Basics of setting up a site

[jpb1958]

I have a hobby that I know a lot about but I want to narrow it down to a small but specialized area. I have read about keyword research and tried a few keywords out, but I am unsure how to interpret the results

Although I have the idea in my head, how do I find out if there is a market for it. As I said, I am totally new at this so I will need to have my hand held.

I have put some content ideas on paper so that I can modify what I write before I commit to a site.

Can someone point out the basics of starting a site up. I know about domain names, but what the costs are to maintain a site is a complete mystery to me, I need to determine what type of site would suit me.

One other thing, I have read a few blogs, so I understand the idea, but I would rather have a dedicated site to my subject than a blog.........or is it practical to have both?

How does PPC work??

Pheeww!! Just a few questions...

There is so much information on this site I am sure my questions have been asked elsewhere, so I am still looking.

John

[Linda Buquet]

My carpal tunnel pain is killing me so I can't answer all those questions right now. Most of the answers are here if you search and some of the stickies have lots of the direct answers for you.

Plus for future reference 2 things.

1) You'll get better responses if you search 1st then write one question in one post. It's hard to answer so many in one post.

2) Most of the answers vary based on the type of product or niche or your skills and a variety of other things. So it's good to get an idea of a niche and where you think you want to head - then ask the best way to get there. (Always just giving general info - don't give you specific niche away if it's hot and unique.)

Just wanted to make one important quick suggestion.
Don't waste time putting your ideas on paper. Get in habit of
typing them in Word or Notepad. That way you have content
to cut and paste into your site once you are ready to go.
Its also easier to order and change the oder of your ideas.

OK there I did it. Said I couldnt type much and still ended up
writing a BOOK without answering any of your questions.

[TheCuteKidDave]

Keyword research is great to find keywords to drive traffic to your site or your affiliate pages on your site. Check out: Rapid Keyword - Keyword research software and keyword generator tools.

[jpb1958]

Hello again.

Good advice re word or notepad, thanks Linda.

Thank you for the link cutekid. I will certainly give this a close look.

John

[fitnfree]

Well, like Linda said, there's a lot of information to be shared to answer your questions, but I'll start with getting a site up.

My suggestion would be to have a site specifically for your product as opposed to a blog. Blogs are great, but if you're going to do PPC adverts, then I really think a regular web site would be a huge benefit. you could always add a blog in addition on the same server at no extra cost.

For example, if you're site will be relatively small, which I'm thinking it would, you could go with GoDaddy.com's economy package, make sure to sign up for linux hosting, and with that account you get a lot of extra add-ons to use if desired. One of those is Word Press blog -- great one. I just started my own and absolutely love it. (reminds me, I should post on there! lol)

As for creating a site, a lot depends on your skills in that area. That's a whole new issue...what are your current skill levels in creating a site?

I'll stop there for now...

[Larwee]

John, you also asked how PPC works.

PPC is Pay Per Click. You earn money each time a person clicks an ad to visit an advertiser's website.

There is more to it, but that is the basic information.

[Linda Buquet]

The other side to PPC instead of earning FROM it is using it to advertise.

If you want to use PPC to advertise your site, you basically bid on keywords related to your topic then you pay every time someone clicks over to your site. You can pay anywhere from 5 cents to $10 per click (even higher) depending on the KW.

There is a whole science to it and lots to learn, so if you jump in without knowing what you are doing -
it's a lot like gambling and you can lose your shirt.

[Linda Buquet]

Here's an analogy I wrote to another member about why it's good to get a basic idea of where you are heading then ask a separate question in each thread instead of many questions at the same time.

Asking a bunch of generic questions about how to get started or simply asking
the broad general question of how do you get started or how do you build a site is....

Kinda like if you asked a forum full of builders how do you build a house?
Well that's just too big of a question for anyone to answer.

Each step would require a long answer to explain - building a foundation, framing, plumbing, roofing, cabinetry... But then again each builder has its own style and there are tons of different types of houses so depending on whether you want a stucco one bedroom condo, a sprawling wood ranch, a contemporary bi-level or a mansion, many of the steps above would vary.

So not trying to be difficult at all, just trying to help you get the
best support and answers you can from our forum.

[TheCuteKidDave]

No problem John...It's a great tool for the price in my opinion. It drills down each search phrase and pulls up anything with more than 25 searches last month in Yahoo for a particular search phrase and has a few other cool features.