Hi. I'm doing research on a new project of mine. I want to create a guide for complete beginners starting up a website. Whether or not you already have a website, or are an offline business wanting to get online, a wanna be internet marketer, or hobby blogger etc, I'm hoping you can help me out. Your ideas and feedback will help me understand what difficulties people face when building their first website. I really appreciate your time and input, even if you only answer some of the questions. Even if you already have a website online, try to remember back. What issues you had, what problems you experienced in the beginning. What specific aspects when creating your website/blog, did you find difficult? e.g. technical, not adequate training, cost, time etc Did these difficulties stop you from getting a website online? What would your website be used for? e.g. small business, internet marketer, hobby blogger etc. Did you find it difficult to find quality, "all in one" complete training for beginners? Did you find it difficult to find affordable training without a monthly fee? Do or did you have problems understanding Search Engine Optimization? Would it be yourself, or your clients that could benefit from an affordable, step by step tutorial how to build a website from scratch? What type of training, or specifics would you like to see in a product showing beginners how to set up and build a website? Thanks again.
If would be unfair to answer your questions since I started before guides, templates, or CMS. But remembering "WAY BACK" to when I started, fear was the main obstacle to overcome. FEAR! That is the biggest obstacle newbies face. There is no lack of guides, the will to learn is lacking. Fear of failure, or hard work, stops most from trying. Many just don't want to spend the time a website takes. Which is good for people like me who create them for a living. Most of my clients are small business owners or artists. They would rather pay someone else to do it for them. Some fear it, others just have their focus elsewhere. Video guides are great IF they have transcripts for those who want reference guides. Integrating the videos into an ebook guide would satisfy both audiences. Offer a free guide to build a list so you can sell them other services. Or just give it away with links inside to your paid offers. Earning comes with LEarning!
Thanks for your input. I'm trying to get as much feedback as possible, so much appreciated. I think the route to take will be producing a super easy guide for complete BEGINNERS to take the FEAR OUT of getting a website up and running. As you say, there are heaps of guides out there. This guide will be an ebook with videos . My goal will be to really cut down on the technical, scary side for newbies, while also providing a fun, but solid training on content creation and SEO.
That was also my biggest stumbling block. Looking back (more than 10 years now) I smile at how much apprehension I used to feel when it became clear to me that getting to the "next level" would require creating my own website. Today I am thankful for my knowledge of HTML and CSS and the ability to hand code a website from scratch... if I had to. But who wants to do that today when WordPress is available. Catherine, there will always be newbies looking for guidance on website creation and SEO, and a product on the subject that combines ebook instruction with video tutorials can be a BIG winner. Judging from your survey questions I'd say you are on the right path. Success and prosperity to you. Hermas
Oh yes Hermas, I agree..thank goodness for WordPress! Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully my training will succeed at overcoming people's fears. This is often the big hurdle stopping people moving forward. I guess in MANY aspects of our lives!
I would have to say some hurdles are not knowing how to create a website, fear, too much information out there, not knowing what needs to be done, crazy computer codes but most of all pushing yourself outside your comfort zone to learn new skills and put some work into it. People need to understand that making money online takes work. Creating a website (even though Wordpress is easy to use) still takes work putting together and understanding how everything operates. It's unfortunate that many like the idea of their own website and making money online but few follow through with it. Especially once they realize work is involved. I think a guide, report or video that is broken down and shows step by step how to put a website together will be very useful for many. One thing I have learned from my online business is that too not assume everyone knows how to do everything. Meaning, if something sounds simple to you don't assume everyone knows how to do it. For example, if you say something like, "all you have to do is copy and paste the information here." Well... what if that person doesn't know how to copy and paste? Now, I understand you can't please everyone but my main point is that if this guide is for the beginner really write it for the beginner and really break it down for them step by step. Simplify it and then simplify it some more. Hope this helps, Kevin
Ain't that the truth! I can't believe how many times I have to say: 'Right Click, Copy. Right Click, Paste." Seems obvious and simple but many have no clue.
I noticed this as well. I actually just finished a video the other day instructing people how to copy and paste and sent it out to my list. I realized how much I copy and paste and was amazed how many times a day I do it and didn't even realize it because after doing it so many times for so many years it just becomes a habit. Since working on a computer involves so much coping and pasting I figured it was a good idea to make this video to send to my list so that way everyone who signs up knows how to do it.
This is really consolidating my ideas about what it needed to help people get started. Thanks Kevin for your detailed information. I will DEFINITELY be including how to copy and paste!!!!
Catherine, I think that if you go through all of the questions that you provided in your original post then you will have a lot of them answered and this will give you an idea of what you need to include in your guide to make things easier for others. If you can go through each experience yourself, your product will become far more powerful.
For me it was also fear.. fear of how my websited looked. At the time I was concerned about the graphics ect.. but then came content and learning all about seo. And Im still learning about it. But now its all about putting out good quality content for the user looking at your site.. this is what google is looking for. Gone are days of spun content pasting plr content on your sites. Good content so that means getting your posts/ or pages shared, liked and tweeted producing somewhat of a viral effect with your site.
Hello Catherine, when it came to building my first website, for me it was that I had to learn html. I then starting doing some research so I can find a training program that can train me on html. I did find a free program right here on the net and it was great training for me. I think everyone should learn html. The basis of it anyway because it will always come in handy. I learned how to link using anchor text, place images and so much more. I love building websites and knowing html is a blessing. I also had to learn how to host a website and I have never looked back. Learning these two things on my own has saved me alot of money. I am so happy that I know these two areas now and it was well worth it. My websites right now are earning me some income. So again, it has been worth it. Wishing you great success with your ebook. Your complete guide in starting a website is well needed. You are definitely on the right page.
Hmmm interesting. I think it might be beneficial to include a segment on basic HTML also, even though WordPress doesn't require coding. Images and anchor text will be included. But as you say, there is always something crop up where basic HTML skills come in handy. Thanks
Most people tend to forget about the on-page SEO, they think just because they know how to build backlinks it's the same way when it comes to on-page SEO. Also the hours needed to maintain a website for it to be effective can cause most people to abandon their sites and move on to something else.
