W07 Reflection: Google Ads & Keywords

One of the main things I learned during this lesson is how little I know about keywords and search engine optimization. I think it might be fairly challenging to find the right keywords and phrases to generation traffic to my site that will be reaching the right audience. I'm still not totally sure whether I should be directing people to my blog homepage with general keywords related to the overall content of my site, or to specific posts with more detailed keywords that are relevant just to that specific post. Perhaps having a mix would be helpful, but I need to learn more about how the ads will work and which method would be more beneficial. It will be a learning process to find out what kinds of posts appeal most and generate clicks from my target audience. I have lots of neat ideas that I want to share, but if no one is interested in reading them, then it isn't really worth the investment of time to create the content.

W06 Reflection: Legal Structure

Learning about legal structure this week was very interesting. I was amazed at the complexity of certain business structures, and that was just for my own state of Idaho. I'm sure other states may have even more complex rules and regulations for certain types of businesses. An online affiliate marketing business is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated, since I won't actually be selling and shipping products myself. For businesses that do sell a product or service, they would have to get set up for charging sales tax and then paying that sales tax to the state. All business owners have to pay income tax on their earnings, though the method can vary greatly depending on whether you are a sole proprietory, LLC, or corporation. I really appreciate the discussion boards to read the points of view of other students. Most of the time, I haven't thought of every idea and angle, so it's helpful to discuss our ideas and learn together. I can also see this type of learning as a benefit to having a business partner or board of directors.

W05 Reflection: Site Design

This week I researched a bit about website design and checked out a couple of my favorite blogs to look at similarities, what appeals to me, and how they use photos, links, and social media. I seem to be drawn toward sites with a simple background, usually white, with prominent, clear, and attractive photography. I like pops of color with a cohesive theme, so everything seems to coordinate and compliment each other. I want to employ those ideas into my own website. For this project, I will probably include a homepage that has an introduction with a photo, a blog page to display posts, a shop, and a contact page. In the future, I wonder if it would be better for the reader to land first on the blog post page and be able to navigate to whichever page they want, or just to read the most recent posts. Having the menu at the top seems like the best place, and including a search bar is also a useful tool. I am still figuring out how to best integrate affiliate links and want to research more about what kinds of things I can promote.