Essential Tool:  A Website

One of the most essential tools that an Internet marketer needs to succeed in their internet home business is a professional Website.  There are several choices.  You can pay to have one professionally developed and spend anywhere from $1,500 – $2,000, or you choose from any number of free “blog” services like Google Blogger/Blogspot or WordPress.com.  They will also host your blog free.  This is not a bad place to get started, if you want to practice putting content on the Internet.

But, if you want to do it right you will need your own Website with your own ‘Business Trade Name,’ or URL (Domain Name).  Even if you went the expensive route and had your Website professionally developed, you would still need to pay for hosting as well as a fee for registering you URL (Domain Name).

Plus, when you own your own Website and Domain Name you are branding you and your business.  You get a professional e-mail account.  This allows you to create your own competitive advantage.  Internet marketing is not about products, it’s about you.  People want to get to know you and you want to develop a positive relationship with your potential clients/buyers/referrals.

My choice, even for someone just getting started is HostGator.  I believe that HostGator is the affiliate marketer’s dream-come-true!  They provide an uncharacteristically high amount of functionality, coupled with unmatched customer service at an extremely reasonable price.  Watch this short video (<4minutes) for a quick introduction to it’s many features.

 

Visit HostGator

So, what did you think?  I did not have the time to fully develop the benefit of  WordPress in my short video.  So, let me briefly explain why I like it so much.  First of all, this blog is a WordPress blog. There are more than enough templates available to allow you to establish your uniqueness on the Internet.  This uniqueness is what helps you achieve your competitive advantage over your competition.  So, why pay someone a large chunk of money to build your website, particularly when you are first getting started. And, like any business owner just getting started, you will really be able to get into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of your business.

Secondly, as you learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to drive more ‘organic’ traffic to your Website from Google, Yahoo and Bing, you will really value your selection of HostGator and WordPress.  WordPress is an extremely popular blog; to my knowledge, the most widely used.  Consequently, there are developers out there who continue to create software and scripts to support it.  These are known as Plugins.  (Special Note:  You will not have access to all the valuable plugins for WordPress is you are using the free WordPress.com account.

One of my favorite Plugins is Platinum SEO Pack (Read More)  Platinum SEO Pack is a free Plugin that allows you to SEO your blog by creating your Title Tag, Description, Keywords and Meta tags(index instructions).  SEO is also something that you pay a professional service to do, but why should you if you can easily do it yourself?

And finally, you can publish as many WordPress blogs on your HostGator account as you wish with their very inexpensive “Baby” account.  As you gain more and more experience, you will no doubt have the need to develop additional websites.  Many of these might be one-page invitations to a product or service you are marketing.  Plus, you won’t have any additional expense with hosting.  You can host unlimited URLs/Domains in your HostGator account!  For an Internet marketer or anyone already involved or just aspiring to have a successful Internet home business, it just does not get any better than HostGator.

Visit HostGator

One final note!  And, I highly recommend this to you.  If you want a great source for constant reinforcement for you business relating to HostGator and all the things you can do with the free tools provided; join the ACME People Search Forum.  You do not have to be a member of ACME People Search to join the Forum.  It is open to anyone who wants to learn about Internet marketing.  Within the Forum, there is a team of experts called Team Gator-Aid.  Here is a link to Team Gator-Aid at the Forum.