Creating That Idea

[jcscherer82]

Well this topic could be put into many categories but I thought that this would be the best because I want this to generate a good deal of conversation.

I have now spend hundreds of hours learning and creating various types of websites. I have used a few of the helper scripts and programs that are out there. I have used the CMSs of Joomla! and Mambo. I have used both PHPbb and SMF. Also, I have used jquery, and have started to use the CodeIgniter library for PHP.

On top of all this, I have also worked now with XHTML, HTML(It is pretty much the same thing as XHTML), CSS, javascript, PHP, SQL, and Java.

With all of this knowledge I have created around 6 sites. Each of them producing not very good results and fruitless labor with them. I have found quite a few techniques that have started to help me gain a deeper understanding of how to attract peers and customers to your website and how to make that idea into a reality.

1. Make sure that it is a unique idea. Many people (including me) had the idea of creating a forum site on technology. This has become a very bloated field to get into with websites. Do NOT and I mean do NOT get into this field. Though, if you still need or want to get into it, make sure it is based around a unique concept such as the design of the site is very unique compared to the others.

2. The end of number one hits my second point. Make your site design very unique. I have seen so many websites that look exactly the same. Sure, some use Jquery or another javascript library, but they are all essentially the same. Create a web 3.0 idea. Think outside of the box and just open your understanding of what is interesting and what is dull.

3. It takes TIME!!!! This is a huge area that many people do not get (again, I was included with this). For your website to even pop up under the Google search engine for keywords, it takes around 6 months to a year. To raise the ranks, it can take another 6 months to a year just to do that. Do not think that once you put your website out on the web that it is automatically going to be number one. Take the time and work on the website. Keep it up to date in those 6 months and also keep adding to the style of it.

4.Get a user base. Grab some friends and make them join your site. When other people see that there are 40 users on the site and that they are all posting, they are going to want to join in. Again, no one likes a static website.

5. Finally, and this comes from personal experience, having more than one project is beneficial. I am currently working on three separate sites. With different concepts on these sites, it will keep your attention to web development. When you get bored with one idea, move on to another. This will keep your attention focused on the task of learning web development and you will enjoy so much more.

Well those are my helpful hints. Now this is where I want the discussion to start to come into place. All of you that have had a considerable amount of experience, I want you to help some of the new people on how to create that masterpiece of an idea that they have.

Agree or disagree with some of the points that I have. Again, this is where I want the discussion to start to take place.

//Signed//
Justin C. Scherer

 

[vekou]

Well, content is the most important thing. A website without relevant content is just crap. Why make a website that doesn't have a good content? What purpose would it serve? On a forum, a good topic is always a start of a good conversation. If the topic is always "Which is better, Windows or Mac?" then it doesn't quite pass as a good content. Although the topic is very interesting, but a million forums and a million blogs have already that topic and the replies would only be quoted from those sources or always would be very subjective, prone to flaming.

I agree with you on number 1. A unique idea or a unique content would attract people more than just a repost of previously published content.

You have a point on number 2, but make sure it complies with the latest standards and if possible could support the previous ones.

It's not that long to make your site appear on search results. With SEO in mind, you can design your site better so it can appear in search engines in a short time. With your unique content, a standards compliant site, an aggressive promotion and a strategically-created page within a month your site could appear in front pages of search engines, although probably not at the top.

Number 4, agreed.

Number 5, I'm not so sure. With a continuously growing site, switching between other projects could sacrifice other projects. A total attention would be needed. A site needs a fresh content everytime.

 

[sedesign]

Hi,

im probably not the best qualified to comment on here, ive done web design in college and have 2 very close friends who are big on it. I've also created a few sites in my time mainly small ones for friends and family just to give them / their business a presence on the internet (seeing as the first thing alot of people look for when coming into contact with an unfamiliar company is a website).

1. Id like to think that im an extremely creative person but even a good name that hasnt been used and abused by other people is hard to create, its unbelievable how many domain names are registered so when i think about my target audience i must brain storm for days trying to come up with a unique name that hasn't been taken. a unique idea is hard to come by, especially when ive had loads of great ones only to find out after a bit of digging on google that not only has someone else already thought of it but the idea has been hammered into the ground, but i dont think that should be off putting for people if they can put a unique spin on this now apparent not-so-unique idea they had.

Take for example social networking sites. the thought of taking on the likes of Facebook, myspace, blogspot etc makes people weak at the knees as they hear figures like "500 million users on facebook" etc, but people can browse more than one website and if you have an idea that is unique to these sites, even if some features do overlap, GO FOR IT! if you have the knowledge and ability to gain people's attention then have a crack at it imo.

2. See response one but to reiterate, sometimes you may get disheartened by the fact that you woke up at 3am with a "brilliant, unique, world changing idea" only to find its already been done, give it a try anyways! you may find that you can produce a similar main product but put a much different but better spin on it and have several more ideas when creating this product that you can add to give this product its own uniqueness.

3. Unfortunately we live in an instant world, you can order something online at 9:30pm and have it at your door step at 8am the following morning, you can produce faster results by using software as opposed to man power, why make room in your daily schedule for your favourite tv show when you can watch it via your cable company's "on demand" service? i think you get my drift here

i completely agree that it does take time to get a good user base with a high percentage of repeat users, but in the end it is worth it (a good example of this, one of my friends made a blog site for show casing people's artwork and web graphics etc he originally started out with around 5-10 people viewing his site daily and now he has over 1500+ people visiting EACH DAY! it took him around 16-18 months to get it to that level and thats just pure inspiration for him to continue and do more with the site, grow it and continue to expand!)

4. i recently watched the social network film and although it was a movie and all hollywood'd up for the big screen Jesse Eissenberg (who played mark zuckerberg in the film) only sent the site address to a few emails, it went viral by each of those few sending it to a few of their friends and so on...

so if you get a user base of 10 people interested in your site to begin with, those 10 people go off and email / tweet / facebook a link to your site, even if 50% of their followers or friends check out your site it will begin to grow fast but again it might just take time!

5. i have to agree with vekou on this one, yes it is nice to have a few features evolving in the background but you need to remember the core reason for creating those features - THE WEBSITE ITSELF. dont let your site go stale or else people will stop visiting, keep your main feature (your site) fresh and communicate with your users, they like talking to you, even if it is to moan about bugs it shows that you care and are working on the site.

imho if you get bored working on your website, then maybe you should sell it on or move away because without that spark / motivation to evolve your website you're going to run dry on ideas and soon it will turn people away (aka its better to burn out than to fade away - Kurt Cobain.

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH! look at mark zuckerberg (sorry to use him as another example) after 6 years he is still steering the facebook ship, even through stormy waters! he was offered $1 Billion for facebook and he said NO!!!!!!!!!!! As he believed in his product, he isnt interested in money, he has a studio apartment within walking distance of the office - he just wants to develop and keep evolving facebook and make it the number site in the world (which it is quickly becoming!)


anyways apologies if i went on a bit there ive been wired in all day trying to learn PHP and its going great! so great that 6 hours has gone by and i didnt even feel it lol so i thought id take a break on come on here keep the hosts happy and my website alive haha