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How Do You Make Your Own Website?

Updated on June 17, 2011

Your First Website

Many people like the idea of having their own website, so the question "How do I make my own website" is a common search term for novice web publishers, particularly those looking to make money online.

The first question you should be asking yourself is: What is the most appropriate way to publish my content on the internet? This question is important because different forms of content are suited to different types of web publishing.

If you are going to continually add to your work, you take advantage of one of the many free blogging platforms available. If you are interested in more static pages, this article is for you. It should be noted that there is no reason you cannot use a blogging platform for a static site - it is just that your options will often be limited in what you can do with the site.

Another point to consider is monetizing your site. Even if you are not out to make money online, a small income from your site can help pay for the costs of publishing your work online. Not many people will complain if there is a bit left over afterwards.

Making your own website

Website building - Your options

You should be aware that there is a very steep learning curve when it comes to publishing content on the internet. Thousands of people are doing it and everyone is competing for position in search engine results. Despite the "get rich quick" stories that abound, building traffic takes a bit of hard work.

I strongly recommend you do not spend a lot of money until you are experienced and know what you are doing. You do not need to buy $100 ebooks, a starting budget of around $5 is enough to see if this type of endeavour suits you.

My first tip is:

Start out by using a revenue sharing website. This article is published on a great example, hubpages.com

These sites do all of the technical work for you and give you the ability to make money online without spending a cent. They work by taking a percentage of any revenue from every author. In the case of hubpages, 40% of the time ads are displayed on the page, hubpages will receive any revenue that results. 60% of the time the author gets the credit. Your 40% contribution gives you an easy to use interface and quick recognition by google and other search engines. If you have not already signed up, join here for free. Revenue sharing websites also have helpful forums where experienced publishers help newcomers. This is why I rate hubpages so highly - the community is one of the most helpful out there.

My Second Tip is:

Once you have learnt some of the basics on a revenue sharing website, its time to quit sharing and go it alone.

The advantage of your own site is that you don't have to share the revenue with anyone. The disadvantage is that all of those services you were getting for free before now cost money.

This is why its not a good idea for beginners to get straight into their own site. In the vast majority of cases, costs will be larger than revenue. Once you have learned the ropes however, more money can be made when you own your own site.

So what can you do with your $5 budget?

Get Website Hosting for Free

Get Your First Site Hosted for Free

$5 will not get you far for paid hosting. Your $5 should be spent on getting yourself a domain name registered. Again, you will be limiting your risk by choosing the cheap option.

Due to the high level of competition, numerous companies offer the first year of domain registration at very cheap prices. They figure that if the site is a success you will re-register next year at the normal price. This means that you get a one year period to see if you can make a site successful. You can get a '.info' domain for around $2 from sites such as godaddy.com. This lets you have the domain: http://www.yoursite.info.

Having your own URL with your keywords in it is an advantage when it comes to search engine results. Just about all hosting site let you use your own URL.

Free website hosting is possible because some require advertisements to be displayed on the page, others rely on users upgrading to paid services.

Experienced online publishers don't use free hosting sites because they understand and need the extra features offered by paid hosting. Those who have just graduated from revenue sharing sites are generally happy with the basics if they don't have to pay $12 / month.

Choose the Features You Need For Your First Website

Free Website Hosting - You get what you "Pay" for.

As a general rule, the more conditions (usually compulsory ads) the host places on the site, the more features it will offer.

An example is Weebly.com

They will host your website and have an extremely easy to use Site Builder that lets you "Drag and Drop" components onto your page to get the look you are after. You can also use your own domain. For this they include an ad to their site at the bottom of your page and also take 50% of google adsense earnings. This is more than hubpages.com takes. For this reason, if adsense is your primary earner there would be better places to host your site. If you were focusing on affiliate marketing, it would be a much better choice, enabling you to produce a professional looking website in just a few minutes.

The interface with 000webhost.com is not quite as user friendly but they allow you to take all of the revenue from your advertisements. Their paid services are also very competitive when you graduate from this stage and look to take it to the next level. Their service allows you to have multiple pages on your website and also associated email address so you can have an email account like: yourname@yoursite.info

The use of sites like these is the key to giving yourself the chance of making money online without spending more than the price of a burger. After one year you can look at the revenue your site has produced and make an informed decision of whether it is worth re-registering your domain (and maybe advancing to paid hosting).

Beginners Check List

 1) Sign up for hubpages.com here to begin publishing your first content. Search the forum to learn from the experts.

2) Learn about  SEO and the use of keywords. Learn how to build traffic then look to move on. Register your own domain name and get it hosted at a site like 000webhost.com

3) Review your site after 11 months and decide if it is a viable proposition. If yes, re-register your domain before it expires and is resold. Continue with free hosting or upgrade to a paid service if you understand the benefits of the extra features and your site revenue allows.

This strategy is a sensible approach to website publishing that gives you the chance of earning money online that is essentially risk free. Most people give up before giving the internet a chance. My philosophy has always been "If this is not going to work, the only thing i am willing to lose is my time."

Be patient, be persistant, and learn everything you can.

Good Luck

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