Why Do You Want a Website?
Episode #2 of the course Build a website and online brand quickly and cheaply by Rob Cubbon
In this email, we’re going to pause for a minute and think about what we’re doing.
What is our new website for? What purpose does it serve? Who will it be for? Is there anyone else doing this?
Purpose
Every website should have one main purpose. Here are some examples of aims that your website could have:
• To get potential customers to contact you about the services you offer
• To sell products
• To collect email addresses
• To raise awareness of your brand (brand building)
Once you have secured a definite goal for your website, creating it and working on it will be easier. This is not to say that your website can’t have multiple purposes (sell products and collect emails), but focusing on one will clear your thinking, especially early on.
Target market
If you think your target market is “everyone,” then I suggest you re-evaluate. Unless you expect to build the next Facebook or Twitter, then you’ll need to be as specific as possible with your niche choice.
It could be that your niche is you (or people like you). This is good.
In the summer of 2005, I was a poorly motivated freelance typesetter plodding through tiresome company reports and hoping for each workday to end as quickly as possible. I didn’t have much of a life, but I had a niche that I could work with. I started a website, RobCubbon.com, and wrote a blog about graphic design. Within two years of catering to that niche, I was able to stop working on those dreadful company reports and work from home on my online business.
Competition
You shouldn’t be overly concerned with competition.
If there is no competition, it may be good for you, although you should consider why. Is it because you’ve stumbled upon a great niche that no one else has thought of? Or is there nothing going on with this market? You’ve got to pay the bills, remember.
Still, it’s likely that there is competition. Try not to worry about it—it simply might mean that there is a market for more websites in your chosen area. Start by identifying the competition.
When you’ve done that, DON’T copy it!
Don’t worry if there’s a website where somebody has already explained what you want to explain and talked about what you want to talk about. You are different from your “competitor.” Some people will prefer to hear your explanations and discussions rather than those of your competitor. Because you’re you, and some people will like you.
When it comes down to it, do what you love.
This is important stuff, but I bet you can’t wait to get going. In the next email, I’ll show you how to choose and register a domain name—that’s the “something dot com” in the www.something.com. We’re going to need one of those.
I’ll see you there!
Recommended book by Highbrow
“WordPress All-in-One For Dummies” by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Share with friends