (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

PayPal

Even though Google Checkout is popular, it is not as popular as PayPal. PayPal is the pre-eminent online processing system. It was made popular through eBay (PayPal is an eBay company), and now many other Web sites integrate the payment system for common use (sony vgp-bpl9 battery) .

Additionally, many service providers accept PayPal payments, since it provides a way of getting paid that is much quicker than checks. It is possible to set up a merchant account through PayPal. The company processes credit and debt card transactions, as well as electronic transfers and eChecks (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

This makes it easy and convenient for those with PayPal to pay, since they can do so from their accounts. However, there is a separate login, and sometimes this can confuse consumers who do not understand why they are being moved from your business Web site to the PayPal Web site (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery) .

PayPal comes with an array of helpful business features. There is the ability to generate invoices and ask for payments. You can coordinate with your inventory, and print out monthly account statements. These business functions make PayPal very attractive to many online retailers. However, there is no special accounts to help offset the transactions costs charged by PayPal (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery) .

Using Google Checkout and PayPal

Online businesses, instead of choosing one or the other, are starting to offer both payment options. This is because many online businesses want to offer more than one option. And, since customers do not actually have to have Google or PayPal accounts to use credit cards through these payment processing systems, it isn't necessary to sign up for these services – yet businesses can use them in lieu of merchant services in some cases (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) .

The main difficulty that you may have with using Google Checkout and PayPal is that it can be difficult to use them in place of merchant services when you have offline needs. For the most part, these payment processors are best used with online orders only (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) .

Before you decide which service to use, carefully consider your business needs, and what you hope to accomplish. This can be very helpful to you as you decide what will best serve your needs. You may find that neither service will actually serve your needs (Acer Aspire One battery) .

How to Create an E-Commerce Web Site Empire A Step by Step Tutorial

Your business may be small-but the Internet lets you think big. Whatever product or service your business offers, the Internet levels the playing field and lets you compete with bigger businesses, reaching customers around the world who can conveniently buy from you 24 hours a day (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) .

But in the competitive world of the Web, growing your business and increasing your profits online requires some careful planning. For every successful e-commerce businesses, there are dozens that fail by not addressing basic risks and pitfalls along the way. So to take full advantage of the e-commerce opportunity, make sure you base your Web business on a solid foundation that covers every element of e-commerce (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) :

Establish your identity. The right domain name, or URL, can make the difference between a memorable e-commerce identity and getting lost in the online crowd (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery) .

Find the right online home. For brick-and-mortar stores, location is everything. Your e-commerce business needs the right home, too. Purchase and set up your own Web server, or find a home for your site with the right Internet Service Provider or Web host (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

Build an attractive storefront. With the right tools, creating a Web site is easier than ever-but following some basic guidelines will help make your site easy and fun for customers to navigate. And that means more sales for you (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery) .

Let customers know they can trust you. In the anonymous world of the Internet, customers will communicate private information, like credit card numbers or phone numbers, to your e-commerce site only if they're sure your site is legitimate and the information they send you is protected. Make sure your site is secure-and that your customers know it (ASUS EEE PC900 battery) .

Make it easy for customers to pay you. You can set up your site so customers can pay by simply keying in a credit card number. But then how will you process that transaction? Make sure you not only offer customers a variety of convenient payment methods, but that you can process them all (Dell RM791 battery) .

Let the world know about your site. A memorable domain name, a great-looking design, and top-notch products and services can make your site successful only if customers know about it. Don't neglect promoting your site to drive traffic to it (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

Clearly, building the elements of e-commerce into your Web business is a big job, but it's too important to ignore if you want your e-business to grow and thrive. Just take the following steps to ensure that your e-commerce business gives you the competitive edge (sony vgp-bpl9 battery) .

I. Step One: Establish Your Online Identity with the Right Web Address

The first step toward e-commerce is selecting the name of your site. Your Web address (also called a URL-Uniform Resource Locator-or "domain name"), tells customers who you are and how to find you on the Internet. It is the core of your Internet identity-your online brand. And because no two parties can have the same Web address, your online identity is totally unique (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

A. What's In a Name? Everything. Remember that not only does your domain name tell customers exactly how to find your business on the Web, but also it communicates and reinforces the name of your business to every Web site visitor. It can also be used as part of your e-mail address to establish your online identity. Keep these tips in mind before you choose (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery ) :

Make it memorable. "Amazon.com" is much catchier than "booksonline.com."

Describe your business. Another approach is to simply and logically describe your business. "Flowers.com" works perfectly for a florist. And if you are setting up an online presence for an established business, keep the name of your site the same as the name of your business (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery ) .

Keep it short. The best domain names are those that customers can remember and type into their browsers after seeing or hearing them only once, so complicated strings of words like "onlinecdstore.com" don't work as well as a simple phrase: "cdnow.com (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) ."

B. How to Get and Manage Domain Names

Once you've decided on your Web identity, the next step is to determine if it is available and then register it with a domain name "registrar." Registering is easy and inexpensive, so do it as soon as you've decided on your domain name to make sure you get the name you want (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) .

Many businesses register a number of variations, just in case they want to use them later-or to avoid the risk of competitors obtaining similar names. You also may want to register common misspellings so that all customers who incorrectly type your address still find their way to your site instead of receiving an error message (Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 battery) .

E-commerce businesses most often register a name with "com" as the domain name suffix (the letters after the dot; also called a top-level domain, or TLD), but often also register their names with ".net" and ".org" (for "organization"). Other suffixes include ".tv" and ".edu" for schools and universities. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently announced seven new TLDs - .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .museum, .aero, and .coop (Dell Precision M70 Battery) .

1. How to Buy an Existing Domain Name What happens if the domain name you want is already registered? You can either choose another name or buy your first choice from whoever got it first. The fact that the name you want has already been registered doesn't necessarily mean it is not available for sale. You can easily find out whether a domain name that has already been registered is for sale (Acer Aspire One battery) .

2. How to Register Domain Names Worldwide The Internet is global-shouldn't your business be, too? Registration of multiple domain names for use around the world protects your intellectual property, brand name, and trademarks against infringement by global cybersquatters (SONY VGP-BPS8 battery) .

If you plan to do business in other countries, you can register country-specific Web addresses (in country-specific TLDs such as .ita for Italy and .uk for the United Kingdom) with Network Solutions' idNames search and registration service. But as your business grows, you may find that registering and managing multiple domain names is a complex, time-consuming process. IdNames can also consolidate worldwide domain name management into a single centralized account if you have 50 or more domains. Once you've established your Web identity by selecting and registering your domain names, it's time to build your site (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ Battery) .

II. Step Two: Build a User-Friendly Site

With a domain name in place, you're ready to start building your e-commerce storefront. But before you begin, take some time to plan (Sony VGN-FZ460E battery) .

A. Plan Your Site Carefully

First, identify clear marketing goals for your site, such as generating leads, building a database of potential customers' names and e-mail addresses, or putting a product catalog online to save the time and expense of printing and mailing. Quantify your objectives-such as increasing sales by 15 percent-so you know whether or not your site is successful. Then, figure out what your potential customers need to know before buying your products and services (Hp 520 battery) . This might include:

An overview of your company, its products and services, and their applications

Complete product or service descriptions, including features, key benefits, pricing, product specifications, and other information, for each product or service

Testimonials, case studies, or success stories so customers can see how similar individuals or organizations have worked with you (Toshiba Satellite L305 Battery)

An FAQ section that anticipates and answers customers' common issues

Plan the structure of your site, focusing on making it easy for customers to learn what they need to know, make a purchase decision, and then buy quickly. Create a site map that outlines every page on your site from the home page down and how customers get from one page to the next. Use tools that quantitatively measure site activity-where customers are clicking, how often, and whether they end up purchasing-and then compare the results with your goals (Toshiba Satellite Pro M15 Battery) .

B. Choose the Right Site-Building Tools

With a solid plan in hand, you're ready to start constructing your e-commerce site. Many e-commerce businesses turn to professional design studios to create their Web sites. But if your budget is limited, many Web site building tools like online website builders make it fast and easy for you to create a polished, professional-looking site-with no in-depth HTML knowledge necessary. The entire process can put you on the Internet in less than 24 hours at convenient and affordable monthly prices (Dell XPS M1530 battery) .

C. E-Commerce Site Design Tips

Following these basic guidelines will help make your site not only attractive, but also easy for customers to use-and that means easy to buy from you.

Carefully examine your own favorite e-commerce sites. Creatively adapting the most compelling marketing and design techniques will enhance your site's effectiveness (Toshiba Tecra M10 Battery) .

Your home page is your site's-and your business's-online front door. It's essential that it make a good first impression on visitors. Make sure it clearly presents the following basic elements that customers are always likely to look for:

· Your company name, logo, and slogan, prominently displayed. Take full advantage of the opportunity to showcase your brand identity (Toshiba NB100 Battery) .

· A link to an "About the Company" page for customers to quickly learn who you are and what your business offers.

· A site menu listing the basic subsections of your site. Keep this menu in the same place on every page throughout your site to make it easy to navigate (Toshiba Satellite 1900 Battery) .

· A "What's New" section for news, announcements, and product promotions. Frequently updating this area will encourage customers to return often.

· Contact information. Don't make it difficult for visitors to find your phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, and fax number (HP Pavilion DV5 Battery) .

· Your privacy statement, clearly describing your business's policy for protecting customer's personal information.

Make it easy for customers to explore your site. As you build your site, try to minimize the number of clicks it takes the customer to go from your home page to actually being able to click "buy" and checkout. Four to six is a useful rule of thumb (Toshiba Satellite P15 Battery) .

Make sure links make sense, so customers know what to click to find what they're looking for. Don't make your navigation buttons or links too dominant an element in your site design: instead, focus on product information (Ibm ThinkPad X41 Tablet battery) .

Keep things simple. Don't fill up your site with graphics, animations, and other visual bells and whistles. Stick to the same basic color palette and fonts your company uses in other communications, like your logo, brochures, and signage. Ensure that images and graphics serve to enhance, not distract from, your marketing goals. Make sure your text is easy to read-black letters on a white ground may not be terribly original, but they are easier on the eyes than orange type on a purple background

(Toshiba Satellite A200 Battery) .

Keep download times short. Test pages to make sure they're not too overloaded with graphics that slow load times-and minimize the size of your images when possible. According to the Boston Consulting Group in American Demographics (August, 2000, p 46), nearly half of online shoppers surveyed said they left sites when pages took too long to download (Toshiba NB205 Battery) .

Zona Research estimates that most Web pages take anywhere from 3 to 11 seconds to load, depending on the user's modem and Internet connection (remember: many e-commerce customers shop from home using slower connections). Most users click away to another site or log off if a page takes more than 8 seconds to load, costing e-commerce businesses billions in lost potential revenue (Toshiba Satellite M100 Battery) .

As soon as you've completed this step, you're ready to put your site on the Internet.

III. Step Three: Set Up Your Web Server-or Select an ISP to Host

Your Site

Your Web site is a series of files that reside on a special computer, called a Web server, connected to the Internet. For customers to visit your site, they must actually connect to that Web server via the Internet and view the files. Web servers and the Internet connections that link them to visitors must be fast and powerful enough to quickly respond to all the visitors' requests to view your site (Toshiba Satellite P10 Battery) .

Many businesses prefer the complete control of purchasing, setting up, and managing their own Web server hardware and software. Other small- and medium-sized e-commerce businesses prefer to turn to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Web hosting company, instead of investing in the hardware, software, and infrastructure necessary to get online (Toshiba Satellite P15 Battery) .

For a monthly fee, ISPs and Web hosting companies will connect your site to the Internet at high speed via one of their Web servers, allowing the site to be viewed by anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser. The host provides your site with space on a server, and also offers Web server software, access to its high-speed Internet connection, tools for managing and maintaining your site, customer support, e-commerce features, and more. There are hundreds of ISP and Web hosting options to choose from, so look for one that can meet all your needs (Toshiba Satellite 3005 Battery) .

IV. What to Look for in a Web Hosting Company

Shared hosting or dedicated server? Shared hosting is an arrangement in which your site is housed on the same host server with several other Web sites. This is an economical solution for smaller sites. Paying the host for your own dedicated server, a solution used by larger and busier sites, provides faster access and ensures that your site will be accessible to visitors 100 percent of the time (instead of sharing Web server speed and power with other sites) (Toshiba Satellite 1200 Battery) . Does your ISP or Web hosting provider offer both options?

Hard-disk storage space. Smaller sites may need only 300-500 MB (megabytes) of Web site storage space, while busier e-commerce sites may need at least 9 GB (gigabytes) of space-or their own dedicated Web server. As your site grows, your ISP should be able to accommodate you with a range of options (Toshiba Portege 2000 Battery) .

Availability. If you run an e-commerce business, your site must be accessible to customers 24 hours a day. ISPs and Web hosts maximize the availability of the sites they host using techniques like load balancing and clustering. Can your ISP promise near-100-percent availability (Toshiba Tecra 8000 Battery) ?

E-mail accounts. E-mail accounts that match your domain name are often available from your ISP. Are they included with your monthly access and hosting fee (Toshiba Satellite T4900 Battery) ?

SSL Encryption: The security of the credit card numbers and other personal information customers send you should be a top concern. Does your ISP or Web host protect your site with an SSL server ID? See Step IV below to learn more about Web site security (Dell XPS M2010 battery) .

Support. A big part of the value of turning to an ISP or Web host is that you don't have to worry about keeping the Web server running. Does your host offer 24x7 customer service (Dell Vostro 1000 battery) ?

V. Accept Credit Cards

Accepting credit cards and other methods of payment online for your online business is crucial to your businesses success. If a customer has to send you a money order by mail, your sales will suffer because most people won't want to do that. It's too slow to do it that way. They have to wait until the check gets to you in addition to waiting on the package to come from you (HP Pavilion dv9000 battery) .

The hardest task with setting up an ecommerce website is to find a trustworthy and reliable service that will allow you to accept credit card payments online and without too many problems.

VII. Step Seven: Promote Your Site

You can have a great web site, but if no one knows it's there it won't do you any good. Add it to search engines, directories, spam-free ffa pages, and guest books. Ensure not to put blatant advertisements in someone's guest book (IBM ThinkPad T60 battery) .

That's very rude and would offend anyone. Take a look around the person's web site and tell them what you liked about it, while also leaving your link. Invite them to sign your guest book if you have one. You should attach your url to every email message you send out. This makes it easy for surfers to come back to your web site. Be patient because it takes time build up a steady flow of traffic. Paid Promotion is highly recommended because you don't have to wait to be listed in search engines (Toshiba PA3399U-2BRS battery) .

VIII. Now, Start Selling

With an online identity, a Web host, an eye-catching, professional-looking Web storefront, rock-solid security, easy-to-use payment management, and the right promotions, your e-commerce business is ready to succeed in the competitive world of the Web.

Following these basic steps will help you lay the foundation for a thriving site (Compaq Armada M700 Battery) . Good luck.

10 Ways Not to Promote Your Web Site

Once you've built your masterpiece, you have to spread the word. Submitting your Web site to search engines, directories and related sites is critical to success. The real Web-savvy companies have whole teams of geeks who spend their days figuring out how to get better rankings in search engines (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) .

Unfortunately, there's a lot of fools' gold, bad advice and even downright scams in the Web site promotion field. If you go about promoting your site the wrong way, you can actually hurt traffic instead of helping to build it. Here are 10 things you should definitely not do, no matter how tempting some spam message makes it sound (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) :

1 - Spam Not!

This is the cardinal rule of Netiquette. Mass, unsolicited e-mail is not acceptable, anywhere, for any reason. There are hundreds of hustlers out there trying to sell you databases and software that you can use to spam, but don't believe their promises. Spamming will make enemies for you, not friends. It can also get you barred from large ISPs, crippling your traffic (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery) .

2 - Don't shell out big for submission services.

Submit your site to 500 search engines for $19.95! Bad deal. There aren't 500, or even 100, search engines worth submitting to. The 19.95ers simply run your URL through an auto-submitter (like Selfpromotion.com or submitit.com), which you can do yourself for free (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

If you want a professional to submit your site, plan on spending a few hundred bucks at most, which should buy you a careful and thorough job. I myself currently offer a basic submission service for $350, and I admit that I'm a little pricey. Insist on receiving documentation of everything that's been done, including all e-mail autoresponses from the search engines (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery) .

3 - Don't waste time on the flotsam and jetsam of the Web.

Submit your site to the major search engines and directories, perhaps using one of the auto-submitters for some, and doing others individually. There are about 30 that are worth submitting to (ASUS EEE PC900 battery) .

Then seek out specialized directories that are appropriate for your site (travel, investment, shopping, country-specific, etc.). Don't waste time with obscure search engines and kids' links pages. There are billions of pages like this, but they get zilcho traffic. Your time is better spent carefully crafting your submission to Yahoo (Dell RM791 battery) .

4 - Don't rush through your Yahoo submission.

Yahoo is by far the most important directory, and the hardest to get into. Submissions are reviewed by real editors, so follow the instructions to the letter, and really try to convince them that your site is a useful resource. Some good tips are to be found on the rather obscure page called "My Site on Yahoo," and selfpromotion.com also has some good Yahoo tips (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

5 - Never submit your site until it's open for business.

Test your site thoroughly, and make sure every section is complete before you begin submitting. Most surfers will never return to a URL where they found a dead link or an "under construction" sign (sony vgp-bpl9 battery) .

6 - Don't forget to integrate your URL into your business.

It's amazing how many companies spend big bucks to build a Web site, then balk at the cost of printing new business cards to include the URL. Your Web site URL should be on every piece of company media from letterheads to coffee cups - anywhere that a phone number would be included (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

7 - Don't mess with black magic.

There are a lot of sneaky tricks discussed in the various Web promotion newsgroups and mailing lists, that claim to improve your search engine rankings. Loading your page with invisible keywords, creating special "doorway" pages with magic dust on them, and secret programs (for $19.95) that "force-feed" your page to search engines (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery ) .

Don't fool with it. The search engines and directories wage an ongoing battle against those who would "beat the system," and they can and will bar you if they suspect you of "spamming" them. Do use META tags, keywords in titles and body text, and that sort of thing, but don't overdo it, and always follow the submission rules (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery ) .

8 - Don't put anything in your Web site directory that you don't want the public to see.

Most of us have a few "test" pages, or perhaps pages of personal material, that we keep on our Web server, but that isn't meant to be seen by the public. Straight search engines like Excite and Altavista, however, will automatically "spider" and index every page on your site, unless you tell them not to (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) .

Create a text file called "robots.txt," and place it in your Web site's root directory (usually the "htdocs" directory). This file has a list of pages or directories that you want to keep the spiders out of, and it looks something like this:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /test/

Disallow: /temporary/

Disallow: /templates/

This tells all visiting spiders not to fool with any of the 3 named directories (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) . Note that the directory names must end with a "/".

9 - Don't neglect to measure your traffic.

Some wise man said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Be sure to keep your server log files safe, and use the software tool of your choice to analyze them. Your ISP may offer one or more free tools for your use. Getstats is one popular free one (Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 battery) .

If you can shell out a few hundred bucks, high-powered traffic analysis packages like Hit List or Web Trends can really help you boost your traffic by telling you how many hits are coming from each search engine, and what keywords people are searching on to reach your site (Dell Precision M70 Battery) .

10 - When you're finished, don't stop!

Site promotion is an ongoing process. Once you've made your submissions, check back a month later, and you'll find that some of them didn't take. Resubmit as necessary, but don't overdo it. Always be on the lookout for new sites that might be willing to give you a link, and for new (but legitimate and preferably free) promotion opportunities (Acer Aspire One battery) .

Google sandbox theory validated by search engine giant

What is the Google Sandbox?

The Google Sandbox is an alleged filter placed on new websites. The result is a site does not receive good rankings for its most important keywords and keyword phrases. Even with good content, abundant incoming links and strong Google PageRank, a site is still adversely affected by the Sandbox effect. The Sandbox acts as a de facto probation for sites, possibly to discourage spam sites from rising quickly, getting banned, and repeating the process (Dell XPS M1210 Battery) .

How would you describe the Google Sandbox in one sentence?

The Google Sandbox is very similar to a new website being placed on probation, and kept lower than expected in searches, prior to being given full value for its incoming links and content (Dell Studio XPS 1340 Battery) .

Why did Google institute a Sandbox?

It is thought that the reason Google created the Sandbox new site filter, was to stop spam related sites from adding numerous purchased links, and ranking highly for their keywords from the date of launch. Since Google apparently considers a high number of links pointing to a site from the beginning to be rather suspicious, the links are not considered to be natural (Dell Studio XPS 1640 Battery ) .

Another possibility is spam sites would use various tactics to rise to the top of the search results, and gain heavy sales prior to being banned for being in violation of Google’s Terms of Service; and then repeating the process continually. As a result, new sites are put into a form of probation, usually referred to as the Google Sandbox (Dell Vostro 1710 Battery) .

Does everyone agree there is a Google Sandbox?

Not everyone agrees that the Google Sandbox exists as a separate filter from other alleged Google filters. Note that not everyone involved with search engine optimization even agrees that Google uses a system of filters at all. Skeptics believe that the phenomenon merely echoes already existing Google algorithm calculations, and the Sandbox effect is an illusion. Note that Google has all but admitted recently that the Sandbox filter is real (SONY VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery) .

When did the Google Sandbox first appear?

Website owners and search engine optimization professionals began to notice the Google Sandbox effect, real or imagined, starting in March, 2004. Websites launched after that date were noticed to not be ranking well for their first few months live on the internet. The rankings were seen as poor despite good Google PageRanks, strong incoming link totals, and overall good optimization practices being employed (ASUS EEE PC900 battery) .

What types of sites are placed in the Sandbox?

While all types of sites can be placed in the Sandbox, the problem appears much more frequently for new websites seeking rankings for highly competitive keyword phrases. All sites are likely given a term in the Sandbox, but those websites seeking rankings in highly competitive searches, are probably in for a much longer duration (Dell RM791 battery) .

My site has never been in the Sandbox. Why not?

You can avoid having your site in the Sandbox for several reasons. If your site was launched before the March 2004 Sandbox filter, your site probably avoided the problem. Sites targeting non-competitive keywords and phrases are often left out of the Sandbox as there is little point in applying the filter (Sony VGP-BPS13 battery) .

Keep in mind, however, that even less competitive search terms can be Sandboxed, but their much shorter stay can often go entirely unnoticed. If you had ownership of a domain prior to the installation of the Sandbox filter, your site would also likely be spared its probationary period (sony vgp-bpl9 battery) .

How long is a site in the Sandbox?

Stays in the Sandbox can vary from one to six months, with three to four months being the normal time frame. Less competitive searches will be given the much shorter stay, while hyper-competitive keywords will often spend six months in the Box. The most frequent length of stay is about three months for most search terms (Sony VGP-BPL11 battery) .

Are there variable lengths of stay in the Sandbox?

The stay in the Sandbox is highly variable. The more competitive the keyword, the longer the site spends in the Sandbox. The filter will be gradually decreased over time, and will lose most of its dampening effect in about three months. Of course, for the most competitive search phrases, the Sandbox filter might remain in full force for six months (Sony VGP-BPL15 battery ) .

How do I know if I am in the Sandbox?

Evidence of Sandbox activity usually is spotted by having good Google PageRank and incoming links, and strong search results in some secondary search phrases, but the site nowhere to be found for the most important searches. In such cases, it is likely the site has been placed in the Sandbox (Dell Inspiron E1505 battery ) .

How do I know it’s the Sandbox and not a Google penalty?

If a site were suffering from a Google penalty, the site would not appear in the Google search engine results pages (SERPs) for even the less important searches. The site would also show no PageRank or even a grey bar on the Google Toolbar (Dell Latitude E6400 battery) .

I still rank well for some less important keywords. Why?

One of the most important characteristics, and indeed one of the marks of being in the Sandbox, is the continuation of strong placements for less important keywords (HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery) .

The alleged Sandbox filter is apparently designed to concern itself with the more competitive keywords as they are more likely to have spam sites, purchased and other links Google deems unnatural, and probably more manipulation attempts being made. That is far less likely in unimportant and non-competitive keywords, so they are generally left alone and out of the Sandbox filter (Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 battery) .

If I join Google AdWords or Google Adsense, will that prevent being placed in the Sandbox?

Joining programs like Google Adwords and Google Adsense will have no effect on your site’s duration in the Sandbox. Those paid programs could provide much needed traffic while your site remains in the depths of the Sandbox, however. Participation in the various Google advertising programs will not keep your site out of Sandbox, or shorten your stay, despite what some myths would have you believe (Dell Precision M70 Battery) .

Are there any other Google filters that act similarly to the Sandbox?

The alleged dampening filter on new incoming links is often mistaken for the Sandbox. It’s thought by many search engine optimization experts that new incoming links are not given immediate full credit. The purpose of that gradual passing along of Google PageRank and link popularity, is to discourage purchasing of links, and various linking schemes designed only to increase a site’s standing in the Google search rankings (Dell XPS M1330 Battery) .

If my website is stuck in the Sandbox, how do I get out?

The only real escape from the Sandbox is time. Depending on the competitiveness of your most important keywords, that time can vary from one to six months, with three to four months being the normal duration. In the meantime, continue to improve your site, and be prepared to make a rapid rise once the Sandbox probation ends (Hp 520 battery) .

What should I do while my site is still buried in the Sandbox?

While your site is in the Sandbox, it’s an ideal time to continue to add fresh keyword rich content and new incoming links to your site. Adding incoming links will ensure that they also avoid any possible new link dampening filter that might be in effect. They would be well aged, and ready to pass along their full value of PageRank and link popularity, as the site rises from the depths of the Sandbox (Acer Aspire One battery) .

Should I continue to add content to my site, while in the Sandbox?

Your website’s stay in the Sandbox is an ideal time to add more theme relevant content. Concentrate on adding more keyword rich pages, and don’t forget both on page and off page factors. On the page, make sure your title tags match the most important keywords for that page (Toshiba Satellite L305 Battery) .

Add a site map and be sure that all of your pages link properly to one another with appropriate link anchor text containing the keywords for that page. Off page link anchor text should be set up to include keywords for the receiving page as well. Don’t waste any of your available site improvement time while in the Sandbox. When the filter is lifted, your improved site will rise rapidly to its proper place at the top of the search rankings (Toshiba Satellite Pro M15 Battery) .
Should I keep getting new links to my website?

The Sandbox is an ideal time to start adding incoming links to your site. Because of the alleged new links dampening filter, adding links while in the Sandbox solves two filters at once. If the newly added links are indeed dampened by a filter, then their full value should take effect just as your site emerges from the Sandbox. Be sure to add strong keyword rich anchor text to your incoming links, and vary it to include several keyword combinations (Dell XPS M1530 battery) .
Are there ways of getting out of the Sandbox any faster?

Only time can get your site out of the Sandbox. The duration in the sandbox tends to vary with the perceived competitiveness of the keyword phrase. That said, there are ways to hasten your rise to the top of the SERPs upon release of the Sandbox filter. By adding some powerful incoming links, with strong link anchor text, and by adding keyword rich relevant content, your site will rise quickly from the Sandbox (Toshiba Tecra M10 Battery) .

Note that the rise will take effect upon the removal of your site’s Sandbox probationary period.

When my site started out of the Sandbox, its search rankings were still low. Is that normal?

Your rankings could remain weak for more than one reason. As a Sandbox survivor, your site was not in the rankings at all for your most important keywords. There is still a long climb ahead of you, and much work to do to achieve strong search placements (Toshiba NB100 Battery) .

While your site is freed from the Sandbox, it probably is also lacking in strong incoming links, good link anchor text, and requires more keyword rich theme relevant content. Fortunately, all of these problems can be resolved, and your site can continue its rise to the top of the SERPs (Toshiba Satellite 1900 Battery) .
How long is the climb to the proper search ranking after leaving the Sandbox?

The length of time required to achieve your site’s proper ranking is difficult to quantify as so many variables are taken into consideration. If you have been adding well anchor text covered incoming links from theme relevant websites, your rise will be much faster than someone who has not continued to add inbound links (HP Pavilion DV5 Battery) .

It will also assist your site’s rise to search prominence by constantly adding keyword rich content. Of course, the more competitive the keywords you are contesting, the longer and harder the climb.

How can I avoid being placed in the Sandbox in the first place?

The Sandbox can be avoided to a degree by purchasing and sending live a website, prior to its being fully ready for prime time (Toshiba Satellite P15 Battery) .

While the site will endure low rankings, it will start the clock ticking on its Sandbox duration time. Be sure to add as many incoming links as possible to get past the alleged new links filter. Keep adding content to your site. Anything that can be done to speed up your site’s appearance on the internet, including the purchase of an already existing domain, should be considered. If you have the time working in your site’s favor, it can be applied against your possible stay in the Sandbox (Ibm ThinkPad X41 Tablet battery) . With proper time management, a site can avoid the Sandbox entirely.