People ask me how I can build a web
site with hundreds of pages all by myself. Of course, the answer is that I do a
little bit every week. If you do a page here and a page there, after a year, you
can look back at this large, content-filled site you've created.
I don't know the exact math, but my
site has averaged a little over 4 new
content pages per week over the past year. That does not include the
discussion area (which is somewhere between 500-1,000 HTML pages). But how did I
do it?
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, a page building we go....
An HTML-based newsletter
- A newsletter is a good way to build content while keeping visitors coming back
to your site. If you do a weekly newsletter,
you'll have a page a week. After a year, you'll have added 52 content-filled
pages to your site.
Visitor submissions
- Yes, I cheat on my content. I let my visitors write a good deal of it. How? By
letting them submit their own newsletter articles,
stories, book suggestions, etc. Things were slow in the beginning six months,
but my site now boasts some of the largest subject-specific libraries of
visitor submitted work anywhere on the Internet. Currently, we're averaging 1
to 3 "published author" submitted newsletter articles, 3-4 stories,
and a good number of general visitor information submissions/suggestions. Most
of the
work involved is running spell checker and copy/paste.
Yahooesque
- Make a resource center of related pages with descriptions for each link
listed. Surfers want easier ways to find what they are looking for.
The big boys can't possibly do as well of a job as a dedicated researcher
(like yourself). Make the best darn resource center for your subject on the
Internet. I guarantee you'll be able to fill page after page of content and
have visitors thanking you for the service. Hint: Don't just link to another
site's main page, link to actual content pages. This saves people a step or
two of work.
Brainstorm
- Sit down and come up with ideas for new pages and sections. Ask some friends
to think of ideas. No idea is a dumb one. You can never have too much
information on your site.
Keep pad and pencil handy - When I come
up with an idea, I don't wait for the
computer. I jot it down before I forget. I have a running list of newsletter
and content page ideas, as well as brainstorm ideas, and I keep ideas which
got the ax.
Listen to visitors
- Many of the pages on my site come from visitor
suggestions or questions. I ALWAYS listen to my visitors. I thank them for their
input, answer their questions, and write the idea down on my pad of paper for
further consideration. As sections are added, the questions come less and less
often. By the way, do you make it easy for visitors to give their feedback? Is
your e-mail address or link to feedback form on every page?
Look at your competition
- I am NOT suggesting you steal your competitor's
content. That is a violation of their copyrights. However, ideas cannot be
copyrighted. Steal their ideas - fill it with your own better content. (I
believe it's called Microsofting :-)
Other media
- Most newspapers and magazines are usually happy to let you use their articles,
etc. if you provide them with the correct credit and possibly
a link. Don't forget to get permission BEFORE you use their works.
Discussion areas
- If you can attract some knowledgeable or interesting
visitors, they can create their own targeted, informative content. Don't rely
on the accuracy, however, and be prepared to prune the deadwood.
Grab some freebies
- The web is filled to the brim with free stuff - guestbooks, counters, games, chat rooms, cgi scripts, search engines, etc.,
etc., etc. Usually the content can be created with some simple copy/paste in
an HTML page and it's ready to go.
Summing it up...
Great web sites aren't built in a day
and neither is their content. It takes
patient, creativity, and one page at a time.
