If you are even reading this than you are in the right place. I assume you have a website or are thinking about starting one and are wondering if it’s possible to make a profit from it. Well, the short answer is Yes! But ofcourse it all depends on you. If you are dedicated, have some time, and can stay focused, you can do it. I will show you how.

First, let’s talk about search engines. It is estimated that 75%-80% of website traffic comes through search engines. Research shows that only the first 2 pages of results are actually viewed by the consumer. So getting your site on the first 2 pages needs to be your goal. You are probably familiar with search engines already. Maybe you have even submitted your site to Google, Yahoo, or Exactseek. While submitting your site to search engines will usually get your site listed, it can still leave you with virtually no traffic and your site will feel like a ghost town in no time. The ideal scenario would have your site listed at the very top of the page or least in the top 10. Believe it or not, this can be done with little or no experience and at no cost. That’s right, you don’t have to spend $299 to get listed or start Google AdWords at $5 a click to get noticed.

Ok, so I have your attention. Let’s talk about pagerank (PR). This is what determines how popular your site is to the search engines. Web sites with a higher PR will be listed higher in the index. If you were to do a search right now on your competition, the sites at the top of the list have the highest PR. I’m not talking about the sponsored links or the Google ads. We are talking about normal unpaid sites. These sites are a result of what is called Natural Selection. Meaning that they are the most relevant and/or have the highest PR of any other site for that search topic. So how do these sites get to the top of the list? With a little effort and planning.

So let’s get started. The first thing you will want to do is think about keywords. Words that relate to your site or business. These are the words people will type into the search engine looking for you. If your business is related to antiques, you will obviously want to use the word “antique”. If your business is web hosting, you may want the phrase “web host”. That’s right, you can use phrases as well. Once you have a list of keywords written down, think about how you could add these to your site. Maybe write a small article or include testimonials that include the keywords on your site. You can also add these words to your meta section on your code. Some search engines still use that information when they crawl your site. They will however pay more attention to the actual content on your site.

Now that you have a good idea of what your keywords are and have possibly updated your site, we can move on to the next step. Another way to get search engines to rank you higher is through generating links back to your site. I will give you an example. Let’s say you find a high ranking forum on the Internet. If you were to post a reply with your website address in it, guess what? You have just created a link back to your site. This is a link that other people can click on and visit your site. So what happens is that when this paticular site gets crawled by the searched engines, it will find your link and assume you are affiliated with this higher ranking site thus giving you a higher rank. This is especially true if the site contains similar information that your site provides. For instance, if your site sells web hosting and the forum site compares web hosts, the search engine will give you extra points. Another example would be if you place an ad either paid or unpaid on another site. As long as the ad contains a link back to your site, it will work.

Keep in mind that some of these actions will not have an immediate impact on your site. Some things take time. Search engines for example do not check every website everyday. Their are simply too many of them. They generally check sites once in awhile or when a known change is made such as changing nameservers or submitting a site. This would not only apply to you, but also the sites that have links back to you. Another known issue is with what they call “sandboxing”. It is believed that some search engines will hold you back for at least 6 months before allowing you the PR that you deserve. The purpose for this is to make it difficult for spammers to put out a bunch of coma inducing ad sites or other garbage that might quickly jump to the top 10. Don’t let this get you down, it will just take time. I recently ran a PR estimator on a site I have that said it’s current PR was 3, but in 3 months it would rank 6. This certainly tells you that something is going on.

Another way to get your site noticed is to write an article or “blog” which it is now called. In fact, you are reading one right now. You can create a page on your own or use a program called WordPress for example. You can create a sub-directory under your domain named blog and start writing. What should you write about? Your business ofcourse. Or anything you know about that might be relevant. You are sharing useful information to the public and advertising your site at the same time.

Ok, so your site is out there and getting noticed, how do you make money? Other than selling your own products, you can make money 2 ways. One is by selling advertising on your site. Why would people be willing to pay you for this? Because your site is at the top of the list through all of your hard work and it is getting lots of visitors. Don’t be surprised if people come to you with offers. It happens to me all the time. It’s a good feeling. Just put a little banner on your site that says “your ad here”. Make a page with your rates and conditions and put the link on the banner. It’s that easy. The other way to make money is to sign-up for Google Adsense. Google will place ads of a size and color that you choose to place on your site. These are click based ads so when someone clicks on an ad, you get paid.

These are the main methods that are in use today for creating traffic and turning a profit. Their are other methods out there but these should give you a firm foundation and the confidence to go further. Good Luck!