At Breakaway Solutions, my award-winning website development company, building a high-traffic website is the ultimate objective of the entrepreneurs and corporations that use our services. But how to get there?

You can always turn to experts like myself when you want more eyes landing on your home page. Some of our advice is practical, some of it philosophical. Yes, page layout plays a part, search engine optimization is a key consideration; and creating links, utilizing social media and optimizing your database are all crucial. But over and above those essential elements, it’s universally agreed that content is still king in creating return traffic to your website.

Some simple rules

Content is generally considered to be the text on your site and it has its own set of rules. You should ask yourself some questions before creating content: Who are your readers? What information can you provide that will give them value, a reason to return to your site and, optimally, incentive to share it with others. For example, this is my personal website, separate from the website for Breakaway Solutions, yet inherently intertwined with my business. My goal here is to impart advice from my experience to help others reach their entrepreneurial goals. By it’s also a personal site, so I try to convey some of my own inspirations for success in a way that’s both educational and motivational.

Above all, know your audience! Your content should be tailored to those you want to reach while being original, engaging and an incentive for further exploration of your site. Depending on your purpose, strive for timeless information with a long shelf life.

How much is enough?

How much content should there be? It’s true, copious and continually changing content stacked with the right keywords is important. For keywords, think of yourself as a typical Google or Bing user and incorporate search words they might use to find the sort of information you are providing. Length can also be a consideration. Some of my peers would discourage lengthy pages and might recommend posts of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 words.

Personally, I think length should be determined by the amount of space necessary to convey good, usable information, with some links to a few outside sources that you would also deem valuable, or which share a similar message. Links are also important for SEO purposes.

Other reputable sources

For example, if you want to know more about some of the tools and tacks of building a website, I might recommend other like-minded bloggers such as Tim Ferriss, whose content is always eclectic, insightful and, maybe most importantly, shared. He sets a good example and I feel confident that my audience would benefit from many of his topics, including How to Build a High-Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself.

I mentioned Steve Pavlina in my previous post and his name bears repeating here. Steve writes some excellent content on personal development, so we have kindred interests. His thoughts on building a high-traffic website are definitely worth a read and, as he points out, sometimes differ from what some other experts might recommend. But he has some definite ideas about content. He sums up his philosophy in a way that I would agree with: Even if you forget all his tips, he says, “just focus on genuinely helping people, and the rest will take care of itself.

I could not have said it better myself.

Those can be just some of the mundane perks of having an online business; you can start work in the morning wearing pajamas if you feel like it. But there are more substantial rewards: the freedom to set your own work schedule, the self-satisfaction of starting a successful venture, the power to choose your own projects and not have to answer to a boss; and if you do it right, you can own a very lucrative company.

As a partner in Breakaway Solutions, a full-service web development company I launched in 2001, I consult with many entrepreneurs who want to grow their online business. I also operate several ecommerce sites myself, and my background has provided me the background to guide others in everything from marketing approaches to email collection.

Building a Successful Website

I believe there has never been a more opportune time to be an entrepreneur due to advancing technologies, especially for young people who are computer savvy. Building a website these days is relatively easy, but it’s what you do after it’s up and running that takes additional know-how. Don’t be fooled by the adage from that Kevin Costner baseball movie: “If you build it they will come.”

That’s where marketing comes in; and if you can drive people to your site in enough numbers, your chances of monetizing the site to your benefit can increase exponentially.

And marketing a website is intrinsically linked (pun intended) to technology. There is somewhat of a science to running a successful website that includes such things as enabling permalinks, using keywords that improve SEO, optimizing ads in your layout and making contact information prominent. Of course, having highly readable and interesting content is also part of the equation.

One of my peers, Steve Pavlina, has done a good job explaining optimal content with his post How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog) and other articles on his site, StevePavlina.com. I like Steve’s approach because, like me, he intertwines business and personal development.

Knowing Your Technology

Understanding your readers and creating engaging content for them is crucial, but that doesn’t excuse the site operator from understanding permalinks, RSS feeds, pinging and other technologies. If you’re a beginner, you might turn to books such as “Building a Web Site for Dummies” or one of the many books available about WordPress, such as the recently published “WordPress Revealed: How to Build a Website, Get Visitors and Make Money (Even for Beginners.”

You should have some rudimentary understanding of the technology required to run a successful website, but if you “just don’t get it,” that shouldn’t be a reason for abandoning your dream. There are also services available that will do the work for you. One of the best is called Site Build It! – a one-stop-shop for creating and building an online business. For an annual fee, Site Build It! will give you all the tools you need to build a site with the potential to generate income. The fee covers the cost of hosting the site, registering a domain name, integrated tools that provide ease for adding content, including a built-in blog, as well as offering RSS feeds. So if you are not a technophile, you can turn those things over to people who are.

Site Build It! is just one company that offers such services and it may be worthwhile checking out several to find which one is best for you.

Of course, no service is going to relieve you of your duties completely. Establishing a money-making website still takes plenty of time and energy; you have to work hard at it just as you would at any other type of business. But isn’t it nice to know there’s help out there if you need it?