Can I make money with a web site?
This entry was posted on 11/9/2007 7:57 PM and is filed under Internet.
Question: I am semi-retired and would like to create a web site on a subject I have been interested in for many years. My hobby has been choosing and evaluating wines, foreign and domestic. I could share this information on my web site with other wine lovers, and wonder if I could also make a profit doing so. The extra money would come in handy. How would I go about accomplishing this?
Answer: There are many such sites already existing on the Internet both as formal web sites and Blogs. Some are commercial but many are discussion groups sharing their knowledge via the Internet. We firmly believe that if you want an online business that is going to have any chance of financial success, you have to fully devote yourself to it. You must be willing to learn the techniques required and devote considerable time and effort to be rewarded.
If you study existing sites that come up on the first few pages of a search, dealing with wine, you will discover that they are rich in content. Your content should be unique and valuable, containing information that will encourage repetitive viewers. Your site should enable visitors to share data with others. Be prepared to spend some serious time and some money to get the content you will need. Do not copy and paste information from other sites.
Do not expect immediate results. Be patient since this effort may take a couple of years. Keep providing content frequently to attract a substantial number of visitors to your web site. Keep it commercial free initially, and later when your traffic becomes substantial you will find advertisers coming to you.
Another most important things you must do to increase your Internet ranking is make yourself link-worthy. When you have a content rich site with many visitors, you will get inbound links that will enhance your ranking with the search engines.
Introduced in 2003, AdSense was an outgrowth of Google's AdWords program, which put sponsored ads at the top of search results at Google's own site. Google created AdSense as a way to expand beyond search listings and onto hundreds of thousands of websites and Blogs. Google rivals Yahoo and MSN have similar programs, but they have found limited acceptance on the Web, where Google dominates both search, with more than 50% market share, and search advertising, with 90%.
Google's computers scan the content on Web pages to match it with appropriate advertisers. If you are highly ranked by Google, they will put ads on your site and pay you when these ads are clicked. There is a little more to it. The folks who reap the biggest rewards put in long hours setting up their site and feeding it lots of content.
Don’t skimp on design and be prepared to engage consultants who have a history of success. Choose a company that offers not only professional consulting but also design, and implementation. If you cannot afford a consultant Google and Yahoo have free tools to enable you to create Web pages or Blogs. And many Internet website-hosting companies (such as GoDaddy and Brinkster) have online site creators that come as part of their monthly fees. Apple's iWeb is another such tool. With these, AdSense can be automatically added to your pages with the click of a mouse.
The Internet may be a young person's medium, but the retired and those nearing retirement have found that they can work the Web just as well. Sometimes, these retirees can live a richer, more financially rewarding life than when they were working. For more information Contact SCORE (US Small Business Administration) visit our website http://www.score476.org or call us at 718-727-1221.
