Advanced Web Design 

Learn how to evolve your website into a commercially viable E-Business or E-Commerce operation. This section will provide tips, tricks and secrets of use to all web publishers and webmasters. 

Have you considered establishing your own commercial website and engaging in E-Commerce?

There are enormous opportunities to earn a great deal of money by establishing and growing your own web site. In historical terms the internet is still in its infancy and its projected growth is mind boggling. Only five years ago, most Americans didn't dream that they would be sending e-mails across the state, chatting with relatives across the country or watching TV broadcasts from across the ocean. Yet today, this has become the norm for many world wide.

We are at the dawn of a technological revolution that will have an unimaginable impact on the economic, social and political fabric of this planet. Every generation is presented with challenges and opportunities - 
the internet is ours.    

By making a decision and commitment today, you can sow the seeds of a promising internet business and ride the wave of technological change into the new frontier.  

To create a commercially viable website, you need to formulate a good website idea or theme. The subject for your website should be something that you are interested in and knowledgeable about or at least a subject you're willing to spend a reasonable amount of time in becoming familiar with. The theme of your site should be focused around something you want to research and explore. To be successful, your work truly needs to be a labor of love. You do not need to be an expert in the subject area. You do, however, need to know more about the topic than most others do. 

The theme for your website could be something related to work, family life or a personal interest. The topic need not be of broad general interest.  In fact, great success can be attained with a narrow, specialized website topic, where your competitors will be few in number. You can begin your website by focusing on a niche market and then by growing the site to attract a broader audience. Always remember that your potential audience is global and not limited to your community or country. 

Once you have selected a suitable subject area for your website, give some thought to how your website can be grown. Growth can occur by delving into greater detail in the subject area or by broadening the subject area into related fields. In general, however, think of your website as a store, with each web page as a product in that store. Your goal is to attract people to your store by offering a specific item and hoping that they will buy additional items they had not planned on purchasing. Load your store with complimentary items and bounce your visitors from one department to another.  

If you can visualize a growth strategy for your site, before you purchase a domain name, you will then be able to select a web address that is narrow enough to attract people and search engines, but broad enough not to restrict your future growth. 

Most importantly,  to operate an E-Commerce business online you must  be able to accept payment from your customers right on your web site. To do so you will need to establish a "Merchant Account". That will be discussed next.  

NEXT # 11 Merchant Accounts and Banking systems