When you hear about YouTube and MySpace being valued at billions of dollars each, it gets you thinking. Each of these sites was formed around a fairly simple idea. Then you think: “I could have thought of that.” Maybe. But before anyone else did?
If you have a great idea for a website, there are a number of things you can do to ensure it is a success.
Firstly, does it already exist? Do a search on one of the major engines for keywords associated with your site idea, and see if anything comes up. It is unlikely your site will be much of a success if there are already hundreds of sites out there that already exactly do what yours will do. It means increased competition, and less wow factor.
Once you have an original idea, run it past a few trusted friends or family, and get some feedback. You don’t want to be putting time and money into an idea that isn’t very popular. They may even be able to suggest additions or improvements to your idea.
After this stage, you will need to start drawing up a plan. Make sure you include in your plan where your revenue will come from. Make sure there is a market for what you are going to be selling. If it is advertising space, make sure that you plan for inclusion of advertisements throughout the site.
Once you have a clear plan of how you would like the site to work, contact a reputable web development company for a meeting on how the site will be built. They will no doubt be able to suggest ways of implementing your plan more effectively.
Have a set budget and stick to it. If there are elements of your plan that are not 100% necessary, you can always add them on later. Leave them out until you have made enough revenue to justify these additional features. Make sure your budget includes hefty provisions for advertising. What is the point of making a site if no one knows about it? If your idea is mind-blowing enough you won’t need an advertising budget. Word-of-mouth via the web is an invaluable promotion tool and best of all, it is free!
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Why doesn't facebook allow us to have different content for different friends. Some kind of rating system for our posters. It seems that facebook is kind of prude. Being that facebook is an academic community shouldn't it be more open minded? Rather then say no to certain content, a rating system on a post might be a very good thing. A firewall to protect.
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