Pretty Sites Lose Money, Ugly Sites Make Money

Ever notice that when you are doing searches that there are some very pretty sites if you look deep in the search pages? Why is that? Because search engines run on words and not art, and because page rank is also determined by link popularity and popularity is determined by usefulness. Another reason is that in order to make money, certain standard items need to occupy the top of the page, such as the offer, the opt-in and the pitch.

This means that if you want your site to make money, your site needs to use the right words, be useful to people and contain certain standard elements. The bad news is that a site like that won't be pretty; instead it will be functional. The good news is that this is far less expensive than hiring a Macromedia Flash designer and winding up with a very pretty site several thousand dollars later.

It turns out that words can make or break you. I can't stress this enough. Many people approach search-engine optimization as an afterthought when it needs to be the first thought. It is a good idea to do keyword research before trying to come up with a domain name. It is an even better idea to re-think your business model based on what keyword research reveals about the market.

Next Installment: Inch Wide, Mile Deep