When I started working with websites, most people subscribed to the "if you build it they will come" theory, and to some extent that was true. A well built site with basic optimizaton features like keyword and description tags, some good keywording in the title and text and you were IN, baby! So many sites were poorly built that it didn't take much to show up at the top of the search engine rankings!

Things have changed.

The internet is growing at an exponential rate. You are competing for attention with, deep breath here...Over 3 billion - some say as many as 17 billion - that's billion with "B" - web pages, and more are added every day. Web professionals are increasingly savvy and optimization information and programs that assist in basic optimization for the do-it-yourselfer are everywhere. Competetion for those coveted few spots on the first page of a search engine's results is fiery and fierce.

What can you do?

Lots, but first, you need to do your homework and make some hard decisions. I have had clients hand me a list of well over 2 hundred keywords and want me to optimize ther site for ALL OF THEM. Sorry, wish I could. Now with a 100 page site, I might have some success if I optimized for 2 keywords or so per page, but not with a 8 page site. The more concentrated your message the more interested the search engines will be. So the first thing you really want to do to optimize your site is FOCUS.

And I mean focus about your business, or message, not just your website!

A fellow web developer I know likes to say, "It's not an internet business, it's your business on the internet!" If you don't already have a business plan, a target audience, a message and/or product, a marketing plan and budget, you may be a little premature in building your site, UNLESS your site is for pleasure only.

I can't stress this enough. If you go to your web developer without having clearly defined these things, then you are wasting your money, and his/her time.

Without defining your business, its goals, and its customers, your site will not do all it needs to. My guess is you will be redoing it within two years, or constantly changing it. You will also be losing visitors/income/opportunity all along the way.

And please understand that most web developers are NOT business consultants, and not marketing experts, though good ones may be able to help you in the specific area of internet business and marketing. If you are really serious about a successful business, there are many good resources available to help businesses. Check in your state, city and county resource directory for business development councils, or other resources. If you have the budget, there are also excellent firms that are there to help businesses with exactly this type of planning. The better prepared you are, the more successful you will likely be, and so will your website.

So back to focus.

You need to be able to clearly explain what your business or website is about, what goals you have for it, who your target audience is and your secondary audience if that applies. You should be able to identify what your business, or website does for your audience that makes it the clear choice over your competitors. You should also consider and be able to suggest possible images, colors, and other content that might convey your message to your audience. Remember that your web designer can help with this, but while an experienced professional web designer will help you through this process and allow you to clarify good design choices, it is up to you to make the business decisions that drive these choices.

OK, so now you have done your homework...

You can now give your web developer information that allows her to more easily build and optimize your site and, when it is launched, you can expose and market a site that does what you need and want it to, and that will be drawing exactly the folks you want in to view it. When you make changes to your site, It will not be to fix what is broken. It will be to fine tune it, or expand it because you are doing so well! And with a successful site, you may also choose to monetize your site by selling ads or referrals to products on similar or complimentary sites. See more about this in the secion titled "Making Money on your site with ads and referrals"

So focus before you build your site. With a little perserverance and a pinch of luck, they WILL come!

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