One Page Summary

Build the Website Business

• Is the product a good one to sell on the web? A good product cannot be found at Target or a hardware store.
• If you have the time, build it yourself. If you have the money, hire someone.
• Learn about business, web design, and ecommerce.
• Plan a budget.
• Buy a domain name . Then visit the MN secretary of state to register your business name.
• Find a host or go with the host that your web designer recommends
• Handle credit cards with either Paypal or with a merchant account from your bank.
• Find a shopping cart
• Calculate your shipping options. US Postal Service and UPS are good resources.
• Write a privacy policy and explain your policies up front.
• Write for accesibility, credibility, and standards.
• Buy the needed hardware and software.
• Rehearse an order from start to finish with a friend. Rehease a return.

Increase Website Traffic

• Find out what keyword phrases people are searching for.
• Put those phrases in your title, visible text, and the other areas on your site.
• Make sure that you can get from every page to every page by text links.
• Submit to the right category in the Open Directory.
• Submit to Google, Yahoo, and other search engines and get links to your site.
• Put your website address on everything - especially your email signature.
• Read your website statistics to learn about your visitors. Most hosts provide statistics for free.
• Get as much traffic as you can for free until you cannot afford it anymore :-). Then start paying for clicks at Google and Overture.