Buzz Gnosis

In a previous set of Articles published here at EzineArticles I discussed the implementation of RSS and how you could create an RSS feed for yourself.

These next few articles are going to be devoted to something a bit different. We will categorize it as Web Development and I will try and go through a case-scenario of building a web-site and everything you may need to know about doing it.

If you think that building a web-site is something simple and you can do it in one day, and you WANT THAT WEBSITE TO WORK, think again. I have worked in high-tech for many years, and the one thing these days I find incredibly funny, is all these promises that you can build a web-site in a day and be rich by next month. Realistically, that is not going to happen. Realistically, like any other business you want to succeed at this takes work and patience and luck. A great deal of work, the patience of an angel and the proverbial luck of the Irish.

First thing is first. Ignore all those emails you get that promise to make you rich in a week. Ignore any type of scheme that promises you advertisement to five hundred million web sites for $29.00. Ignore all those web pages with fanciful ebooks written by people JUST LIKE YOURSELF trying to make a buck by putting a few pages together in an Adobe PDF file. (Ask yourself this. How many people do you personally know that actually READ those ebooks? I still have not one found one person to ever admit to reading them!) Ignore anyone who tells you that they can show you the way to riches if you pay them $35.00 for their scheme. They are the ONLY ONES getting rich. Ignore it ALL. I know the temptation is great. After all what is $29.00. And of course they all promise you 30 money back guarantees. Don’t do it. Don’t think it. Don’t fall for it.

Let us complicate matters a bit more. It is simply not enough to build a web site and put it out there. I am sure most of you know that.

• Content is KING – Don’t think that the phrase “content is king” is going to get you listed all the way on top either. Content is critical, but Google and Yahoo and MSN (the search-engine trinity) have created an incredible amount of new algorithms to decide just WHICH content is critical and which is not. CONTENT IS KING – but it must be content on your web site, NOT links to content on other web sites.
• Linking to your web site from other web-sites is also critical.
• KeyWords – Keywords, search terms etc.

All these are critical. But how do we get there? How do we go from an idea to the final production phase?

The one or two page web sites that contain content written by others and dropped into your web site are great if you have the ability to create say 500 subdomains and template each one. But guess what? Google has even found a way around that. You may achieve high rankings for a couple of weeks, and then you will have need of some serious meds as you watch your web rankings go to the gutter.

Before delving deeper into all these problems and many, many, dare I repeat, MANY more, realize that a truly functional business web-site these days should or may contain the following:

1. Web Site itself
2. Blog Connected to the Website
3. Forum Connected to the Website
4. Perhaps even a Wiki connected to the Website

Each of these has its up and downs. Each one of these demands work and dedication. Each one of these demands that you invest time and effort (and I will attempt to show you how to save a great deal of money as well.)

Now you have your head on right and your thoughts centered let us understand what goes into building a web site that will attract visitors, make sales, keep customers coming to you, and stay somewhere near the top of the search engine ratings. Notice I did not say the top, but near the top. Of course, you can get on the top as well. That happens to be easy. Just join Adwords and Overture and advertise. (By the way that is not a bad idea for creating initial traffic.) But in these articles we are going to avoid the funds layout proposition as much as possible.

Now, I know what many of you may be thinking. He is talking about a full-blown web site. All I want is a three page web site so that I can offer some product, maybe have some affiliates and voila everyone will buy or click on my affiliate or Google Adsense advertisements.

Maybe that will happen to you. There are some people out there that do make an incredible amount of money from Google Adsense. That is a fact. But they know how to build their web sites and they know just how to attract customers or “eyeballs” as it is called. And getting those “eyeballs” where you have on the average of less than 7 seconds to interest someone is difficult. That is right 7 seconds!

To end this first article I will simply quote an email the I received from EzineArticles itself.
In it we were told that the article entitled “Want to Try on That New Hair Style Before You Get It?”
had 108,898 page views! Now if you would have asked me which article would get such page views, I would certainly have NEVER even considered an article about “hair”.

The Internet is full of surprises. ONLY because the human condition is full of surprises. Only because it reflects who we are and what our society is like. Building a web site which works is a reflection of your intuitiveness, resourcefulness and understanding just what people want and how to give it to them. It is very much like building a company.

Now if you will excuse me I am going to go write an article about how I tease my white hair and keep it from falling out.

Ted W. Gross owns Virgin Earth, a real estate brokerage firm in Jerusalem, Israel. Virgin Earth represents residential and commercial real estate all over Israel. Virgin Earth also maintains an RSS Feed on its current properties and also operates Virgin Earth – Israel Tourism & Information Portal on the same site. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.Virgin Earth also maintains a blog.Virgin Earth Blog

A friend of mine, Joe (not his real name) recently asked for my opinion about investing in an online business. He had found this “fantastic” money making opportunity on the Internet. Joe was thinking of investing a substantial amount. All he had to do for this “online business” was view a couple of websites a day and he would be paid a percentage of his investment every month. He said some people were making thousands every week! When I heard this, red lights flashed in my mind and they were screaming “SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!”

When he had finished telling me about the “investment”, I asked him two questions: “Don’t you think it sounds too good to be true and have you done any background research into this?” Joe said he did do some checking and although he found a fair bit of criticism about this “investment” on a couple of online forums and chat rooms, he was still willing to invest and see if it worked. I then asked, “Joe, you sound desperate. Is everything OK with your business?” The truth finally came out. Joe’s business had folded about a month earlier and YES, he was desperate. I advised him to hold on to his money – that he would need all his money to help him and his family through the tough time ahead. I offered walk him through starting an online business if he really wanted to – just not this particular one.

This wasn’t the first time someone had asked me about such “investments” when they were in the midst of a crisis. Desperate people resort to desperate measures. It’s so very easy to believe what you read on the Internet. The web is filled with millions of sites that guarantee you riches if you will just make a “minimal investment”. The cold, hard fact is that there are many irresponsible internet marketers out there who prey on the weakness of desperate folk, getting them to part with their money – which is a precious commodity when you’re jobless – to make themselves rich.

Most people fail to realize that in many ways, an online business is like a regular business. It takes time and effort to build it into something successful. It definitely does not happen overnight the way many internet marketers would have you believe. After all, if they told you the truth – that it DOES take time and effort – would you part with your money so easily?

Here are some examples of when you should AVOID investing in an online business:

*When you’ve just lost your job or source of income. The sense of desperation leads many into rash decisions that they soon regret and they are left much poorer!

*When you’re all hyper after discovering that one-in-a-million opportunity which needs your response A.S.A.P because “places are limited”.

*When you’ve had a bad day at the office, and you’ve been grilled by your boss and you want out – NOW!

*When you read or hear someone tell you how “easy” it is to make tons of money on the internet and they want you to join them – NOW!

*When you suddenly find yourself in a financial crisis.

*When you’ve just quarreled for the thousandth time with your wife about money.

You get the message – DON’T invest in an online business when you’re emotionally charged. That’s exactly what internet marketers WANT you to do! I know it’s hard to do but channel all that energy and frustration into research instead. Do it as if your life depended on it – and it probably does. Be ruthless in your fact-finding. Be objective in what you read and hear. Be merciless in rooting out potential SCAMS. Give yourself some breathing space, do your homework and when you find an online business that you are confident about, JUMP IN! Go into it with all your heart and don’t stop till you’ve reached your goal!

Until then, I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it – the Online Business Pie is growing everyday. There is ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE plus more to spare! It’s not going to just disappear one day so don’t worry. When you’re ready, you can dig in and enjoy your slice of the pie too – Cheers!