2. Do you regularly review your traffic logs and web site performance tracker? A good website performance tracking software will tell you how your website’s traffic is performing over time, what are the most viewed pages, where your traffic is coming from, what keywords the users are typing in the search engines to reach your site, how long users stay in your site, and many more critical information. Be sure that your web-hosting package includes web site analytics software; otherwise, scout the market for good software and install it in your site.

3. How are you going to get sites to link to you? Links are an important source of traffic for every web site. Your site can get a share of the recommending site’s visitors if they link to you; more so if the linking site attracts a huge traffic number (e.g. imagine how many visitors a link from CNN.com can bring to your site). More importantly, the number and quality of sites linking to your web site figures prominently in how search engines rank pages. The logic in its simplest form goes like this: if more sites are linking to you – and these sites are important sites – then you also must be important; hence your site will be rewarded with high ranking in the search engines.

But how are you going to get sites to link to you, much less the big “fishes”?

• Decide if you are going to use software to automate the link exchange process or you are going to do it manually. Link exchanges software can provide you with a list of complimentary sites, can send out request for links email automatically, even alert you when the link to your site is up or removed by the other site.
  
• If you are doing the process manually, make a list of complimentary (even competitive sites – if they’re willing to exchange links) web sites and evaluate whether they are likely to create a link to your site. Check if the site has any established procedures regarding link exchanges – some sites have Add URL form, while others request that all link requests be sent to a particular email address.
  
• Decide whether you want to provide reciprocal links, or you would simply ask for their links without necessarily creating a link back to their site (beware: many sites prefer tit-for-tat or a reciprocal link).
  
• Review link exchange emails carefully. Make sure that your email is sent to the right party and hence avoid being labeled as spam and deleted. Check if your email template has been properly filled out with no embarrassing mistakes.
  
• Periodically check the sites that have agreed to link to you, particularly if you have reciprocal links in place. Many sites promise to put up links, but remove them after a period of time. In the end, you may be giving them the advantage of a link without you getting anything in return.

4. Do you know the search engine keywords that you rank well? Do you know how you perform in “must-be-seen” keywords for your web site? How is your site performing for the same keywords across the various (at least the top three – Google, Yahoo, MSN) search engines? Are you tracking the shift overtime for your keywords (e.g. you may be number one for Google today but gone from their listings 6 months from now)?

5. If your site is not visible in the search engine results pages for its keywords, what strategies do you intend to do? There are a number of ways to improve your search engine ranking, among them:

• Do-it-yourself. Dedicate time and effort to studying what your web site needs to rank well. Then compare your site with that of your competitors’ who are doing well in the search engines: check their on-page optimization (titles, metatags, keyword density, depth of content, etc.), check their backlinks (how many and who are linking to them – can you get links from these websites too?), among others. Make changes and experiment with your website to see what tweaking produces the best results.
  
• Buy keywords from pay-per-click providers. If you want to be seen in your keywords but are not showing in the organic (non-paying) search engine results, your option is to buy keywords from the search engines. Google has an Adwords program where your ad will be shown alongside the search results pages for the keywords you’ve chosen (as Sponsored Links ads on the left side), or in their content network (publisher websites such as PowerHomeBiz.com). The price is based on your bid amount multiplied by the number of times your ad was clicked (e.g. you will pay $250 if you bid $0.25/click and your ad generated 1,000 clicks).

Yahoo offers a more complicated program: you pay for every web page (URL) that you submit for inclusion in their search results plus (called a “review fee” of $49 per page) you also pay a per click fee (currently $0.15/click) every time your listing generates a click. Their program guarantees that their spider will visit your URL at a more regular basis, although Yahoo claims that participating in their program is not a guarantee for getting top results in their search engine. Unlike Google where paid listings are clearly marked, Yahoo mixes their unpaid organic search results with the paid listings.

• Hire a Search Engine Optimization expert/company. If you have no time to do search engine optimization, there are a number of firms who are willing to do it for you -- for a price. They will analyze your web site, and recommend changes that you can do to improve your ranking. Many SEOs also offer management of keyword bidding process.

Shop carefully, though, and avoid those that promises you number one results for all your keywords in x amount of time (after all, if one of your competitor is also a client, will they bump your result for your competitor?). Also, steer clear of SEOs that will recommend “black hat” SEO strategies that may boost your ranking in the short run but can get your site penalized (and that means bye-bye) by the search engines in the long run. Never blindly trust an SEO to reconfigure your website without understanding the short and long-term repercussions of the change.

STEP 7: Maintain Your Website and Grow Your Web Business

1. Continue to find ways to grow your web business. The Web is a goldmine of opportunities – if you know how to look for it. The key is to explore ways to diversify revenue streams, and the continuously changing Internet always provides new ways to earn money.

• Be open to new revenue opportunities.
• Always be on the lookout for strategic partners.

2. How do you intend to continue your education on web development? The Web as a business medium is young and fast changing: what works today may not necessarily hold true tomorrow. Your task is to keep updated with developments on the Internet, new applications that can improve your website, and other opportunities that may arise.

There are many ways to gain more knowledge of the workings of the Web. Some of them include:

• Networking online or offline with like minded groups and individuals;
• Actively participating in forums/discussion boards, mailing lists and online gathering of other webmasters;
• Offline networking with other webmasters or industry members; and
• Reading books, magazines and other publications on the topic.

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