Why You MUST Have A Website!

There are many ways to earn money online – a quick look at Youtube searching for “Make Money” will show you dozens of them… and they all look enticing. With promises of thousands of dollars in just days. Some people will actually show you a method they used … but you miss the fact that they have thousands of subscribers to push their affiliate link to.

Many of the methods you’ll see involve taking YOUR creative content – and putting it on another website, such as Youtube, Tiktok, Facebook, etc. Why would you give your hard work to someone else to control? Read the fineprint – you’ll discover that your writing, your videos, your photos – will no longer be yours – but owned by some faceless entity that cares nothing about you.

By creating your own website, everything you publish is yours – no-one else has any claim on it, and you can move it to a new website anytime you want. It’s yours. And more importantly – your content will continue to earn you money for months and years to come. If you post an affiliate link on Pinterest, for example – you’ll need to develop a daily routine of posting – because old content simply isn’t shown anymore. Ditto with Tiktok, or Instagram. Youtube is somewhat better – with some videos enjoying many years of viewing – but the problem still remains – it’s no longer owned by you.

Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook – and many others – are better used when you have a website foundation that you can point your readers/viewers to… Keep in mind that many of these social platforms are used for entertainment, not for answering problems. Few people search Youtube for a video on how to ease their financial woes – but many many many people will do a Google search to solve their problem.

Reader Intent – Make It Easy On Yourself!

When doing affiliate marketing – the goal is really a simple one – someone is going to purchase something… All you need to do is insert yourself into the chain. Instead of

Customer – Purchase.

You want to change the process to be just slightly different… you want to insert yourself:

Customer – Your Review & Affiliate Link – Purchase.

Now sadly, most people aren’t looking to buy something on most social platforms, such as Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest, Tiktok, Instagram… you get the picture. They aren’t looking to buy – but can be persuaded to buy if something catches their interest. Many people earn money this way – but it’s not easy to do. You’re fighting an uphill battle to get their interest.

Far easier is to create content on a website you own that answers questions people ask. If you found my website by searching for “Supplementing My Social Security”, for example, then you already have intent – you want a method to earn extra money in your retirement years – as I’m doing. How much easier is it to sell a solution to someone with a problem than it is to sell to someone watching Tiktok videos to entertain themselves?

When you position yourself to benefit from people searching for answers – and willing to pay for solutions – you’ll find it much easier to earn money… This explains why building a website is the superior way to earn money online – you’re targeting people who are actively searching for answers to their problems – problems they are willing to buy answers to…

This also explains why I’m insistent that you stick with Fitness/Health and Making Money Online niches – these are areas where virtually EVERYONE can empathize … who doesn’t want to earn more money? Who is satisfied with their weight and general fitness?

If I live long enough – I’ll make money from people not yet even born – my written content is mine, it’s on my website, and will continue to influence people for many years to come. As I’ve chosen a niche in a field that virtually EVERYONE is interested in, I’ll have no lack of interested readers…

I can write content and place it anywhere online (and even make money with it!) – but a website is the only realistic way to find people who have expressed an INTENT to buy… you can’t easily do this on social platforms – they are geared to entertainment, not the solving of their problems.

Finding people who have an intent to buy, or a problem to solve – is the easy way to earn affiliate income online.

Is It Hard To Create A Website?

My first website was created on notepad – writing with HTML elements – and I was constantly looking up HTML language to get the website to look like I wanted it to look. There was no-one to ask for help – my trusty HTML books were all I had – It was not easy at all. But in today’s world, you can simply purchase Web Hosting, click a few links to load WordPress, and BANG! You have a website. It may not look exactly the way you want it – and you’ll spend a great deal of time researching themes to tailor the site to your liking – but it’s quite easy to do. It’s literally done with your finger clicking mouse buttons!

And the amount of help available today is lightyears beyond what was available in the 1990’s. Today – when I’m having an issue with a block theme, I just head over to Youtube, and watch someone explain it to me. I spotted one video on Youtube that was an 8 hour long video on creating a website from scratch – completely free to watch and learn from.

There’s no barrier at all to anyone today for creating a website. A website that will be able to reach millions of people around the world. And earn you a full-time income. All that’s required is a little bit of money, a lot of time, and more patience that you believe possible.

Types of Websites…

Website Builders

Website builders are sites like WordPress.com, Wix.com, Web.com, Squarespace.com, and many others… These sites can get you started for free, and you can literally have a website up and running within an hour or two. But *they* control your content management system, not you. They combine hosting with managing your content.

Website Builder Pros:

Extremely easy to use – even for absolute beginners
Very affordable (free, even!)
No coding knowledge required
Includes templates & themes

Website Builder Cons:

Rather limited functionality.
Pay as you go for advanced features (high cost).
Not as customizable as a real website.
Limited SEO features.
Quite limited in the number of available themes & templates.
Often can’t get a real domain name (or it costs extra).

A Real Website

This is a simple separation of function – instead of having a hosting company try to build your website with website building blocks – you’re going to let the hosting company do what hosting companies do best – simply providing the servers and Internet for your website.

Pros:

Far more flexible and powerful.
Unlimited templates & themes to chose from.
Can be moved to another hosting company easily.
You have complete and total control.
Much better SEO for search engines.

Cons:

More complex to set up.
Requires purchase of a Domain Name.
Advanced features may require some knowledge of coding.

All in all – a real business needs a real website – while website builder sites are far better suited for hobbyist, clubs, or similar non-commerce sites. It does take a little more effort to set up a real website – but not by much. The advantages of a real website far outweigh the benefits of a website builder site. I recommend buying your domain name, hosting, and CMS separately, and putting together a real website.

Trust me, putting together a real website will require work, but it’s not difficult in today’s world, where precise answers to any question you can raise is just a Google or Youtube search away.

The Three Components Of Every Website:

Domain Name:

Your domain name is like your address for your home – it’s how anyone online can find your exact Website. Traditionally, there are the following TLD – Top Level Domains:

.com stands for “commercial” and is used by businesses of all sizes. It is the most popular TLD in the world.
.org stands for “organization” and is used by non-profit organizations, charities, and other non-commercial entities.
.net stands for “network” and is used by businesses and organizations that provide internet services.
.gov stands for “government” and is used by government agencies.
.edu stands for “education” and is used by schools, colleges and universities.
.mil stands for “military” and is used by our American military forces.

While these have been the traditional TLD’s – there are now a multitude of others, such as .name, .travel, .biz, .info, .jobs and many others… stay away from them.

There’s only one TLD you should use, and that’s .com. It’s the most respected and expected domain. When I tell friends to go to my website, I don’t want them to land on a .com that isn’t mine!

Shorter is better than longer – and many excellent domains are now available that had once been used by others – even though many good ones get snapped up and offered for high prices. CheapAffiliateMarketing.com isn’t the best possible domain name – but perfection is the enemy of good, and I selected it rather quickly based on the opportunity to own both the domain name, and the Gmail name.

Yes, it’s nice to have a Gmail account with the same name – but no, it’s not a necessity. If you can – do it, if you can’t, don’t worry about it.

Hints for finding a good domain name:

Keep it short and simple. A short and simple domain name is easier to remember and type, which means people are more likely to find you. It’s a good idea not to exceed two to three words.
Use keywords. Relevant words help users find you in a search and recognize what you do at a glance. Keywords can include what you do or offer (like “coffee” or “cleaning”), or even your location.
Avoid hyphens, numbers, and doubled letters. Hyphens, numbers, and doubled letters will make a domain name difficult to explain to someone. Misspelled words or words that can be spelled multiple ways are also bad.
Check the availability. Before you register a domain name, make sure it’s available. You can check the availability of a domain name using a domain name registrar.
Be creative – Think of some of the all-time famous websites: Amazon, Google, Facebook< Pinterest, Tiktok – none of these are names that one would think to use.
Stay Away From Brands – A good way to lose your site to a lawsuit is to try to name it NikeLove.com, or McDonaldsDiet.com.

If you have an unusual name – that can be a surprisingly good domain name, unfortunately for me, my name was taken long ago before I considered using it. Look also to science fiction – I find good inspiration for domain names there. If you speak another language, that can also be an inspiration.

But the worst possible domain name is better than no domain name at all, so don’t strive for perfection at the cost of a merely good name.

Hosting

To start out with – simply select a host provider that offers the most memory & features for the amount of money you want to spend. I would not even consider a hosting package that didn’t allow me to create multiple websites on the same hosting plan. Many hosting plans will also cover the first year cost of your domain name, so look out for deals like this.

I’m currently running websites on three different hosting plans, but the one I’m using for this website is currently my favorite, Hostinger.

Your Content Management System

You can’t simply toss a few hundred or a few thousand words at the Internet – and hope something happens… there has to be a method to parse your words into what the reader sees on the screen – this bit of coding magic is called a “CMS” – or Content Management System. There are many on the market – many free, and some that cost money.

But arguably the best one is free – and the only one you should consider when starting out – WordPress. According to recent stats, nearly half of all websites in the world are using WordPress.

Now, I’ve used Drupal, I’ve used Dreamweaver, Blogger, GetSimple CMS, but by far the best and most powerful has been WordPress. Nothing else even comes close. Most hosting companies will install WordPress for you with just a click or two – so you don’t have to manually install it (As I had to do years ago…)

Your Website: The Key To A Secure Financial Future

I’ve given you a great deal to think about in this post – and I hope that you understand that although creating a website isn’t easy – there’s so much available resources that actually turn a difficult job into something fairly easy.

Your website will provide financial security for you for years to come – but it takes work and dedication – and most of all, patience – for financial security in a digital age.