Thank you Dave for the Forum. Peter and Linda are very talented with all this knowlege. I know they really appreciate this. You have some great Points here. Your friend,

Hi Dave! You are absolutely right on the money! I remember the first web site I ever built. It sucked eggs bad! Although, at the time, I thought it was pretty nifty. Looking at a banner farm is like being poked in the eye with a hot stick. Sites with a bunch of flashy dodads and animated graphics are an eye sore too. One thing I'd like to add, if I may, is that people who are serious about using a web site to earn an income, should NOT use free web site hosting services. With free hosting, you can have the cleanest site in the world, and the advertising that your host puts on your pages will turn people off, or get them clicking to other sites being advertised. Sites that are freely hosted do not project a professional image, in that the owner is too cheap to pay for a hosting account. Another reason not to use free hosting is that all free hosting sites like geocities, tripod, etc.. state in the fine print of their TOS that you may not use your site for commercial purposes. Freely hosted sites do not allow you the freedom to do things like add forms, or run java scripts. No php, no cgi, no databases either. You get nothing, because you are paying nothing. There are plenty of hosting services that are very affordable for just about any budget. You just need to shop around for what best suits your needs and wallet. The final thing I'd like to say about free hosting is that you are stuck with their domain name. To increase your search engine appeal, having a keyword based domain name is a good investment. For example: http://www.ezines1.com is the domain that I host for my ezine. That site gets loads of traffic, and I don't advertise it. The reason being is that ezines is a high ranking keyword. When I purchased that domain, two years ago, it was appraised at $1200.00. (I paid $64.00 to resgister it for 5 years.) Now that same domain appraises at $4300.00. So owning your own domain is actually like buying property. If you do it right, it increases in value over time. Well, there I go again... pitching in my two cents worth. Keep up the awesome work. Your information is right on target. Trina

Hi Shannon, I look forward to seeing your site as it evolves! :-) God bless, Dave

Hi Arthur, You have something to say, which is something that many thousands of websites out there do NOT have in common with you. You would do well with a blog to start with. You can advertise on your site to generate revenue, but the first thing to do is to work on content that people want to read, and keep posting the way you already do in forums and communities around the internet. Always add a link to your blog or website with your signature, and you will be creating links back to your website that the search engines will notice every time you post. Content is one of the keys to being seen and to having repeat visitors. There are others out there who enjoy the way you think and write, and who would come back many times to see what you've written once they find out about you. As I've said elsewhere; when you're designing your own website, don't do what you think others are doing successfully; do what YOU enjoy and what makes YOU happy. There are a lot of people out there who would find your way of thinking refreshing and enjoyable and reason to come back. Always keep your content out front where it stands out. Only advertise the things that you personally endorse and believe in in your own writing. Avoid hype and be yourself. Remember, slow to grow is better than no sales at all, and over time you can build on it. You're right; it's not easy, but then nothing worthwhile ever is. God bless, Dave

Hi John, Thanks, my friend. That's a great service you're running. God bless, Dave