If you are just starting out with developing your own website I suggest reading the "successful website article" that I wrote below. Does this mean I am an "Internet Marketing Guru"? Absolutely not! My field is managing a retail gardening store and since I also had some training in the computer field I was chosen to become the webmaster of guzmansgreenhouse.com

Develop and make your own website. It is alot cheaper than paying someone or buying tons of programs or applications to help you. I get emails all the time asking me how I made our website successful. This is what I tell them. Stop trying to get rich online. It ain't gonna happen...no matter what the internet gurus tell you. Do NOT copy or build websites that have absolutley no value.

Always write and create good content for your website visitors. Make a website about what you know, not what you don't know! It will be so much easier for you. Please do NOT fall for that "Get Rich Quick" mentality? Contrary to what some Internet Marketing guru's say you will not be rich in 2-4 weeks or even months.

You could spend a small fortune trying to figure out what is the best way to develope a successful website. The number one easiest way to make it online is to develope a website about what you are passionate about.

What are your interests, your hobbies, your love. Now get yourself a domain name and a good webhosting company. A good domain will cost you as little $2.00 bucks. And webhosting as low as $5.00 bucks a month. When looking for a domain name be sure to use the .com extension and not the .net or the .org extensions.

The (dot)com is what most people will remember. What would you rather have? repairyourcar.com or repairyourcar.org? Most folks will remember repairyourcar.com.

Once you have that in mind start writing it down. Yes... take a pen and put it on paper. You will probably have tons of content for your website. This is what people want, and more importantly what "google" and the rest of the search engines are craving for. Remember put "Good Original Content" into your website and make sure your provide your visitors with true value.

Find a good webhosting company. Do your best to learn HTML and how to FTP. Once you have a good working knowledge of that start with CSS, PHP, and others. The main one is HTML.

Find a good graphics program. The two best are Paint shop Pro and Adobe photoshop. Or do a search on your favorite search engine for good website graphics programs.

S.E's love good simple HTML & CSS content. Once you have that start putting your adsense or affiliate links in place. Be sure you have a newsletter or ezine do not overlook this very important aspect of having a website. It is imperative that you build a subscriber list.

You have probably heard this before but I will say it again. do NOT slap on a bunch of banners, and unrelated links on your page. Stay away from link farms, black hat search optimization tricks and anyone that says "make thousands/millions in 2 months " IT WON'T HAPPEN".

Read everything positive! Yes read and acquire the knowledge that will help you get what you want.

Read until your eyes bleed, consume all that is positive, if you have any doubts cast them aside. Read the forums, blogs, websites, articles and anything that you consider helpful. Make it easy for the search engines to crawl your site. No tricks, or disappearing acts.

Try to keep your webpages on the same level as your index.html page. Stay away from yoursite.com/info/moreinfo/good-info.html. The search engines love straight one level websites. Visit and participate in forums, blogs and websites that have valuable information concerning your niche. Write articles about your niche and submit them to article directories you won't believe the amount of traffic I get from this type of tactic.

One of the best affiliate marketers out there is Rosalind Gardner. If you are looking for good honest advice on how to make a living online I suggest you read her affliate handbook. Her book is what started me on the "right path" to starting a successful website.

Paul Guzman author of this article:

http://www.guzmansgreenhouse.com/successful-websites.htm