Beginning a Niche...Ideas and Advice Please

[Zoikster]

Okay, I have a niche in mind, and even a template to go along with it. How to implement the site is a little daunting. I need a list of things to do and I was wondering if you could help me with that. Here is what I was thinking. So far I have the template. I have not purchased the domain, or the hosting yet. Should I customize the template and get all of the content I can for the website before I get the domain?

I've allready started playing around with graphics and what not. Now for the other question. My niche is going to be kids stuff. That means toys, diapers, strollers, ....and so on the whole works. Now the website is going to be kind of like an online store, so if I put Wal-Marts and Targets products on it...how should I approach the site? Like on the first page when I introduce the site....how should I let them know what kind of site it is. I do have ideas for content for it as well : Lullabies, toy recalls, maybe even some kids games they can play.

Do you think the approach I am taking is a good viable one? Also if you have any ideas, thoughts and sugesstions on the web template I have chosen please feel free to comment. http://www.boxedart.com/phpshop/info.php/mp_/15484

Thanks,
Jason

[niallr]

Hi Jason,

There's a lot of questions to answer in your post but I'll give it my best shot

1. Get a domain up and online as soon as you can. Many people wait until they have the perfect site all prepped and ready before uploading a single page. The sooner you have any content online the better. Obviously don't put up trash or an "Under Construction" page. Even if you can get 2 or 3 pages of decent content online you're already in the game.

2. Don't buy a dashed domain name. If you're having trouble getting a domain without hyphens let me know and I'll give you some suggestions to get around this.

3. Fancy designs and graphics don't make sales content does. Don't stress about the graphical elements of your site too much. Do have a nice header graphic of course but don't delay your progress based on this.

4. Have you checked keywords for your niche? If not then you need to. Don't make keywords the main focus of your site but do create a keyword list that you can refer to. Wordtracker is still pretty much the best place to do this.

5. The approach for sites like this is normally to have maybe 5 - 10 main "product" pages and then lots of article pages beneath that. For example a product page might 'Kids Lullabies' and an article page later on could be "Finding free lullabies for your kids". Does that make sense?

6. Hosting. There's a few good hosts I use so if you want me to recommend some then let me know. You won't need anything fancy - reliability is far more important than fancy sales pages. Always check your prospective hosts uptime. SO important!

The main thing is to not spend all your time planning and thinking. Get writing. Create 5 pages and get them online. Submit an article to 5 or 6 good directories. Days later you'll be getting your first bit of traffic. Add more content. A week or so later submit another article to a few good directories (again let me know if you need tips there).

What I do with new sites now is I open up a Notetab document (get it it's free btw) and create a huge list of all the ideas I have for a given site. This would consist of blog posts and names for all the articles I'll write later on. Then I'll just go through the list as I create content over the coming months for that site and tick my ideas off the list.

Hope that helps and hopefully you're creating your first page by the time you finish reading this

Niall

[Dan Reinhold]

[niallr]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the feedback on the post - very much appreciated

I'd have to comment on one part. Dashed domains are old news I'm afraid. The recent Google update and their change to the BigDaddy system/servers means that dashed domains simply won't carry much weight anymore.

Colin McDougall, Andy Williams and Michael Campbell have all confirmed this with testing. Seen the results myself alas

The future is in branding, happy visitors and mailing lists

Be good

Niall

[Zoikster]

Thanks for your responses. I printed them out, and they have helped me tremendously.

[its_me_shaners]

Id suggest investing in Ros's book she covers allthe areas you're asking about!! plus more, much much more

[Zoikster]

I've bought the book and read it through hundreds of times. Don't get me wrong it is a fantastic book, and my inspiration to do this. When you are a complete noob, some of the steps in the book can seem so vague, and I still find a lot of my questions unanswered. As for that being said, the book has defintiley set me off to a great start!

[Dan Reinhold]

You're right!

This kind of stuff (most online business stuff, actually) requires most folks to reach an "Aha!!" moment before they fully understand.

Keep pluggin'...it will happen.

[mogsta22]

It is a great book. A real blueprint. Now ask the specifics if you are stuck.

mogsta

[connectingrainbows]

[niallr]

Hi KC,

The one answer I always have for that question is amazon.com. They didnt go for buybooksonline.com or whatever. They built a brand which in the long run would serve you much better.

That being said if I can get a keyword into a domain name without overdoing it then I will but I'm looking to shorten my domains as much as possible these days. Shorter is just easier for people to remember and easier to manage in terms of site development etc

I'm avoiding dashed domains for the same reason although I do have two domains with a single dash in them that I'm keeping simply because of their PR and the number of incoming links to them. All domains with more than a single hypehn are getting dumped and replaced.

So to answer your question yes include a keyword if appropriate but avoid the gardenandpatiodesignguide.com situation and definitely avoid garden-and-patio-design-guide.com.

Hope that helps.

Niall

[connectingrainbows]

Yes! Thanks as usual!