Developing a Web Site Concept and Why It Matters.

If your desire is to build a Web site business which attracts targeted traffic and actually works for you, as opposed to a site which languishes in anonymity, then this is the place to start.

Developing a concept is a fundamental step in creating a Web site. It provides a framework, upon which you can identify and mine profitable Keywords, create and add content related to your concept and identify the monetization potential of your site.

So where do you start?

If you already have an established business, your site concept is obvious to you. If not you should look to other interests, experience hobbies or job related activities for inspiration, the possibilities are endless, open your eyes and look around for ideas.

Remember that without traffic, you will not generate income

Your best source of targeted traffic will be from the top 3 search engines, this is the reason why developing a themed, content rich site is so important, but how do you recognize the potential for a specific concept?

Demand

A sufficient amount of people must be searching for your site theme or associated topics. This targeted traffic provides the potential for monetization.

Too broad

If your concept is too broad, although a large number of people may be searching for this theme, the competition will be crippling. It will be impossible to dominate the theme of Sport for example. Even a sub-category such as bowling would require such a massive investment in time and money to render it not economically viable, even if the monetization potential was high.

Too narrow

Likewise a concept which is too narrow will not provide enough demand for you to monetize. A Web site dedicated to The St Petersburg Professional Dwarf Tossing League might be a good example of this. An ideal niche which provides reasonable demand and low supply should be identified by studying Keywords associated with a potential concept.

Keywords

Number, demand and supply... How many keywords are available for your site theme and associated topics. Each page of your site should be built around (focused on) one specific keyword or phrase related to your theme. To find keywords related to your concept, how often they are searched for, and how many sites out there contain those keywords (a formula for profitability), visit Word tracker, they provide one of the best keyword research tools available on the internet.

Are there a good combination of high demand, low supply keywords available and are you starting to get ideas for creating content focused on each of those words?

Subject knowledge

If you choose a concept that you know well and that you are passionate about, it will show in the content you create for your site and it won't seem like hard work to keep adding to it. There are subtle differences between sites created with passion and excitement for the content therein and sites which are not... your human reader will pick up on them and assign extra credibility to the former, this kind of pre-selling is very powerful when delivered naturally.

Monetization potential

A great site concept will offer good options for monetizing the targeted traffic arriving at your site. Whether your primary monetization plan is to sell hard, soft or drop ship products through an online store, sell a service, use Adsense or promote affiliate programs, you should assess the potential for monetization in the early stages of formulating a site concept. Creating lots of great content and building a well optimized site is a moot point if it offers no potential for monetization.

And finally

At every stage of the Web site building process, try to relax and have fun. Put yourself in the place of your target audience, sitting in front of a keyboard and revving up Google or Yahoo to start a search... what are they looking for? What approach will appeal to them? What is their demographic? The more you know about your target audience the more likely you are to provide a Web site that will attract the kind of targeted traffic you need for success.