Step 1: Choose A "Niche"
You will need to decide on what kind of website you are going to have, whether it's going to be affiliate marketing, reseller, business or other.
Step 2: Choose A Top Keyword Domain Name and Title
When deciding on what to name and title your site, looking up the top keywords is a good idea, as these will rank higher in search engines. You can find out what the top keywords from a service Google offers called Google Trends.
Step 3: Pay For A Domain Name
Paying for a website is probably one of the best investments you can make. There are many hosts you can use like HostGator, GoDaddy and BlueHost, just to name a few. Alternatively, you can also buy domains which have already been used that are listed up for sale. Keep in mind you are also buying the potential traffic that goes along with it, this is usually a good investment if it's a good site.
Step 4: Design Your Website
Next, you will need to design a website that is attractive and original. Have a nice color scheme, interactiveness and awe. There are many templates you can find online, some are free and some cost. Paying for a good quality template, unless you know HTML, is usually best way to go. There's also software that can help you with that also. For example, DreamWeaver. There are also alternatives to this, such as Kompozer.
Step 5: Build Your Website
Now that you've got your template in place, now you need to add content. Make sure that you add quality and helpful content to your site with easy to use navigation.
Step 6: SEO Optimize It
Make sure you know what keyword you are competing for. If the keyword is too competitive you should probably choose another one for now, until you learn how to better compete with these sites. A fast and easy way to find out how many sites you are competing for a certain keyword, type your desired keyword into a search engine, like Google. Again you can use Google Trends to find top keywords, and incorporating these keywords to your website. There are free tools out there that will analyze your website for free and tell you what you're doing wrong. From meta tags, keywords, even to the links you are providing. One example is Traffic Travis.
Step 7: Drive Traffic
This is usually the most daunting tasks for most. Know that to get massive traffic to your site takes time, and definitely will not happen overnight. Most sites are spread by word, people sharing through social networks like FaceBook or Twitter. So you need to make sure you have utilities in place like buttons that allow the sharing of your site or content. ShareThis is a great website that offers a myriad of social network buttons, and is easy to use. You can also submit your site to top search engines like Google, and Yahoo. You can pay to have your site advertised through Google AdWords. Which only charge you when the ad is clicked. Submit your website to social bookmarking sites or website/article directories. Link exchanging, offering your link to post in their site, in return you post theirs on yours. YouTube videos get a lot of attention. Make your video noticeable and promote your website on it. Make a blog. Build a reputation on a blogging platform, like WordPress or Blogger and promote your website at the same time. Update your site constantly to stay on top of your game. Popular search engines like Google, tend to rank these higher. Some recommend that you "build a list". This is basically a list of emails people have submitted to you that you can then use to market further your website.
Step 8: Incorporate Ads
Once you get a lot of traffic to your site, you should take advantage of advertising. There are many companies which get paid by their sponsors who then turn around and pay you part of the cut for advertising it on your site and someone clicking on it. AdSense is the most predominant. Owned and operated by Google Inc, they pay you each time the ad is clicked on. If you don't get approved for AdSense, you should keep trying, otherwise you can also use alternatives.
Now, sit back and relax. You've now done the hard part, now you just need to make sure you follow up with your efforts and keep your website up-to-date and refreshed. Good luck my friend, and never give up!
