The planning comes first. Assemble some ideas of what you would like to do and what you would like to market online first. But wait! Don't just jump in.



Before you even choose a domain name, research the market your idea is targeting. Is there enough of a market to succeed? What is the status of the competition? For a first project, give yourself a break. Don't go up against goliath first time out.

Once you have found one of your ideas to be feasible in terms of market demand and competition, get your keyword list out. If you've researched well, you should know which keywords would go at the top of the list. Write a few pages of content around the keyword that is the most likely to have high popularity and reasonably low competition.

Once you have written some content, and gotten a feel for your subject, think about getting a domain name. You have a list of related keywords, with one of them being the best possibility. Get a domain name with your keyword or keyword phrase embedded. You may have to play with your keyword phrase to get it right and find an available domain name that contains your keyword or keyword phrase.

If you can buy a domain name that has been around for a while, at a reasonable price, that would be a good option. There is the theory, and with some substantial insight, that domain names with a little age are a big advantage with the search engines.

Shop for a hosting account. Don't skimp here. Yes, there is free hosting, but it costs you in the long run. You want your site to be ad free unless they are your own ads, and you need guaranteed uptime, and bandwidth. Your site only has seconds to come up in the browser before the potential visitors clicks away to another fast loading site.

So far, you may not think this is a big deal. That's a newbie attitude. Marketing online takes planning and work to succeed. These are only the initial steps, but the steps that if left out lead to failure online.

So what have we learned about building profitable home based internet businesses?

1. Make a plan. Write down some ideas for starters.

2. Research your ideas to see if there is enough of a market to be profitable.

3. Check and see how stiff the competition is before you plunge in.

4. Write some content around your best keywords and get a feel for your theme.

5. On the basis of the content written, the popularity of the keywords and the competition, decide what is your best keyword for building your main page around.

6. Get a domiain name with your keyword contained in it.

7. Find a hosting service that has the capabilities and reliability you will need, and the option to upgrade if future needs arise.

There is more work ahead in building a profitable business online.

This is just the foundation, and there is much work ahead in order to be successful online, but without a good thoughtful foundation, you will most likely fail. The internet is the new frontier, and opportunities abound, just prepare and have a viable plan.