Forum Moderators: mack
1. Web Site Name - yes it is available.
2. Web Design Firm
3. Web Hosting
4. Search Placement Company
5. Overall Site Theme & Design "Wants"
Here are the areas I am currently in an endless search for answers regarding:
1. Product Focus - the more I search, the more I want to include on my site. Is there a service that can inform me of the top products in specific categories for sales, traffic, etc? ...I need help and suggestions on how to "focus". What I don't want is a plain online mall. I want to learn what works and what doesn't.
2. Suggestions on what I should include in the development of the site ie: anything and everything technical - email responders, database management, etc. I know NOTHING about this side of things. I have worked in Advertising and Marketing for years, but this technical stuff gives me a headache! (Mostly because I just don't know much about it!)
I need Suggestions, ebooks, lists, sites - things to watch out for...anything you feel would be of benefit.
Thank you so much,
Kenda
Welcome to webmasterworld.
Its tempting to try and have every product under the sun, but with one eye on search engine optimisation, it would be better to keep the site focused. This could help create a very strong theme throughout the site, helping you to become a niche website and possibly taken more seriously by both users and search engines. You can always make other sites for other products and if this is your first site, keep it small and simple in case during the learning process you find you have made a mistake.
I think 'Search Placement Company' means your search engine optimiser? If so, I would get him/her to dictate the design of the site. There are many great looking sites out there which when presented to an seo it has too be completely re written and designed! The best person to do your seo is yourself... read everything on this site and get up to speed! Then talk to other seo's and you will get a feel for whether or not they are any good... in otherwords, you will know what questions to ask. Have a good read at [searchengineworld.com...]
Research the phrases/ products people search for. It is easier to market chase than market make. Explore the overture keyword generator and google ads to see what people are bidding/searching for. Put the phrases you think people will use to find your site and see what alternatives come up. Google will give an indication of traffic and show how many other people are bidding for that business. If the bids are high, chances are the product/sector is lucrative. Having said that, you may find a niche with plenty of traffic but nobody chasing it yet.
Make a site that YOU would buy from. Test it out on friends. Remember people don't want a glorious mindblowing experience, they want a fast, simple way to buy a product... and to trust you. A human element to the site will help plus as many official authority recomendations as possible. With online payments, make sure it is all secure and people realise this.
The best site in the world will fail if people can't find you... traffic is the key and this can best be achieved by making the site search engine friendly. Having identyfied products people are searching for, check out the oposition sites. Go to alexa.com and work out how busy the site is. If you can supply a better deal, you also have to be taking their traffic... you need to make sure your site design will help you achieve top rankings. Think long and hard about who will build your site and don't get carried away with complex site gimmicks that probably won't be used and may slow your site down for everyone else.
Read everything on this site! Good luck.
Keep everything fast loading and simple. Gone are the days of instant success, new sites take 6 or more months to start getting established (decent google rankings can take this long). Start with a very basic site, you can always add features later and build complexity only if it is really needed. Undoing a complex site is far more difficult.
