Web Design To Make Money Online

Web Design To Make Money Online
Awesome web design does not guarantee value

I know from experience that designing a site that looks totally awesome but does not engage the principles of search engine optimization will be of no value to you or your client. Why do people want websites anyways? People do not venture onto the World Wide Web in order to remain obscure and anonymous. I have made many websites under the direction of company officials, even marketing “specialists” who are concerned only with wowing their superiors. They want Flash, swooping, flaming logos, dancing menus and wild color schemes. These designs do indeed wow the client and I get paid. Two weeks later I get “the call.” Hey Norm, why can’t I find my website on Google. It looks great but what’s the point if no one is going to see it.

The real gurus of creating valuable websites


In my search to learn how to create real value for my clients I have discovered the principles of on site seo and off site seo. Due to my unwillingness to pay for stuff I believe I can learn on my own, I’ve been able to avoid the labyrinth of scam artists and the minion of schisters who attempt to lure you in with impotent free guides that are no more than elaborate sales pitches to their paid for services. This mindset has brought me to a mere handful of authentic gurus in the make money online niche. Of this handful there a few that I really enjoy and that I believe are genuine and have started their personal sites simply because they love what they’re doing, making money and helping other people. These guys are giving it away, well, most of it anyways, there needs to be a little cross pollination but that’s easy for a busy bee like me. Of the 37,600,000 web pages that target the words “make money online” these are the ones who do in fact actually make money with their websites and I would like to introduce you to my two favorites. In doing so I would also like to demonstrate a couple of the principles of what they teach and attempt explain how important these concepts are if you intend to be of any lasting value to your clients as a web designer.

The first guy is Grizzly Brears who teaches how to make money online … for FREE. He is NOT lazy ;-), a great writer and lives in the middle of nowhere though once you find him he’s everywhere. He’s like the godfather of making money online for the average guy. If you want to make money with a website and don’t know where to start, grab a cup of coffee, no, make that several pots of coffee and go to his make money online for beginners blogger blog and read everything. It will take you a year and a half but it will be well worth the while.

Court Tuttle is also at the top of the heap. His internet marketing school is an enormous site stuffed with all the info you could possibly need to start yourself a bonafide business online. His Keyword Academy teaches things like how many links does it take to get ranked #1 in Google and how to choose a profitable niche subject for a blog… for FREE. As a matter of fact I recently got a call from his partner Mark Butler, an expert in commision sales, who had some inspiring advice for me and this website.

These guys are all very approachable, genuine, and they know what they’re talking about. Don’t pass up the opportunity they have given you by offering valuable information for free. The same information that “professional” companies are charging $100 to $300 AN HOUR for.

Grizzly Brears blogger blog, make money online for beginners, is a butt ugly, free blogger sub-domain blog that uses black text on white background, default blue link and title colors and has no images, yet it is at the top of page one in the Google search engine results for most, if not every one of his target keywords. Obviously, being pretty has nothing to do with being prevalent on the internet. Grizzly understands SEO, that’s why he gets traffic and that’s why he makes money.

What’s their secret? There is no secret. Optimizing a web page for a keyword is just the set up, the real juice is in the links that point back to the site from the outside. Take notice of how I linked to my heroes’ websites. I didn’t use their names, I didn’t use a URL, I didn’t use “click here” or “check it out”, instead I used their target keywords. I linked the words “make money online” and “internet marketing”. Search engines see this as a show of authority, that those sites are indeed about the words I used to link to them.

So what the FiretrUCK does this have to do with web design

A good designer creates nice lookin websites, a great designer creates nice looking websites that will be valuable to his/her client. Arriving at a balance between an awesome design and a properly optimized website remains a challenge to be worked out with each new project. If Flash is a must there’s always the way of the backlink but this can be very time consuming and I have yet to convince a client the value of this technique. Some take it half way and get some links but they usualy end up using the URL or someones name or the infamous click here. Most don’t even know what keywords their website targets or how to go about finding which ones they should target. That being said, I feel pretty darn lucky to have found the real gurus of the make money online niche and are benevolent enough to give away such valuable information.

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4 Responses to “Web Design To Make Money Online”
Paul Norton Says:

December 16th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Norm you make a great point regarding website conversions. Just building a pretty site isn’t enough these days. You need to add components of SEO, you must ensure your navigation is clear, and you have to ensure that death by click is minimized by maximizing the utilization of contact methods. You need search engine friendly, conversion friendly, aesthetically pleasing pages. This is not an easy task.

Norm Says:

December 16th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Thanks Paul, your site is quite awesome and very well optimized. And thanks for giving this blog its first legitimate comment!

Grizzly Says:

December 17th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Hi Norm,

Legit comment #2 coming up. Lol

Thanks for that wonderful recommendation - you’ve almost given me a swollen head! Court and Mark do indeed know their stuff and I’m proud to call them friends.

Your article leaves little doubt that you understand the concept of SEO and that it can work in conjunction with website design - most seem to think that it’s one or the other and that is why most sites fail to capture search traffic - they always choose design over keyword optimization. A little creativity, as you have shown here, can produce both results. The only thing left is to rustle you up some decent backlinks… let’s see what I can come up with!

Thanks again Norm.