Well, the Google Wave has been out for a couple months now and I'm still not sure what's so crazy about this thing. Either way, I've got some invites sitting here, if you're interested in joining the crazy crowd and seeing what this new Google product is all about just leave me a line. Try it out and then let me know how it has worked or not worked for you!

My Take on Google Wave

Google Wave isn't all that I had anticipated, or maybe I was expecting a lot. When it was first introduced it showed people communicating and working on projects together. It was like a shared community online to… work on things. So far I have not used it for such. I'm not going to go in details and put out a review as everybody probably sees a different use for this application. Let me know, how has Google Wave changed your life?

I believe Google Wave is one of those web application made to compliment with the Chrome OS that Google will be releasing. The Wave will play a key role in the work and communication aspect for the OS, just like how all their online applications are.

Get a Google Wave Invite

Once again, get an invite – leave a line or message.

Website Name

When I was a younger starting a website or a project was easy. Just come up with a name that I liked and then just purchase the relevant domain after. Today, its not the case, we name websites and projects based on domain availabilities and possibly price. Just to give you a scope there are 112,961,783 active domains currently, with 83,320,335 of that being a .com domain (1). Although the combination of words for domain is near endless, it'll be harder and harder to get the name you want.

It will eventually boils down to resorting to a longer domain name, unique play on words or purchasing pre-owned domains at a premium pricing.

The Design

Once you're ready to start designing your website you'll have to put into perspective how big or small to design it. Just because you have a 14" or a 36" monitor doesn't mean that everybody does as well. As of January 2009 57% of detectable users are displaying at higher than 1024×768 px. There are 36% users at 1024×768 and 4% less than that (2).

Understanding your target users is very important. If you cater to teenagers than a higher percentage of your user will end up in the 1024×768+ category. If you cater to an older or well aged audience then you'll probably have more users in the 1024×768 or below category. If you cater to graphic artists and designers then you most like have a much higher resolution to work with.

I tend to use a 1400×1100 canvas for my design and keep content within a 1200×1100 or 1000×1100 box, the remaining area is for the design of the background. Just like shown below:

Color Wise

You shouldn't have to worry too much about colors as 95% of users has 24bit or 32 bit hardware supporting up to 16,777,216 colors.

Developing

The biggest concern that you should have is how the users view your website once its made into HTML. The most recent stats indicate that 47.5% users online are using Firefox and a collective percentage of 37.5% of users are using IE6, 7 and 8 (3). As you can see a significantly outstanding of majorities use Firefox and IE.

When developing offline I like to test and view my scripts in Firefox and IE7. Once done, I like to view it in IE 6 and tweak things. This step should be the biggest tweaking stage. If everything works in Firefox and IE 6 and 7 the probability (and this is not a probability of 1) of it working on other browsers is pretty good.

When I have time I also like to test the page on different machines and different mobile devices to get a glimpse of how its working out.

The Money

With that, lets get to where some of you are truly interested in – the money. Is there money to be made making websites? Yes, but the competition as said before is high. With 112,961,783 active domains and 50 million blogs (detected in 2006) there arena is just too crowded (4). Ask yourself what you want to do and how that can be done in a unique way.

Who to Target

Defining your target market is a key to a good business and marketing plan. Which demographic do you want to be your key audience? Currently 72% of advertisers find it beneficial to target the 35-44 and 25-34 year old category with them making up 29% and 28% of users online, respectively (5). Don't let age be the only determining factor for you though, targeting a common interest amongst a group of users could be a break-through factor as well. This may be people who loves sour candies, office interiors or just residing in the same local area. A combination of criteria may make it more unique for you as well such as people aged 16-24 who likes sour candies or people of aged 35-44 living in the same city.

By detailing and being more specific about your target market may give you a bit of a competitive edge but understand that by adding more criteria to the list you are shrinking the size of your target. Ask yourself, if you have a smaller market to serve can you still sustain? If you sell a product that's $1 and you target 25-34 y/o male residents a suburban area you may not have enough potential clients to survive. Do some math and see where you want to end up, that should give you a scope of how many people you may potential need to target.

Making Money Through Advertisement

Some of you webmasters are planning to make money through advertisement, this maybe through a 3rd party company such as Google Adsense or Adbrite or just handle advertisement internally. You should know that there's still plenty of advertising dollars floating around the internet for you to make, it all just depends if you know how to get it.

Focusing on North American market here, despite the depression and economic downturn organizations are keeping a budget ready for internet advertisement. There's many factors why this is, which is slightly irrelevant here but keep in mind that this dollar amount will continue to grow proportionate to the growth of how many and how often people access the internet on a daily base.

The outlook for 2009 was an 8.9% growth in overall internet advertisement spending which equates to $25.7 billion US dollars. This is a good enough motivation for those who wishes to make a career out of websites and advertisements (6).

I am just so tire right now so I suppose I'll edit and update this article as I go.

1. http://www.domaintools.com/internet-statistics/
2. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
3. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
4. http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/003674.php
5. http://www.eiaa.net/ftp/casestudiesppt/EIAA_Marketers_Internet_Ad_Barometer_2009_PR_Presentation.pdf
6. http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1006813

The concept is very simple, its all in how you manage your website/blog. What is your goal? It doesn't matter if its to share opinions or generate revenue, the thing you need most to keep your site live and you motivated to provide content is traffic. So, manage your site like a business. There are three main elements you should be looking at – the attraction, the product, and the return.

Part One: The Attraction

Assuming you have completed constructing your website and have made it beautiful. The key is to attract people to your site with the right message. There are many ways to promote the message of your site, of course there are the paid methods such as internet advertisements and sponsoring other sites, but these could sum up to be hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. Since you're reading this article I assume you're looking for the cheaper way out. So here it is, I have to warn you though its quite time consuming, there are many ways to get your message out there. Here are some that I believe to be the most effective.

Commenting on Blogs

Commenting on blogs in the same niche as your own is very important for a few particular reason. One of course is to gain so backlinks to your own site. Another reason is that it allows you to create your personality on other sites, where readers are looking for articles like your own. If they like your tasteful comments and inputs they're more than likely to read your articles that you provide. For example, if you have a website that sells fashionable clothes, commenting on fashion sites would be helpful.

Posting in Related Forums

Forums is a great place to find users for your website, because forum users are mainly active internet users that likes interactive contents. Find forums that relate to what your website is about and be active on those forums. Now I'm not saying start 20 threads with your website as the topic and hope to gain awareness, the only thing you'll gain from that is a permanent banning. Interact with users, and post good replies. If the admins permit, have your website linked in your signature.

Directories Submission

Submitting your site to online directories can be a waste of time if you don't plan it out strategically. I know some people who spends weeks submitting to 1000+ directories which maybe as effective as somebody who submits to 100 effective directories. Find ones directories that are reputable and have categories related to your website. Not all directories are free so watch out. If you own a blog, I've compiled a list of great blog directories here for you to start with.

Social Networking

Now a days if you tell your friends and family about your website they may not remember your name and they may not visit even if they do. By sharing your site and what you have to offer over social networking sites, you can reach more people and since the message is digital they may pass it forward for you. Don't be shy about passing the word forward, you may know people who know others that are into what you have to offer.

Article Submission

If you own a blog and you write your own content. Another option for you is to submit your wonderful articles to article directories. They usually have a wide range of readers already and they sometimes provide links back to your site. Do not submit every single article though, just a few good ones now and then to tease the readers. If they like what you write they'll visit your blog and be suprised by how many more great articles you have. Just like movie trailers, usually they don't give out the whole plot to temp you to watch the movie (but there are some that gives it all away).

Part Two: The Product

Now that you have people coming to your site you have to worry about the second thing, the product. It doesn't matter if you attracted 10 billion people coming to your site, if you don't have a good product to offer they won't stay. The first impression is very important, keep your landing page attractive and your intentions clear. When a user first opens your site, what do you want them to see? What do you want them to know? Build a good landing page with the message of what you have to offer, people will stay and look around.

The one thing that most web owners will keep saying is that "content is king", and I truly believe in this. Having good content will keep users on your site longer. The longer a user is on your site, the more likely they'll remember you. What does having good content mean? It means that the content is relevant to what your target market wants to read, hear or know. It also means that your content is consistent with the message you promoted in part one. So in part one your promoting good fashion tips and trendy seasonal advice, but your website only sells clothes then you have not provided good content. Now if you were doing the same promotion, but you sell clothes categories and sorted for seasons and with fashion tips then you're being consistent.

Part Three: The Return

The last aspect you need to take a look at when managing your website/blog is the return. You have incoming traffic, and you have people looking at your site, what you should really think of is if they'll return again. You can't rely on new traffic all the time because it takes a lot less work to retain a current user than it is to gain a new user. If I recall correctly is cost 50% less to retain a customer than to gain a new one.

Commenting

Having a simple to use commenting system allows users to interact with your site, yourself and other users. Users now a days love interactions and will visit more often if they are permitted to participate. When I say simple commenting system, it means minimal information required and possibly no membership either.

Upcoming Content/Offers

Promote what you'll be offering next, so users will mark a time in their head of when to visit back. Some people may visit you once a month but if you keep promoting something good weekly or daily they maybe visiting you more often than they know.

Social Bookmarking

Allow social bookmarking where available or fits. This allows users to mark it in their favourites in which is a list of sites that they'll visit often.

Newsletter

If you offer great content and great deals, offer a newsletter sign up. Its a good way to constantly promote your site to current users and have them coming back often. Newsletter is not easy to manage and maintain so ensure you have the right skills and tools before advancing in this area.

So there you have it, a few tips to increase your traffic all for free. Now there is one aspect I didn't mention even once which is search engine optimization (SEO), because I think SEO is too important to be undermined or overlooked. I'll have another article on that in the future.

1. Blogged

This was a very good directory site. They claim to only take 1 – 3 days to review, possibly an average timing. An account is required to submit anything and they have this Twitter thingy going on in there. I haven't been around but looks crazy. PR 6

2. On Top List

On Top List requires a link back to their website. Now, they have two options either to have a text link back or have an image link back. The image link is a badge they provide you with, which is not too bad since they have a variety of color combinations for you to choose from. The posting on their live site was almost instant which was a plus. Oh, and an account is required for posting. PR 1

3. http://www.blogadr.com/

Very simple. Its free and requires no backlink, no account, and no hassle. Very easy to use, submit and go type of thing. Recommend you to stop by at this one. PR 4

4. Globe of Blogs

This was not the most appealing directory I have ever seen but a directory is still a directory. The most appealing part of this blog is that its a PR 7 site. A backlink image is required, they have a couple to choose from and you must choose from that list. PR 7

5. Spill Bean

This website reminded me of something from "The Ugly Truth", but lets not go there… at least not right now. Spill Bean is more of a directory site but they have a blog section. No account is required but you do need to have a reciprocal link. PR 2

6. Blog Flux

Blog Flux requires you to have an account to submit your blog. Not only that, they require your blog to be at least 7 days old and have a minimum of 5 postings already. Their reasoning is that there has been too many spam postings. I suppose its for everybody's good. PR 2

7. Blog Listing

Nothing much to say about this one except the layout's a little bit messy. Its free with your own choice of having a reciprocal link. PR 5

8. Super Blog Directory

The name says it all… it's SUPER. For its awesome superness this directory requires your blog to have at least 3 months worth of consecutive postings. There were more conditions too but I got a bit sleepy after the second paragraph (sarcasm). This one's not for everybody but if you meet the requirements, go for it! PR 5

9. Blog Top List

Blog Top List requires you to have an account and at least one of two image backlinks. They let you choose which of the two you want on your site and if you put both you score higher on their "good list". PR 1

10. BlogGernity

This site is a bit confusing, but I was able to find the submit button. Its at the very bottom. There's not many categories to choose from when submitting but its sufficient. You do need an account to submit though. PR 6

11. DMEGS

This is another directory site with a blogging section available for us bloggers. Its got a very clean layout for sure. Reciprocal link is required for submission. PR 3

12. Blog Directory.WS

The site was definately easy on the eyes. No account was required and they have a lot of categories for you to choose from. Very easy to use. PR 1

13. Blog Site List

Blog Site List requires you to sign up for an account to submit your blog. The problem was, I couldn't find the login page after I signed up. You'll have to type in the page yourself – login.php. Once you figure that out then you can submit. The categories were hard to see so highlight the page to ease straining your eyes too much. PR 1

14. Blog Dirs

The site was very empty as if there was nothing there, but sometimes this is a good thing. Reciprocal link was required for submissions. PR 3

15. Droool

Very easy to submit to Droool. There wasn't much to it. It requires you to have your RSS and Atom link ready though. PR 1

Here you have it, a list of some blog directories to get you going. I may have missed some valuable ones. Share yours or whatever you have and I'll recompile the list. Note: the PR measuring tools I use has not guarantee of accuracy.

Edit – Added another one:

16. Blog Catalog

Thanks to Renee for giving me a heads up on this one. Large community of blogs and users. An account is required for posting and requires no backlink to them. Definately worth the sign up and checking back often to. PR 6