Optimizing a website for SEO/SEM is a long, complex, and time consuming process. In the case of my own website, it took me a “YEAR” to get just 1 (key) word into the top ranking pages in Google. I mention this so you’ll understand that I’m VERY familiar with the time required, pain & frustration of the process that you’re about to embark into..

Lets talked about next steps both for SEO and SEM

It’s the 21st Century and it’s ALL about communications! That’s what websites do.

It could be as simple as wanting to “blog” about what happens day to day in your life and you want to share it with your friends. A good example of this is Julie’s Blog about 365 days Cooking Through Julia Child’s Cook Book. Bottom line is that you may have a hobby or some other personal project that you’re passionate about and you want a website to share it.

More commonly, people create websites because they have a business. If this is you, the sky is the limit. You could provide “Help” or trendy little newsletters  for your clients, a shopping cart or a whole host of other useful and money making ideas. If you have a business and you don’t have a website then you’re missing out on “presences”.

Your website can just have a few static pages with contact info and a bit about your product or service, or you can aggressively market your business. The reality is that “people – (your clients) expect to be able to find you on the web, so the very least you need is a simple, yet professional website. If you don’t have presences, then you’ll miss out on business pure and simple. When people go looking for you on the web, and you’re not there, they move on to your competitors. In today’s world, a business without a website isn’t seen as being legitimate or long lasting. Strange considering that content content on the Internet is measure in seconds. None the less, that’s the perspective many of your clients will have if you haven’t leveraged a website for your business.

You can have a professional website for as low as $100 dollars ongoing annual costs for your domain name and hosting account and a one time fee of $290 for set up and creation of 5 static pages. We include a 1 on 1 tutorial on using the (CMS) content management system so you’ll be able to update content and add pages to your site through your regular web browser (no coding required)

See our menu bar at the top of the site for more info.

Contact us for details

So you’ve figured out those “Free” websites just aren’t working for you and you want to make the next step. As you sit in front of your computer, you’re probably wondering what you have to do to get your own website up and working.

Well, you can call or contact us. we’ll help you through it all, from beginning to end. Although we certainly want to partner with you and make the whole experience  easy, you may also want to know about the process … so here’s how the professionals tackle building a site.

• Pick and register your domain name 1st. Obviously, you want a domain name that speaks to who your website is going to attract. Spend time choosing. It’s not so easy to change a domain name and site after it’s all up and running.
  • Keep the name short …The shorter the better!
  • Try and link the name to your website content. It’s no use calling your website walestowatch.com if you’re selling cars.
• A great company that I highly recommend for domain purchases is 123eHosts. You can find and register your domain name here.
• After registering your domain name, you’ll have to find a “Hosting” company. There are lots out there. Some way better than others both in service, price and quality. Your hosting company basically rents you space on their “Servers’. This is where your website files/site will be uploaded to. I’ve searched and check out every imaginable Hosting company out there. So far the one that I think offers the best all round price, quality and tech support is 123eHosts.com. Our site runs on their server. So ..if you need a Hosting Company, check them out. I recommend their yearly “Premium” package.

One of the very first things that most people want when they create websites is pictures and other media. Visual is GOOD. It delivers PUNCH to your pages and gets people coming back to your site. Add audio and Video …Look Out WORLD!

Most of us are on a tight budget, so when we go looking, we usually look for media that is free.

When we 1st start looking through search engines, what we run into immediately is that most images and media all have copyrights. It’s way not cool to use copyright media .. especially if your website takes off and starts getting thousands of “hits”. Some one WILL hunt you down and make life unbearable!

So… my very 1st tip is where to find Creative Commons free licenses for media files.

My good friend Rob Heppell of http://www.FuneralFuturist.com fame sent me this tip on Facebook. I think it’s a great, so I’m sharing it here.

Check out 26 Ways to find Media for Your Web Site here: Mashable.com

Ron