Google Ads and Keyword Basics

When creating a website the most important thing is to get people to your site. Without traffic all you have are words and pictures. The worry I have is, is my site good enough to keep people coming back. It's not ready yet. This weeks lesson will help get people to the site when it is ready.
A couple things I found interesting were the choice of words you use will drive traffic to your site but sometimes you get traffic that you don't want. There are negative words you can use that you can include to narrow down who your ads target. Figuring out those words can be difficult and could take time. Another thing to remember is choosing the right amount of keywords. Most advertisers choose between 5 and 20 keywords. To me that is a large variance. There is definitely a science behind picking the right words to use.

Licenses and Taxes

It is amazing how confusing it can be trying to figure out what license is necessary for your business. I am still figuring that out. I think the more unique your business is the harder it can be. For my selected business there isn't a specific category to select. I may just offer to sell stuff so if I needed a license I would have one. 

Taxes are another challenge. If you don't sell anything or provide a service is there a tax to pay? Who knew opening a business would be so challenging. Two sites that were very helpful this week were The Small Business Administration and the IRS website. Each site had links to help get a business owner started. 

Starting this class I was nervous about opening a business. The little things we have been doing each week chip away at that fear. I love that there is so much free information available to get started. I also have realized the importance of finding more than one source to answer a question. 

How important is Website Design

The design of a website is very important. We focused on this this week and on ways to improve a site. Putting too much on a site can be distracting. Putting too little can make it hard to see what the website is about. It was interesting to see what everyone thought made a great site. One thing to remember is to avoid putting too many buttons at the top of the site. Our brain can process 3-5 things at a time and more than that will either get missed or overwhelm the user. I like when things are blocked into sections. I think it makes the site easier to navigate. That is the key to a good design. The user needs to go where they want and you can design it so they go where you want as well. Another cool feature we learned was putting paypal buttons on the site customers could pay with credit cards.

Choosing a Host and a Site

I am starting to realize that opening a business is a lot of work however it is not impossible for me to do while maintaining a full time job. It is all in moderation. Once I have finished school I can treat my business like a 9 credit class. Three hours per credit and I can pace myself. The internet has so many companies that help a startup business. This last semester has been the most valuable and the hardest. In another class I am learning about creating my Business Model Canvas and this class I am learning how to use the resources available to get it on the internet.

This week we learned about choosing a Site and choosing a Host. Interesting that you can pick a company that can assist in both but to save money you can do more of it on your own. It is very important to read the fine print and to research the company you use. I found some interesting reviews on a company that I though would be perfect my business. I may need to find a different company. I also started using a company that has a 14 day trial period named Shopify. This site is very easy to navigate and create a powerful website but I don't know if it is the one I want to use. Trial and error.