How to Make Your Website Popular

Choose a topic you know a great deal about., Front-load the site., Emphasize quality over quantity., Add to your site routinely.

4 Steps 2 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Choose a topic you know a great deal about.

    Even if it means taking a risk, focus on something that you feel passionate about.

    In fact, the internet is a great place for niche content precisely because your potential audience is global, not local; this increases your odds of connecting with people who want what you have to offer.

    Only by making the site specific to you and your experience will you be able to offer something that no one else can.
  2. Step 2: Front-load the site.

    Whether you’re selling merchandise, providing instruction, or blogging for fun, don’t make the mistake of taking your site online before it has a sufficient amount of content.

    Even if your initial content is stellar, visitors who don’t have any reason to stick around aren’t likely to come back later or recommend your site to their friends. , One of the disadvantages of the internet is that it is jam-packed with distractions and encourages superficial reading.

    If your site is nothing but fluff, people will skim it quickly and move on to something else.

    On top of that, because the internet feels anonymous, people are quick to pounce on inaccuracies, typos, and bugs – which can sink your site and kill your morale.

    Be sure to pack your site with content people cannot find anywhere else, even if it means you have less of it. , Though you should have a nice chunk of content available when you first go online, don’t use up everything you’ve got at once or your followers will get tired of waiting and move on.

    Ideally, you should prepare startup content, have a small reserve of additional content that you release on a schedule (ex. every Thursday), and be ready to routinely create new content once you have gotten into the swing of things.

    You should never consider your website “complete”; if you want it to survive, treat it like a "living" document that will change over time.

    Consider creating a web feed (RSS, Atom, etc.) so users can subscribe for updates.
  3. Step 3: Emphasize quality over quantity.

  4. Step 4: Add to your site routinely.

Detailed Guide

Even if it means taking a risk, focus on something that you feel passionate about.

In fact, the internet is a great place for niche content precisely because your potential audience is global, not local; this increases your odds of connecting with people who want what you have to offer.

Only by making the site specific to you and your experience will you be able to offer something that no one else can.

Whether you’re selling merchandise, providing instruction, or blogging for fun, don’t make the mistake of taking your site online before it has a sufficient amount of content.

Even if your initial content is stellar, visitors who don’t have any reason to stick around aren’t likely to come back later or recommend your site to their friends. , One of the disadvantages of the internet is that it is jam-packed with distractions and encourages superficial reading.

If your site is nothing but fluff, people will skim it quickly and move on to something else.

On top of that, because the internet feels anonymous, people are quick to pounce on inaccuracies, typos, and bugs – which can sink your site and kill your morale.

Be sure to pack your site with content people cannot find anywhere else, even if it means you have less of it. , Though you should have a nice chunk of content available when you first go online, don’t use up everything you’ve got at once or your followers will get tired of waiting and move on.

Ideally, you should prepare startup content, have a small reserve of additional content that you release on a schedule (ex. every Thursday), and be ready to routinely create new content once you have gotten into the swing of things.

You should never consider your website “complete”; if you want it to survive, treat it like a "living" document that will change over time.

Consider creating a web feed (RSS, Atom, etc.) so users can subscribe for updates.

About the Author

B

Brandon Gordon

Specializes in breaking down complex practical skills topics into simple steps.

36 articles
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