How To Start A Tech Site
Written : 4/16/2000
Written by: Moto
I get many emails asking me for advice on starting a web site like
The Tech Zone. Most are from readers, some are from people who has already started a site
but is having trouble getting visitors. Well, I've finally decided to put all I've learn
about running a tech site into this article.
Now, I'm by no means the master of web publishing. There are many
people who know a lot more about this stuff then I. However, I will try to give you some
tips that has help The Tech Zone grow to the size it is now (over 50,000 impressions per
day). So if your site is smaller than The Tech Zone, listen up. If you're bigger, then how
about sending me a few tips?
While this article talks about starting a tech/hardware review site,
the advice can also be used for starting a game sites or any other sites. The Tech Zone
started out as Moto's Project 504, a personal home page about the first computer I built
myself. I never started the site with the intention of making it into a hardware review
site. I never started it hoping it would make me rich or get me lots of free hardware from
manufacturers. I created that site because of my love for computers. And if I were to give
you one piece of advice for tech site success it would have to be "Do it because you
love it".
There are many web sites popping up everyday from people who are
just in it for the money or free hardware. Mind you there is nothing really wrong with
that and I have nothing against people who start hardware sites so they can make some cash
or get some free product samples from the manufacturers. However, I really believe your
chances of becoming a really big site comes from your love of the site and not the things
the site can bring you.
There are three piece of advice I can give for someone starting a
new tech/hardware review site:
One: Get a domain name. This is a must!
You will never ever be taken seriously without one. Go to Network Solutions and start
searching. Most of the good names are taken but if you're creative I'm sure you can come
up with something. For example, my Forums moderator, Kincaid, recently started his tech
site with the domain name pcextremes.com.
I would have thought for sure that would have been taken. It is always a good idea to
register the .com, .net and even the .org domain for the name you want. This way you don't
have people trying to leech off your site using the same domain name as you but ending in
.net or .org. This was my mistakes when I setup The Tech Zone. I only register
thetechzone.com. A few months later some jerk registered thetechzone.net right under my
nose. I'm still trying to get the name back.
Two: Your site must have unique contents. If you
plan to just post news from other sites, you can forget about ever becoming a big site.
People can read news anywhere. It's covered very well by sites like Voodoo Extreme and Blues News.
Three: Make sure your web host can handle your
traffic. At first this will not be a problem, but believe me, once you start doing a few
Gigs of traffic each day, your web host will either kick you out or force you to buy a
dedicated server. Very few web host providers offer true unlimited traffic. Read the fine
print in the contract.
Next page: Getting hardware
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