If you want to build a website yourself, you might be confused where to start. I started up my first website in November 2005 with no prior development experience and I now have 3 sites running, all of which I built myself.

If you've done any research on the Internet you'll probably run into numerous websites that are trying to pull in 100 different directions telling you to buy this product and that product, telling you to do one thing after another, and you might be confused as to where to start.

Given that several months ago, I was in the same boat as you, here are some thoughts regarding how you can build your own website(s) from scratch just like I did.

First off, think of things that you know about and can comfortably talk about. All of us know something and the best thing you can do is think about topics that interest you and that you could comfortably discuss with other people. Chances are that there are other people out there that are looking for information on what you know about. Building a website is about building content, writing information that other people want to read, and if you can think of topics to build your website around that you're familiar with and knowledgeable about, you're off to a good start.

Second, think about your website for the long term. Too many websites talk about short term, get rich quick stuff that might not work tomorrow. Besides, if it was the "right" thing to do, wouldn't everyone already be doing it? Search engines are getting smarter with weeding out websites that are junk. They want to supply their visitors with search results that actually add value and building a website that concentrates on good, interesting, original content written by you is your best bet for long term success.

Third, don't necessarily expect success overnight. It might be a longer, drawn out process that you might expect. Sure, it is possible to have success very quickly after setting up a website but there are millions of existing websites already running, with millions more on the way, so remember that you're competing with all of them for the attention of web surfers.

Fourth, think about what you like to see when you're surfing the web. What sorts of things do you enjoy seeing and conversely, what things do you see on a website that turn you off. Do constant pop up ads bother you? Does large amounts of advertising on a website turn you off? Do spelling mistakes and grammatical errors cause you to lose confidence in a website you're visiting? Remember that the quality and readability of your website can go a long way to attracting and keeping visitors.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!