HTML Code for Forms

Once the FormMail file is in place on your server, all you have to do is create a page with the form code to make it work.
Below you'll find the code for creating a form in which your visitors can fill out and the results will be emailed to your email address.
The form has the following fields:

• Text box
• Password Field (hidden text)
• Check Box
• Radio Buttons 

Here is what the form will look like and below you will find the HTML code.  You will need to change some variables (in red) to customize it to your own needs.

Your Name:
Password:
Please Place me on your mailing list:
What's Your Gender? Male Female
How Old Are You? 0-25 26-50 51 and Over
Comments:
You can insert default text here if you wish

Here's the code for the form you can copy and paste.  Feel free to remove the HTML code for fields you don't need or adjust the various values to fit your liking.
Notice the red text.  This is what you need to edit to customize the form.
1) The 1st line should be changed to the address of the FormMail script on your server.
2) The 2nd line should be the address of the page the user views after they submit the form.  You may need to create this page.
3) The 3rd line is the email address the form results will be sent to.
4) The 4th line is the subject of the email when the form is sent to your address.
<form METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/formmail.cgi">
<input type=hidden name="redirect" value="http://www.yoursite.com/thankyou.html">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="email@youremail.com">
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Form Subject">

<p>Your Name: <input TYPE="text" NAME="Name" SIZE="40" MAXLENGTH="40">
</p>

<p>Password:
<input TYPE="password" NAME="password" SIZE="10" MAXLENGTH="10">
</p>

<p>Please Place me on your mailing list:
<input TYPE="checkbox" NAME="mailing-list" VALUE="Yes" checked>
</p>

<p>What's Your Gender?
<select NAME="Gender">
<option VALUE="Male">Male
<option VALUE="Female">Female
</select>
</p>

<p>How Old Are You?
<input TYPE="radio" NAME="Age" VALUE="0-25" checked>0-25
<input TYPE="radio" NAME="Age" VALUE="26-50">26-50
<input TYPE="radio" NAME="Age" VALUE="50 and over">51 and Over
</p>

<p>Comments: <br>
<textarea NAME="comments" ROWS="10" COLS="50" wrap="virtual">
You can insert default text here if you wish
</textarea>
</p>

<p>
<input TYPE="submit" NAME="Request" VALUE="Submit This Form">
<input TYPE="reset" NAME="Clear" VALUE="Clear Form">
</p>

</form>
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Drop Down Menus for Navigation

You can create a drop down navigation menu by using the code below.  Simply copy the code into a text editor and edit the links accordingly.
When you're done, the drop down menu will look something like this:

Select an Option MSN Hotmail Google

<form name="Menu1"> <p><select name="Link" size="1"> <option selected value="http://www.yourhomepage.com">Select an Option</option> <option value="http://www.msn.com">MSN</option> <option value="http://www.hotmail.com">Hotmail</option> <option value="http://www.google.com">Google</option> </select><input type="button" value="Go" onClick="window.location = document.Menu1.Link.options[document.Menu1.Link.options.selectedIndex].value;"> </p> </form>

Horizontal Lines / Dividers

Horizontal lines are great for breaking up paragraphs of text or separating sections of your page.
To create the standard/default horizontal line, you'll just simply insert the <hr> code.  This will create a line that looks like this:

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Setting Horizontal Line Width,  Size and Color

To set the width of your line, simply add a "width" attribute.  For example, 
<hr width="250"> will create a line that is 250 pixels wide.  See below...

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You can also set the size of the line by inserting a value.  So if you wanted a line that is 250 pixels wide and 6 pixels thick, you'd use the following code: 
<hr width="250" size="6">
This will produce the line below:

---

Lastly, you can control the color of the line by inserting the color attribute:
<hr width="250" size="6" color="blue">

---

You may also use hex colors to define the color of the line.

Special Characters

Code	Symbol	Description
™	™	Trademark
&	&	Ampersand
®	®	Registered trademark
©	©	Copyright
†	†	Dagger
»	»	Right pointing double angle quotation mark
«	«	Left pointing double angle quotation mark
—	—	Em-dash
°	30°	Degree
¼	¼	Quarter
½	½	Half
¾	¾	Three quarters
·	·	Middle dot
¡	¡	Inverted exclamation mark

Understanding Hex / Color Values

Hex values are used for generating colors other than the standard reds, blues, greens, yellows, purples, etc.  As you learned above, to specify a purple font you just use the tag <font color="purple">. 
But HTML doesn't understand colors like "sky blue" or "pea green" so if you want these kinds of colors, you need to specify a hex color value.
The hex color code chart below will give you the HTML code you need for your desired colors...

1. Drag the bar on the "Hue" selector to generate the desired base color. 

2. Next double click inside the Brightness/Saturation grid to activate the cursor.  Drag it until the desired brightness is achieved. 

The "Swatch" bar shows you the final color result.

3. The Hex Color Code is generated at the bottom of the grid.  Simply copy and paste the code into your page.

Inserting Bullets

You can insert bullets into your pages by simply using the <ul> (unordered list) and <li> (list item) codes.
<ul>
<li> Bullet 1 </li>
<li> Bullet 2 </li>
<li>Bullet 3 </li>
</ul>
The above code will create the standard, round bullet that looks like this:

• Bullet 1
• Bullet 2
• Bullet 3

If you would like an open-circle bullet, you can change the code slightly by adding an attribute to the <ul> tag.  See below:
<ul type="circle" >
<li> Bullet 1 </li>
<li> Bullet 2 </li>
<li> Bullet 3 </li>
</ul>
This will create an open-circle bullet.  See below:

• Bullet 1
• Bullet 2
• Bullet 3

Indenting Text

To indent your text about an inch to the right, simply use the open and closing <blockquote> tag around the text you want to indent. 
<blockquote> This text will be indented indented </blockquote>
See how the code makes the text in the paragraph below behave:
sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text sample text

Inserting a Background

If used properly, backgrounds can really enhance your site. If used incorrectly, they can make your site very difficult to read.
If you plan to use a "loud" background that you think is cool, be sure to keep your visitors in mind. Even though you may love it, it may be distracting for the average visitor and you certainly do not want a background that takes away from your text.
In general, try to use light backgrounds on dark text.
To insert a background color on your web page, use the following code INSIDE your <body> tag:
<body bgcolor="red" >
You can specify any color, or you can use a hex value .

Inserting a Background Image

If you want an image for your background then you would use the background and image tag together:
<body background="images/weave.gif"> 
Keeping in mind that "images/weave.gif" is the location of the graphic. So you’re telling the browser that the graphic is located in your images folder off the root/main directory.  You can also use the absolute path to your image.  For example, http://www.yourdomain.com/images/weave.gif

Inserting Images

Once you have the image you want to use you can insert it into your web page.
Next you’ll need to do is upload the graphic to your web server.  Your web hoster will either provide the environment for you to upload your images or you'll have to use an FTP program.
When you upload the graphic, make sure you pay attention to what folder you’re putting it into because that will affect how you write the HTML.
Let’s say you upload the graphic called "apple.gif" to your "images" folder on your web server. The image folder is located inside your "root" directory.
Your HTML code will look like this:
<img src="images/apple.gif">
Now let’s say you have uploaded the graphic to the "fruit" folder/directory that is located inside of the images folder then the code would appear as:
<img src="images/fruit/apple.gif">

The Alt Tag

If you want text to pop up when you run the mouse over the graphic, then you need to add the alt tag.
<img src="images/apple.gif" alt="This is my apple">

Specify Height and Width

If you want to adjust the height and width of the image then you need to use the height and width tags:
<img src="images/apple.gif" alt="This is my apple" height="100" width="150">
It is recommended that you always include the height and width of your images because it makes your pages load faster.

Adding a Border

To add a border to your image need the "border" attribute. It’s very simple:
<img src="images/apple.gif" border="5"> The 5 represents the thickness of the border. The higher the number, the thicker the border. The number 0 is equivalent to no border.  Or you could just leave the border attribute out if you do not want one.

Multiple Attributes

Let’s say you want your graphic to have a border of 2, be 100 x 250 pixels (height x width) and have an alt tag:
<img src="images/apple.gif border="5" height="100" width="250" alt="This is my apple">
Please note that it does not matter what order you put the attributes in (border, alt, etc.). Just make sure you do not leave out any of the punctuation.
"Help, My Graphic Won’t Show!"
If your graphic does not show up and you receive the "broken image" icon, check the following:

1. Make sure the file is uploaded and is actually in the directory you are pointing to in your HTML code.
2. Check the case of the actual filename. If you saved the file as "APPLE.gif" but typed "apple.gif" in the HTML code then the image will not show. Case does matter.
3. Check your HTML code and make sure you have included all the punctuation.

Creating a Clickable Image

Linking images is helpful if you have buttons or banners on your site and you want the visitor to be taken to another web page or site when they click on the image. To accomplish this, use the following code:
<a href="http://www.the_linked_site.com"><img src="images/apple.gif" border="0"></a>
The first part of the code tells the browser which site to go to and the second part, of course, tells it where the image is located.

Creating Tables in HTML

Understanding tables, in my opinion, is one of the important lessons you can learn.  Tables are such a fundamental part of web page layouts, and you can do so much with your page design if you understand how they work.
If you see a web page with a left navigation, usually that page is created by using one big table with two columns and no border.  The left column is generally set to a smaller amount than the right column, thus setting up the left navigation.

Basic Table Tags

The three most important tags for tables is the opening table tag, <table> and the table row and table data tags - <tr> and <td> respectively.
The <tr> tag represents a row for the table
The <td> tag represents a cell inside the row.
Now, with that in mind, let's create a simple table:
<table>
<tr>   <td>A</td> <td>B</td> <td>C</td>   </tr>
<tr>   <td>X</td> <td>Y</td> <td>Z</td>   </tr>
</table>
And this is what the table would look like published:

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

Notice that by looking at the code, you can tell how many rows and columns are included just by looking at the code.  The two opening <tr> tags indicate two rows and the three opening <td> tags on each line represents three data cells (or three columns).

Adding Table Borders

Adding a border simply involves inserting the border attribute to the opening table tag. So in the above table the code would be adjusted accordingly:
<table border="2">
<tr><td>A</td>  <td>B</td>  <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr><td>X</td>  <td>Y</td>  <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
Notice the "2" represents the thickness of the border. If you had set it to "0" then there would have been no border at all. If you wanted it very thick then you could set it to 8, for example.  So now your table will look like this:

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

Changing a Table's Border Color

You can change the color of a table border by simply adding the bordercolor attribute.
<table border="2" bordercolor="red">
<tr><td>A</td>  <td>B</td>  <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr><td>X</td>  <td>Y</td>  <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
And here's what it would look like...

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

Adjusting Table Cell Spacing and Cell Padding

You can increase the space within the table cells and the space between the cells by using the cellpadding and cellspacing   attributes.
The cellspacing attribute adjusts the space between the cells and cellpadding adjusts the space within (around) the cell.
<table border="2" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="3">
<tr><td>A</td>  <td>B</td>  <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr><td>X</td>  <td>Y</td>  <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
This is what the table would look like now...

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

See how setting the cellspacing attribute to "10" drastically increased the spacing between the cells, and the cellpadding attribute set to "3" added a little of space within each individual cell.

Specifying a Table Width

You can specify the width of a table by using either a percentage or a pixel width.
<table width="100%" border="2">
<tr><td>A</td>  <td>B</td>  <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr><td>X</td>  <td>Y</td>  <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
Since the width is set to 100% that means the table will take up 100% of the screen and the columns in the table will be adjusted evenly.  Here's what it would look like.
 

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

As we mentioned, you can also set the table width using pixels instead of percentages.  So instead of setting it to 100%, you could set it to 300 pixels:
<table width="300" border="2">
<tr><td>A</td>  <td>B</td>  <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr><td>X</td>  <td>Y</td>  <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
The table would look like this:

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

Setting Column Widths

Sometimes you may not always want your columns to be the same size.  If this is the case, you need to set values on your table data <td> cells.  Again, you can set them by using percentages or pixel widths.
<table width="300" border="2">
<tr> <td width="70%"> A</td> <td>B</td> <td>C</td> </tr>
<tr> <td width="70%"> X</td> <td>Y</td> <td>Z</td> </tr>
</table>
This is what this table would look like.

A	B	C
X	Y	Z

See how the column width for the first column in both rows is set to 70%.  Notice there is no value set for the other 2 columns.  If you do not set a value for the remaining columns, their width will automatically be adjusted to take up the remaining space and they'll share it equally.

Since the table width is set to 300 pixels, and the first column is instructed to take up 70% of those 300 pixels (roughly 210 pixels), the other 2 columns divide the remaining 30% of the table (roughly 45 pixels a piece).

You could also have expressed the column widths of this table in pixels instead of percentages.  The code would have looked like this:

<table width="300" border="2">

<tr>< td width="210" >A</td> < td width="45" >B</td> < td width="45" >C</td> </tr>

<tr>< td width="210" >A</td> < td width="45" >B</td> < td width="45" >C</td> </tr>

</table>

 

A	B	C
A	B	C

  See how the width of the columns in each row add up to 300 (210 + 45 + 45) -- which is the width of the table.

What's the Difference Between Using Percentages and Pixel Widths

Many people prefer to express their table width and column widths in percentages because that will ensure that the table takes up the same amount of screen no matter how big or small the screen resolution is.
If someone is using a 21 inch monitor to view your site and you have a table width set to 300 pixels, the table will show up very small on their screen.  However if you set the table width to 70%, it will take up 70% of the screen no matter what size the person is using.
So it's really up to you to decide what's the best layout for your tables.

Specifying a Table's Height

You can also set the table height by adding the height tag to the table code.
<table height="250" width="300" border="2">
<tr><td width="210">A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td> </tr>
<tr><td width="210">A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td></tr>
</table>
Which will produce the following table:

A	B	C
A	B	C

Horizontally Aligning the Content Inside Tables

The content inside a cell is left aligned by default, but you can also center or right align the text as well by using the align attributes.
<table width="300" border="2">
<tr><td width="210" align="center" >A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td> </tr>
<tr><td width="210" align="center" >A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td></tr>
</table>
 

A	B	C
A	B	C

See how the first column is aligned to the center?  You can also right align the columns by using the align="right" inside the <td> cells.

Vertically Aligning the Content Inside the Table Cells

So far we've kept the table cell alignment at the default, which is the middle.  Notice in the above table that the A, B, and C are all three aligned in the middle of their cells.  Well you can change their alignment to either top, bottom, or middle by using the valign (which stands for vertical align) tag:
<table height="250" width="300" border="2">
<tr><td valign="top" width="210">A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td> </tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="210">A</td> <td width="45">B</td> <td width="45">C</td></tr>
</table>
 

A	B	C
A	B	C

I've set the table height to "250" so the alignment would be more noticeable. Notice that the A in both rows are aligned to the top.  You can also align to the "bottom" or the "middle".

Creating a Left Navigation Layout With Tables

As we mentioned earlier, most left and right navigations are created using tables.  All you do is create a table with one row, two columns and no border.  Then align both of your columns to the top (using the valign tag) so your text will start in the top of the columns, not the middle.  Depending on if you're going to have a right or left navigation, you'll make one column significantly smaller than the other.
Here's a simple left navigation layout:
<table width="100%" border="0">
<tr><td valign="top" width=" 25% ">Left Nav Links Here</td> <td valign="top" width=" 75% ">Body Here</td> </tr>
</table>
And here's what it would look like:

Left Nav Links Here

Body Here

  Notice I set the border to "0" but it's still showing in the example.  I just did that to show how the layout would look. If you set your border to "0" you won't see any lines around your table.
So there ya have it!  That's a general overview of tables.  There's so much more you can do with them, but if you can understand the basic layout, you'll be able to do so much with the design of your web site.

Inserting Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are links that take you to another page or web site. You create them by using the code below:
<a href="http://www.thepage.com">Name of link</a>
The link would appear as, Name of link

Open Links in a New Browser Window

If you don’t want people to leave your site completely when they click on links to other sites, you can set the link to open up a new window. The "target" attribute allows you to do this:
<a href="http://www…… "target="_blank">
Absolute vs Relative URLs

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URL is another name for a web site address and stands for Uniform Resource Locator.

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There are two different types of URLs you can use to link to various pages, absolute and relative.
Absolute URLs
Absolute URLs include the complete path to the file’s location, including the names of all the directories and subdirectories.
Let’s say you have a folder inside your web site's root directory called "music" and you want to link to a page inside the "music" folder called brahms.html.
The absolute URL is:
<a href="http://www.yoursite.com/music/brahms.html">Brahms</a>
Relative URLs
If you don’t want to ever have to worry about going back and editing your hyperlinks if your site structure changes then relative URLs are the way to go.
Relative URLs are more or less like shorthand that tells the browser to go backward one or more directories to find the file.
Let's say you're on the page we referenced above, brahms.html (located in the "music" folder) and you want to link back to the home page: (http://www.yoursite.com/index.html)
Using a relative URL, you would tell the browser to go back 1 directory by using the dot-slash method.
<a href="../index.html">Home</a>
The two dots followed by a slash instructs the browser to go up 1 more level to get to the main (root) directory.
Changing the Hyperlink Colors
The default color for hyperlinks on an HTML page is blue, but you can change it to whatever color you'd like by using the link code inside the <body> tag. Here's an example:
<body link="green" vlink="yellow" alink="purple">
In the above example, hyperlinks will be green, links that have already been visited will be yellow and active links will be purple.  (An active link is one that has just been clicked, so for a split second the link will change colors as the mouse activates it).
Creating Email Links
Creating email links are just as simple. All you need is the "mailto" function to get this to work properly:
<a href="mailto:youraddress@email.com">Email Me</a>
Anchor Links
If you want to create a link that will take the visitor to another section of the same page (rather than a new page or site), then you can create an anchor link.  There are two steps to this process:
1) First, go to the place in your HTML code where you want the anchor to go.  This is the spot on the page that the browser will move to when a person clicks on the link.
Insert the code <a name="name1">This is the Text Where the Anchor Will Land</a>  "name1" is just the name of the anchor I chose.   You can all it anything you want.
2) Now to link to that section of the page, use the hyperlink code:
<a href="#name1">click here</a>
Now when your visitors click on that link, they will be taken to that section of the page.

Basic Structure of an HTML Page

Here you will see a sample HTML page with the basic structure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<html>
<head>
<title>Title that is displayed at the top of your web browser and also used as the title by many search engines</title>
<meta name="description" content="10-15 word description of your site read by some search engines">
<meta name="keywords" content="main keywords of your site separated by commas. Read by some search engines">
</head>
<body>
<p align="left">
This is my new web page. I hope you like it. Please come back and visit again.  If you need help creating your web site visit <a href="http://www.2createawebsite.com">2 Create a Website.com</a>.
</p>
</body>
</html>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The <html> tag just tells the browser where the HTML starts. It is not necessary to include this tag to get your page to show.
The <title> tells your browser the title of the page and you’ll see this text at the very top of your web browser. This is also used by most search engines when indexing your page. Whatever text you have here will be title of your site when displayed in the search engines.
The <meta name> information is also somewhat useful for some search engines. They may use whatever is in your "description" tag to describe your site. Others may randomly take an excerpt of the <body> of your page for a description of your site. The keyword tag may also be helpful with your ranking in some engines. Insert 3 or 4 of your main keywords or keyword phrases separated by commas here.
A few years ago, the <meta name> information was quite crucial in getting a top listing with the search engines. However, things have changed drastically with the explosion of so many new sites and the fact that many people abused it. I would still recommend using these tags but don’t expect to get a top ranking because of them.
The body of your site should be included inside the <body> tags.

HTML Basics

Before I get started, you should know that HTML code almost always uses beginning and ending tags.  These tags surround the text that will be affected by the code.

A beginning tag is generally a word surrounded by brackets. The closure tag is surrounded by the same brackets but with a forward slash right after the opening bracket.

For example, if you want to bold a portion of a sentence, then you would use <b> for the opening tag and </b> for the closing.

Let’s say you want to bold the word "Hello!" in the sentence below. Then your HTML code would look like this:

<b>Hello!</b> My name is Carla.

The output would be:

Hello! My name is Carla.

Only the word "Hello!" is bolded because the tags surround that word. If you wanted to bold the entire sentence, then you would have put the closure tag, </b>, after the word "Carla".  Be sure to always include your closing tag because if you forget, your entire page will be affected by the tag.

You can apply this same concept to many other HTML codes. Here are several of the basics...
Basic Text & Font Tags

New Paragraph: <p> Starts a new paragraph and creates a blank line between your new paragraph and the one above it.

The closing tag is </p>, but is not mandatory.

Line Break: <br>  This will break your text to the next line.  Two <br> tags is equivalent to one <p> tag.  There's no closing tag needed for this one.

Bold: <b>  Closing tag is </b>

Underline: <u>   Closing tag is </u>

Italics: <i>   Closing tag is </i>

Centering text: <center>  Closing tag is </center>

Left aligning text: <p align="left"> Just use </p> for the closing tag

Right aligning text: <p align="right"> Just use </p> for the closing tag

Change text color: <font color="red"> The ending for any font tag is </font>

If you want more colors, you can also use hex codes .

Changing font face: <font face="Arial">

Change font size: <font size="3"> (choose between 1 and 7)

Blinking Text: <blink>  </blink> (only works in Netscape)

Scrolling Text: <marquee> </marquee> (only works in Internet Explorer)

Choosing a Website Topic?

Choosing a topic for your website can be tough. Everyone seems to have the next "big idea" or looks for hot topics.

After all, wouldn't you love to be the one who invented MySpace, FaceBook or YouTube?

It often seems so simple. Just come up with a cool idea, build a site, sell it for millions to Yahoo or Google and you'll be rich!

Not exactly.

While this idea has worked for a handful of people, the average story doesn't go quite like that. Which is why I wanted to create this all-important page on topic choice.
Looking to Make Money?

If your goal is to make money with your site then I always recommend the simple approach.

I know you would love to create something like the next MySpace, but due to all the programming and technical knowledge needed to build and maintain a site like that, it's not a good idea for the average person.

Even if you are going to pay a programmer to create your site, it would cost you thousands of dollars. I don't think people realize the amount of resources that go into creating a site that offers user interaction and profiles.

Not to mention you'd probably need dedicated hosting space, which can cost you hundreds of dollars per month. You can forget the $10/month hosting plans.

Yes, these sites look cool on the surface but there are a lot of hidden headaches the average person does not see.

So what do I mean when I say "the simple approach?" I'm encouraging you to do what I've done for the past 10 years.

I don't own any fancy MySpace-like websites. I don't have a lot of Web programming skills. I just create sites on topics that interest me, draw in traffic and make money from affiliate programs like Google AdSense and other companies that sell products that relate to my topics.

Say you love to prepare desserts. You could create top-notch-cake-recipes.com where you offer all your favorite cake recipes. You'd create your site and then spend time learning about SEO (search engine optimization) so your pages get found in Google, Yahoo, etc.

Then you could make money from Google ads and refer other products that your audience may find interesting. For instance, you could join Target.com's free affiliate program and refer some of their cookware.

Target provides you with the links to put into your site and you would earn a commission on every sale your site makes. They send you a check at the end of the month! There are thousands of affiliate programs like this.

An affiliate site like this is much easier to create and maintain than some large, programming-intense MySpace-like website. You could manage the site yourself with a program like Dreamweaver or CoffeeCup and you'd simply follow these website creation instructions to get started.

Or you can use a program like Site Build It!, which was created to help people make money from hobby or personal interest websites. Their entire focus is to help you earn an income no matter topic you choose.
Not Sure What Topic is Best?

I get the "What's-the-best-topic" question a lot. Quite frankly, I cannot answer that. That's something you have to decide for yourself.

If your goal is to make money then I cannot stress how important it is for you to select something that holds your interest. Remember, this is going to be a site you will need to update frequently to keep your visitors interested and maintain your traffic levels.

So it's important you select something you know a lot about or at least have some interest in learning more.

Avoid The "How to Make Money" Topic

This is a big trap many newcomers fall into. If they can't decide on a topic they choose the make money online idea since they want to make money themselves.

It's always a bad idea to choose a topic that you have no experience with. Unless you have the proof you are making some cash online and plan on showing people how you've done it, then you run the risk of creating a site like the millions of other "get rich online" sites.

Not to mention this niche is overly saturated and you'd have a hard time generating traffic. Have you ever searched for make money online in Google?

There are millions of sites on this topic and it's difficult to decipher which ones are real and which ones are just scams. You don't want to be lumped into that pile of mush.



Why is Topic Choice So Important?

You must understand. Sites that do well online are sites that have their own unique spin on a certain topic. The content is well written, updated frequently, the Webmasters understand the basics of Net marketing and they know their audience.

These are all things you must execute well if you want to become successful, and it will not happen overnight. So this is one reason topic choice is crucial.

You have to be patient while waiting on that traffic to come, so you might as well choose something that will keep your interest or you'll get bored and abandon your site.

And don't worry about what others are doing. Just because you see someone making millions with one topic, don't think you have to do the same thing or even something similar.

The reason that person is so successful is because of the points I mentioned above. Their passion for the topic is driving their creativity thus generating success. If you chose that same topic you might not be as motivated because it's not your "thing."

I know it's tempting to copy someone else's successful idea but it's really a bad idea for most people.

Now it's time to choose what peeks your interest and develop your own personal spin on it. That's the first step to being successful out here, so I hope you take this message seriously.
Not to Discourage You, But...

The goal of this article is not to discourage you from creating a complex, interactive site. If that's something you have your heart set on then go for it.

I just want you to understand what's involved. You can't just buy a software program, download some template and create an interactive site like FaceBook, YouTube or MySpace.

Extensive, hardcore programming is required. So you'll either have to learn yourself or pay someone else BIG to do it for you.

It's much better to start small and simple with a site like I described above and once the traffic and money starts coming in, then you can expand to something more robust and complex.

It will save you a lot of money and headaches if you do it that way.


See Successful Sites on a Variety of Topics

Site Build It! offers a page that shows successful websites on a variety of different topics. It's a really great page because you can see the many different ways you can make money online.

From selling products, auction sellers, affiliate marketing, hobby-based sites, and more. This will give you an idea of what is possible when it comes to generating an income online.

Blog Tips for Beginners

Since everyone wants a blog these days, I decided to create a section on 2 Create a Website just for blogging.

Make sure you watch the video below where I discuss the basic differences between a blog and website.

A lot of people choose the wrong option for their needs. So take the time to learn when either is appropriate.

How to Create a Blog
Want to learn the basics of setting up a blog? Can't decide between Blogger or WordPress? Read this!

My Review of The WordPress Thesis Theme
Thesis is becoming one of the most popular premium WordPress themes. Discover why everyone's using it and why I love it.

How to Manage and Promote Your Blog's RSS Feed With Feedburner
Tips and advice on how to use Feedburner to manage and promote your RSS feed.

How to Create RSS Feeds for Static Websites
You don't need a blog to publish and promote an RSS feed. You can also create one for your website.