11 website creation tips for building a successful website starting today

This post was inspired by a series of questions a WA member asked.

The basic answer to the question:"How do you decide the website is a success?" is simply this: when the website helps you earn money & do good things.

But how exactly does a website do that?
Here's an 11-step answer you can use to build your own website.

First things first:

Q: What actually IS a website?
A: It's a place on the internet where you and your audience meet/congregate.

Q: why would people spend time on your website?
A: because they find quality content there.

Q: how to know what content is valuable?
A: research what your target audience cares about

Q: "What are the required steps before building your Website?"

11 Steps To Building A Successful Website

1) identify a personal interest/passion/quest/expertise of yours that you would like to work with and that you're an expert in (whatever it is, don't hold back & be honest... nothing is too weird, too strange or too normal - there are always people somewhere that share similar passions) Make sure it's important enough to you as you need it to fuel your determination to be working on your website.

2) research (broadly) related market segments where people spend money - called market niches. (people spend money on almost everything) > search volume, popular websites, forums, facebook, see what google ads come up for certain related search queries ...

3) match one of these market segment audiences (the kind of people you would like to work with) with your personal passions you identified above and resolve to bring your angle to the table.

4) *draft* website content to that effect. Remember on the other side there will be a person consuming your content via their screen. Write in a conversational, approachable yet authentic tone. Collect 1 image from the net (or create your own) that supplements each article topic.

5) writing the final articles - begin with the headline! The headline should contain keywords that peak to your target audience's interest (the people who relate to your content AND spend money relating to products and services in that market segment)

5a) Create an about page on your site. But remember this: your website is not about YOU. It's about providing value to your audience. Help solve their problems, prove to them that your site contains valuable stuff they care about. At the bottom of your about page, you can talk about yourself a little. Share your story.

6) release your first 5 or so articles one-by-one, perhaps over a few days.

7) invite people from your target audience (or people you already know) to read your work and give you honest feedback in the comment section below your blog posts or by email.

8) thereafter continue to draft and publish new articles, based on your research or what feedback people give you. Ask for more feedback. Ask people what they want to know more of. You can write a Q/A based article etc.

8a) drive visitor traffic: through youtube, facebook, online adverts, forum sigs etc... Look out for my important post regarding traffic vs customers ... (coming soon)

9) capture people's email addresses by offering a good reason to give it to you.... free report, advice, software, etc... something of value to your audience. Once you have their address, you have permission to send them updates, offers etc...

10) rinse and repeat. Continue to provide valuable content and attract new site visitors. Advertise the free offer available on your site (landing page) with fb ads or bing or yahoo etc... craigslist, forums, whatever. Share your articles through your facebook feed (if you have one) - you can also create a fb page that relates & links to your website.

11) monetizing: - just a few ideas to start, far from complete. Will add more over time

• Insert google ads or bing ads into your articles/posts.
• Insert affiliate offer links in your articles.
• Create/offer products/services/solutions & offer up on the sidebar of your site, below your free email capture offer.
• Email people updates leading to offers contained in new articles ...

Your thoughts/ideas/comments/suggestions/questions or critical feedback about this article are appreciated :-)