Easily Make Your Own Web Sites

When I first started on my quest for online business opportunities, I had to learn HTML from scratch in order to build my first website. Or at least I thought that's what I had to do, and I did it.

I spent several weeks deciphering the idea behind web pages, and then spent over two months developing my first simple website. At the time, I had no idea that it was possible to build and publish an entire site with no knowledge of HTML. Duh.

Since then, I have discovered two particularly fine online services that offer anyone the opportunity to develop and publish a web site in a fraction of the time it would ordinarily take.

Either of these allows you to create web sites quickly and easily, and both offer you website hosting as part of the package.

These services give you nearly everything you need to build and maintain a website, including such things as website templates, email, autoresponders, and even shopping carts, if you're building an ecommerce website.

You can do this with little or no prior knowledge of HTML. They'll even show you how to get your site listed and ranked by the major search engines.

One of these services, in particular, stands out, because of the additional information and training you receive when you subscribe to the service. Site Build It offers a wealth of information that will teach you internet marketing while you create a web site.

I have written elsewhere about Ken Evoy and the quality of the information that he puts out, usually at a fraction of the price of the competition. The quality of the documentation that comes with SBI is at the same high standard as all of Ken's work.

Rather than re-publish the detailed review I've already written about Site Build It, you can read my review of Site Buildit (SBI) here.

Search Engine Positioning Tools

As you probably know, search engine positioning tools are those handy software packages that will largely automate the task of search engine optimization. Although there are a few packages that will critique the structure of your page as well as the "on page" factors such as your use of key words and phrases, the latter is the focus of the two major SEO tools, Web Position Gold (now out in version 3), and Internet Business Promoter (IBP).

Had someone asked me a few months ago, I would have said that IBP was the preferable package for beginners and advanced users alike. I like its clean and simple interface. A page can be quickly analyzed and compared to the top-ranked pages for a chosen key word or phrase. The reports, however, struck me as almost too detailed.

IBP also allows you to do a quick check on the search engine rankings of your pages, and can compare how your pages rank relative to the top ranked pages for particular key words. It also makes search engine submission a snap, and provides you an extensive list of special interest directories to which you can make semi-automated submissions.

Web Position Gold V2, on the other hand, struck me initially as cumbersome and too complicated for my tastes. That ALL changed, however, with the recent release of WPG Version 3.

WHAT a difference!

WPG now has a much cleaner user interface, and seems to me much easier to use. I found myself zipping through the page optimization process more quickly than I had in Version 2, or in IBP. I LOVE the addition of integrated Wordtracker scanning for key words and phrases.

I always liked the extensive library of support articles that was present in Version 2, and carries over to Version 3. The documentation was once my favorite part of the package. It's every bit as good as before, but now the entire package impresses and pleases me.

WPG Version 3 has become my hands down favorite search engine positioning tool!

Link Exchange Software and Link Popularity Tools

We all know the importance of getting links to our websites. Links can increase our page rank and reputation, and can be a source of traffic in and of themselves. But how do you go about increasing your site's link popularity? Personally, I prefer using link exchange software.

The first such tool that I use and highly recommend is a product called ARELIS. This is a terrific, and easy-to-use link exchange software package that will largely automated your link-building, and improve your link popularity. I use it on most of my websites.

The software builds your link pages for you, using either one of the numerous built-in templates, or a template of your own creation. I choose to use the same page design form my links pages as for the rest of my site, so I simply imported it and created a new template.

ARELIS helps you to find new link partners, email them with a link request, and easily add links to your directory pages just by typing or cutting and pasting the details into the software. There is little or nothing difficult about the program, and I had it up and running and creating pages almost immediately.

A new tool that I've only recently begun to use helps you to get links from sites with high PR. While it performs many of the same functions as ARELIS, this software goes several steps further. The developer provides a database of 5000 sites which have both high PR values, and an active linking campaign. You select from one of the many categories, query the database, and get a list of sites for your consideration.

The real value in this package, besides the well-organized database, which is updated monthly, lies in the fact that in addition to being able to sort potential link partners according to PR, you can also sort them according to the "value" of a link from one of their pages.

A mathematical formula which takes into account both the PR of the page and the number of outgoing links on it allows you to determine the approximate PR contribution to your pages from each prospective link partner.

I love this link popularity tool! I used it to get about a dozen link exchanges going with some high PR websites, with startling results. The site I was seeking links for was a new one, with low traffic, and a PR of 0. The next quarterly PR update occurred a few weeks later, and I was astounded to see my PR jump to 5! While I can't be certain that the new links were solely responsible, I really have no other explanation for the huge jump in PR.

After I've had a chance to use this link exchange software some more, I'll be posting a more complete review of it at my website.

Finally, one free online service in particular deserves mention.

Value Exchange is designed to put webmasters in contact with others whose site themes are complementary. You sign in to the service and describe your site theme and key words, and receive emails as the system finds other sites in its registry that match yours for theme and key words. You then email the other webmaster to request a reciprocal link. While the service is more time-consuming than the semi-automated linking provided by the two pieces of software above, it is also free, and definitely worth looking at.

Good luck in your link-building campaigns!

Introducing Myself

Since this is my first post on this new blog, I thought I should take a moment to introduce myself to anyone who might stumble upon it.

In addition to being a retired Neuropsychologist turned Harley mechanic, I'm the webmaster at a small, but growing (six, and one in the oven) family of websites devoted to internet marketing and making money online. Most of my sites are informational, but I do have a blatantly commercial site, too ... my online ebook and software store at www.best-biz-builders.com/

That site features the "best of the best" in internet marketing ebooks and software. In the past few years, I've read, reviewed, or seriously looked over literally hundreds, maybe thousands of ebooks and e-marketing software tools, and I feature only the ones that I, myself, would buy or use. The focus of the site is to provide a one-stop resource for people who are just getting ready to start an internet business, or those who need additional information or tools for an existing e-business.

I haven't used everything that is advertised on the site, by any means, but I do post reviews of everything that I buy or take a trial of. I'll be posting many of those reviews here in the coming weeks and months.

I'll also be mentioning the latest articles I've written and published in my online newsletter. I've been hard at work recently learning the nuts and bolts of RSS, and working on my latest site, but both projects are almost complete, so I'll be posting here quite a bit in the coming weeks and months.

I hope my readers find it useful, and find things they can profit from!