Choosing a topic

choosing a topic can be the hardest thing in creating a website, because it has to catch your audience's eyes.this is also the most important part of your website because if you have a very unique and attractive topic, it will drive traffic to YOUR website!!!

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.