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Question on running websites

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  • 21-06-2009 7:00pm
    #1
    Recovered
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41 ✭


    Hi all, I think this is the most appropriate place to ask this question.

    I have a couple of ideas for websites that I think have potential to become popular. I would eventually like to be able to display some ads on the websites and generate revenue.

    How would I go about running websites like that, can I do this as a sole trader? If so, how would I register the domains (as a natural person, company or what?) - Obviously talking about .ie's here.

    Would there be an issue for me to have say 2 or 3 different sites on entirely different topics if these sites have genuine content helpful to their users?

    Any tips or pointers on this would be most appreciated.

    Thanks!


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    #2
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    In order to generate some revenue for ads you ideally need to meet two goals;
    1) Get them done professionally and of good quality. Poorly designed, self made sites, tend to have a higher failure rate.
    2) Have a good traffic volume. Partly connected with the above, as it should be optimised for search engines and if done correctly it will. That's part of the battle over.

    With regards to registering .ie - it depends entirely on the website theme. If its for a business, you need a Registered Business Number with the Company Registration Office. If its for a club, thats different again. If its your personal name, again, thats different. Have a look at http://www.iedr.ie for more information on the rules regarding the .ie - effectively, you need to prove the website is Irish related.


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    #3
    Recovered
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41 ✭Recovered


    I get what makes a website profitable but what I'm wondering about in particular is the issue of having everything clear when it comes to registration and reception of payments etc.

    So say I was to have soccer.ie for football fans and then knitting.ie for... others :)

    So basically I'm someone with a skill to provide and would like to create maybe 2 or 3 websites with content and space for fans to communicate and share.

    Could I do that and how? (I know there is definitely a way to do this as there are people out there running several websites but I'm looking for the best way to do this).

    Thanks


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    #4
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    First step; Pick a name, your websites goals and what you want on the website. When you have a clear picture and are ready to proceed, go to step two.

    Second step; Register your business name with the CRO and apply to one of the domain registers like letshost which are the cheapest (afaik) for .ie domains. If you can show how each domain is related to the one business, you can register them all under the one RBN. At this point you may want to consider hosting which we can not discuss in this forum.

    Third step; You know what you want, got the domain name and possibly even hosting. So, its time to look around at different design businesses and see who offers the best for quality and price. If you like one company more then another, but they are more expensive, bargain. Ill always do my best to fit a clients project within their budget, but without that essential bit of information its going to be hard for me to quote you a reasonable price. You need to ensure the company offers very good design services, communicates quickly and efficiently, has a good record, and can develop to the various standards (Clean code so it validates, SEO, W3C Standards etc.).

    Fourth step; A good design company will present you with a design idea for you to comment on. Once thats out of the way, they will prepare everything and get your website ready to launch. Always have the content ready before starting this and previous step.

    Finally.. Work hard on the various SEO areas you can manage (link exchanges really), advertise well (Google Adwords, various ad agents etc.) and always ensure that your promotional material is designed well. This will open the window for advertising revenue as your website will have the hits and the quality.

    You may wish to re visit some of the above steps when carrying out any upgrades / additions to the website.


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    #5
    Recovered
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41 ✭Recovered


    Thanks Sully.

    Edit: Oops, I reread your answer and you actually gave me the info in there :)

    Thanks a lot, now all I need to do is get started!


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    #6
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    It depends... The IEDR may let you run several websites under one RBN but sometimes they will turn around and ask "What has this domain name have to do with business X?" so unless you can prove it. So far, I have an IT & Web Design company operating under "Alpha IT Solutions". This also includes some tourism domains, which took a bit of talking to get registered without setting up a new RBN.

    Its a hard one to answer. All I can say is that the rules for registering are listed here; http://iedr.ie/QuickGuideToRegistrations.php

    Make any sense yet?!


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  • Options
    #7
    Recovered
    Closed Accounts Posts: 41 ✭Recovered


    Thanks Sully, that's exactly what I was wondering!

    I obviously wasn't quick enough to edit my post earlier :D

    Thanks again


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    #8
    Sully
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 24,056 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sully


    Recovered wrote: »
    Thanks Sully, that's exactly what I was wondering!

    I obviously wasn't quick enough to edit my post earlier :D

    Thanks again

    Not a problem, best of luck with it. Feel free to fire off any other questions over PM if you need anything :)


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