Why a home based web business isn't the easy option!

I read alot about search engine optimisation (SEO) over the weekend. I realised that I needed to increase the number of external links (still not sure if this means reciprical links or one way though).

So links it is. I spent the morning writing more articles and then searched for sites to publish them on. Found ezine, 1888 articles and Helium. Posted a couple of articles to see how long it takes to review and how it looks/links etc once published. Also found some e-zine directories which I will use for my new newsletter (will finalise the first edition this week).

From what I have read, the key appears to be the number of links related to your content- again, not entirely clear about what I'm doing, but I will keep on my current course and see if it makes a difference.

Got an email from a company wth an SEO proposal for my website. They gave me a fair overview of my site (I know this as it reflected the information I had recieved from my web hosting company's report). They provided me with a list of options, which fell into three catergories:

1. Natural search
2. W3C
3. Links

Again, no real surprises. After a little deliberation, I decided that I would be better learning how to optimise my site myself. That way I could apply this knowledge to each new web site I build. The drawback to this is time.

So, biting the bullet, i set to work to validate my site to W3C standards. As I understand it W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is an international organisation set up to set standards and protocols for the web. I found a web site set up by W3C that checks your website's code and validates it. If your site doesn't comply, it gives you the errors. Fantastic! So I spent a few hours validating my pages. This is apparently important, as it helps the web crawlers. For your information the website is: http://validator.w3.org/. (I'm no way affiliated to this organisation, I just think it's a really useful tool for us non-techies out there!). Hope it helps.

Tomorrow is natural search. Better get some sleep!

Where to start?

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I have been working hard trying to build the online business, but also have been undertaking consultancy work to earn some extra money. Don't believe anyone who tells you that starting any business from home is easy, and that you will get rich overnight. Like any business, it takes time to build and time to get the money flowing.

So I have had my mad moments. My pulling-my-hair-out moments. But I'm still here in one piece! Briefly over the last few months I have:

• Been finessing the content of www.athomeworking.co.uk
• Trying to figure out how to improve the sites ranking (if anyone can help me here I would appreciate it!)
• Writing contect for several new websites (I'm good at content, just need some help with the SEO)
• Working as (unpaid)script editor on a soap opera for the web (The Warrington Soap- coming soon!)
• Doing some marketing and business consultancy to keep the wolves from the door
  
  So I have been busy. Just a little frustrated with all the search engine stuff.
  
  But onwards ad upwards. Speak soon!