When I wrote that guide some 5 or 6 years ago, it was current and relevant.

Well, the Net has evolved, and the book needed a major overhaul and face lift.

Who Is This Book For?

If you’ve already started your site and are getting decent traffic, making money, etc. this book probably won’t tell you much that you don’t already know.

There are some traffic tips that you may find interesting, plus you can take a look at some of my favorite tools that I use to manage and monetize my sites.

This book is really for people who are just starting out, or people who are struggling to find success online.  As the title suggests, it really is the “perfect guide” for people starting their first site or blog.

I focus on a lot of tools and techniques I used to create and promote my sites.  So the book is very personal in that sense.

50+ Pages for Free? Are You Serious?

You may wonder why I would write a 50+ page book and not put a price tag on it.  Well, the book is monetized with affiliate links so I would feel a little strange slapping a price tag on a book with affiliate links.  I’ve always felt this way, which is why I tend to offer my e-books for free.

And speaking of those affiliate links, I’d like to point out that I own and use every single product that has an affiliate link tied to it in this book.   That was an intentional effort on my part.

Offering the book for free was also a marketing decision.  I know that offering something like this will spread virally.  I figured if my old tutorial that was only 5 pages deep spread the way it did, this one should really take flight through the Netmosphere.

Special Offer Inside

There’s also a coupon in the book that first-time website builders may appreciate.  You can only access the coupon through the book.  I do not offer this on my websites.

Download The Perfect Site Guide Today!

Accessing the book is easy.  Just go to http://www.ThePerfectSiteGuide.com and you will be redirected to the PDF file.  (Must have Adobe Reader on your computer.)

I would highly recommend you go to File, Save Page As in Adobe after the book loads so you can save it on your computer.

Feel free to e-mail the book to your friends or offer it as a free download from your site.  (Selling is prohibited.)

Enjoy the book!

P.S.  This book will be updated often, so make sure you come back to http://www.ThePerfectSiteGuide.com regularly to ensure you have the most recent edition.

See more of my videos here and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

They haphazardly throw up content without much regard to how their target audience will interpret it. They’re more concerned with quantity of tasks than measuring the results and seeing the big picture.

Instead of developing their own voice and personality, they often mimic other successful sites. So they end up re-inventing the wheel instead of redefining themselves as a credible Webmaster of niche XYZ.

Robotic Webmasters Focus on Quantity Over Quality

One of the most common questions I receive is “How much content do I need to make money?”

As if there is some golden rule out there that says “Build 150 pages of content and you will begin seeing $3 per visitor.”

Or someone will say, “I created 45 pages but I haven’t made any money yet. How much more content do I need to write?”

First of all, you could build 400 pages of content and never see a dime. Making money online goes far beyond robotically putting up content.

You have to define an audience, understand how your content impacts them, and do your best to meet their needs.

In addition, you have to build credibility by showing you are a trusted source and that you are providing information that can’t be found anywhere else.

Finally, you have to find where your audience is and market to these people. Where you go may depend on your niche, talents, etc.

Social Networking sites may work well for one Webmaster while another may find a gold mine in writing guest articles for another site or blog.

You may be clever enough to master pay per click marketing and someone else may find success building relationships through a newsletter.

Not every Webmaster takes the same approach to marketing. You have to think outside of the box, experiment and find what’s best for you and your site.

Don’t feel you have to take the same approach as those who’ve come before you. The Net is changing fast. What worked in 2006 may not work as well today. You have to discover what works with your talents, site goals, etc.

It’s your job to stay abreast of the latest marketing strategies and discover ways to apply them to your site or blog. Remember, this is a business, so these are things you must do if you want to thrive online.

Robotic Webmasters Have Trouble Coming Up With Content

This often happens when a Webmaster is not passionate enough about their topic. They find similar articles on the Web and paraphrase them into their own words.

This may be OK for the first 5-10 articles, but this gets boring after awhile because the person is obviously not into the topic.

So they end up with another personality-less site with no voice and no unique spin because they don’t have a personal attachment to the topic.

Another reason robotic Webmasters have trouble coming with content is they don’t take the time to define a specific audience, or they try to appeal to everyone and end up appealing to no one.

When you’ve defined who your site is directed to, you shouldn’t have to wonder what to write about. Anytime someone asks me to give them advice on what to write about I know they are taking a backward approach.

You don’t write content and then hope people will find it useful. You define who you are trying to reach with your site and make sure it meets their needs based on what you’ve defined.

As you develop traffic, you’ll begin getting feedback from your readers and that will further define the questions, problems and issues you may want to address. This will help you produce even more useful content down the road.

You may discover along the way (as I did) that your content is off-target. That’s OK. That’s all part of the process, my friend. Take what you’ve learned and work to make your site better.

Robotic Webmasters are Overly Obsessed With Small Details

When people don’t understand the big picture of Internet marketing, it’s easy to get sidetracked on little things that don’t matter as much. For example…

How long do my articles need to be?

Perhaps the important question to ask here is, “What is the goal of this article and how much do I need to write to get my point across and make it useful?”

An article should be as long as it needs to be. And of course that will vary depending on the situation, goal of the article, etc.

Some articles need to be longer to get the point across. Others can be shorter. But the point is, don’t stress over size or character length. Focus on the usefulness in relation to your audience.

While there are certain steps you must follow as a Webmaster, if you find that you performing the same tasks over and over again with no results, perhaps you need to step back and look at the big picture.

1. Have you clearly defined an audience?

2. Is your audience definition narrow enough?

3. Will your content have a direct impact on your audience’s needs?

4. Does your site look as if it wants to inform/help or are you bombarding your visitors with ads?

5. What can you do to set your site apart from the competition?

6. Are you focusing more on quantity than quality?

7. Are you trying to mimic someone else’s successful idea or do you have your own path?

8. Are you interested enough in this topic to remain creative and motivated?

9. Do you challenge yourself to think outside the box in terms of marketing your site?

When you can answer these questions precisely, developing a useful site and writing content becomes much easier and less robotic.

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While there are some repetitive tasks involved with owning a website, it’s the creativity and thinking outside of the box that is going to set you apart from your competition and make you successful.

If your site is a year old with 150 pages of content and you still only have 10 visitors per day, something needs to be adjusted. Step back and answer the 9 questions above and see which ones need attention.

Robotic Webmasters have short lives because their batteries die quickly. They start out full-speed ahead completing task after task, writing article after article, submitting to directories and social networking sites as if on queue.

If you want success out here, you cannot be a robot. Robotic Webmasters have no emotional attachment to their sites and often perform tasks as if they were programmed, while not seeing the big picture.

Step outside your box. Make sure the goals of your site are clearly defined and look for creative ways to market. Remember there several ways to make it to the top, so if your methods aren’t working don’t be afraid to try something new.

Being successful online takes more than robotically publishing content, submitting to various sites and waiting for results.

You have to be proactive, creative, take risks and you can’t be afraid to fail. And last but certainly not least…

Enjoy yourself.

From choosing the right web host, deciding on the perfect niche to selecting the right domain name and then totaling up all the costs involved.

Whew! It can be intimidating at first. So below you’ll find my responses to many of the common questions/concerns I’ve received from people wanting to create their first website.

There Are Too Many Sites On My Topic

Obviously you want to avoid very broad topics (i.e. employment, kids or sports, etc.) and stay away from heavily saturated niches like making money online, etc. If you’re looking at topics that are too broad, then of course you’re going to encounter a lot of competition.

But if there is a well defined niche you want to go after, don’t back off just because you’ve noticed a handful of sites that exist on the topic. A little competition is a good thing and will keep you on your toes.

Just because someone else has a site on a topic you’re interested in, doesn’t mean you won’t be able to rank high enough to receive good traffic in Google, Yahoo, etc. If your site becomes a hit with your audience, they will link to you voluntarily and this will help your search engine rankings.

You can actually use competition to your advantage by improving upon what your competition has already done. Think about facts or features they didn’t include that you could add to your site. There’s almost always a better way of explaining or presenting something, so capitalize on that with your site.

I Am Not Good With Computers!

I hear this one all the time, and it’s the most common reason people hesitate to get started or outsource their website design completely.

Now I’ll admit. I’ve always been pretty comfortable around computers. I’ve had one in my house since 1986 and before the Internet became popular, I was usually sitting in front of the monitor, mesmerized by some role-playing game.

However when it comes to creating websites, I’m not so sure much of that experience came in handy, other than being familiar with the general computer functions (opening and closing programs, saving, etc.)

So my point is, even if you aren’t particularly savvy with computers, that doesn’t mean you’ll have no chance at success with a website.

Now don’t get me wrong. You do need some levels of patience with computers and feeling intimidated by the machine is not going to make the website creation process fun. You will need a basic understanding of folder and file structures on your computer, but that’s pretty easy to pickup with time.

So don’t sell yourself short just because you aren’t computer savvy or you don’t have a computer-related or Web design degree. I certainly don’t and I’m managing pretty well for someone who is completely self-taught on website creation and management.

With programs like Dreamweaver and CoffeeCup at your disposal, along with templates to help get your design started; you can learn enough to create a decent website without being particularly computer savvy.

I Don’t Know Enough About Anything to Make an Interesting Website

When I hear people say that, I feel they aren’t digging deep enough or don’t fully understand the concept of generating money from an information website.

We all have something we are passionate about or at least have a great deal of knowledge on. And you don’t have to stick to tutorial-based sites. It can be something comedic or fun.

For example, say you love reality TV. You could create a site or blog that rants about the ridiculous things that happen on your favorite reality shows. You could make it funny or sarcastic and spice it up with your own personality.

With the help of Google ads and other entertainment-related affiliate programs, your site can become a money-making machine if you can generate enough interest.

So don’t take the process so seriously as you brainstorm. If you don’t have a special skill or hobby you can write about, think about your day-to-day life. What are you always talking to your friends and family about? What bugs you? What makes you laugh?

Or is there something you’d like to know more about? Often times people build sites on topics they’ve recently experienced and then they research it to learn more about it.

When I created flat-stomach-exercises.com, I wasn’t a fitness guru. (I’m still not.) I experienced some tummy flab issues as I entered into my late 20’s, so I picked up a few books along the way and began educating myself.

As I learned about the topic, I began to write articles for my website in my own words. So I became enough of an expert to create an informative site based on what I learned. You can take this same approach if you are struggling to find a topic.

I Don’t Have Much Time To Work On My Site

The great thing about owning a website is you have the flexibility of working on it when you want. That being said, if you don’t have a lot of time to invest into building and managing your site then don’t expect miracles when it comes to making money (if that’s your goal).

You definitely get out of this what you put into it. And while I would love to say I only work 2 hours per week on my site, I’d be lying to you.

I work hard, but the beauty is I love what I do. And when you enjoy the process, you don’t mind spending the time building, managing and promoting your site.

If your site is information-based, you’ll find it may require less maintenance once the traffic starts coming in and your site is more established. For most of my sites, I can leave for months if I want and still generate income because the traffic levels are high enough to keep the money coming in.

I no longer have to devote the kind of time I used to, however I had to work hard to get to that point and that meant devoting several hours per week until my site reached that desired level of success.

Nothing in life is free or easy, so if you want success, you have to put in the effort and time.

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Be sure to download my free book, The Perfect Site Guide.  It will cover the basics of choosing a topic, creating and marketing your site or blog.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the technicalities of how to create a website…

How do I create a chat room?

How am I going to setup a membership area?

How exactly am I going to make money?

How do I accept credit card payments from my site?

Sound familiar?

Even though these may be crucial components to your website, they don’t mean a thing if you do not know how to attract a targeted audience who wants to participate in the site you worked so hard to create.

THE most critical phase of any site is the planning process in the very beginning. And planning doesn’t just involve the technical aspects of how things will work and are setup.

It’s imperative that you sit down and think about the kind of person you want to attract, and how you will get them to find you.

Unfortunately building a website doesn’t guarantee an automatic influx of interested visitors. People don’t just stumble upon your site like they do a store on a busy street.

Sites become popular on the Internet because they are recommended. The recommendations may come from word of mouth, blogs, social networking sites and even search engines.

Yes, search engines recommend sites too. The reason you see a site ranked on the first page of Google for a particular search is because Google knows the site has numerous links from other sites, blogs, etc. all over the Web in association with that keyword phrase. So Google recommends it to you as a relevant search result.

Something about your site has to attract your audience’s attention, meet their needs and provide a service, product or information that isn’t offered everywhere else.

So if you aren’t taking the time to…

1) Plan how you are going to make your site stand out over your competitors

2) Map out the kind of visitor you want to attract and meet all of their needs, wants and interests…

Then it doesn’t matter how much the site costs, how you setup a shopping cart, chat room, how you are going to design your navigation, etc.

Don’t waste your precious time and hard-earned money on all these site enhancements until you have a definite plan. I guarantee it will be worth the extra effort in the end.

I’ve created many sites without a plan, and it’s no coincidence they are no longer around.

If you are expecting a full-time income from your website, expect full-time work. Take it seriously from day one don’t just skip over the planning phase because you’re in a hurry to rake in the money.

How you plan in the beginning is the difference between success and failure in the end.

I’ve created a quick website creation overview to help those who may need an overview of everything involved with the creation of their site.