Building your new website doesn’t have to be a lonely struggle. As you think long and hard about what your website will become, it pays to take advantage of the many helpful tutorials the Internet has to offer. Whether you’re trying to start a blog, sell your products, achieve a high search rank or get traction on PPC, detailed help is only a few clicks away.

Here are some helpful (and free) resources:

CopyBlogger

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Chances are, your website exists to carry out some specific purpose: selling a product, offering downloadable content, or encouraging people to subscribe to a blog. Nothing beats Copyblogger.com in terms of free advice for helping you achieve your site’s goals. Post after post is filled to the brim with practical knowledge on writing good headlines, emphasizing the features and benefits of your product, closing sales and getting into the minds of your target market.

If you did not perform research originally (while building the site) strongly consider reading about these topics now. Then, analyze your website to determine whether it is structured to drive maximum engagement and conversions. If it isn’t, Copyblogger’s blog posts and tutorials will tell you exactly how to get it to where it needs to be. Copywriting 101 is a good place to start.

WordPress

(Debs (ò‿ó)♪)

WordPress.com offers not only blogging software, but also a wealth of free educational resources on how to make the most of your own blog. First, there’s the free 10 Step Walkthrough Guide for those who feel nervous or confused about setting up their first blog. Everything from registering for a WordPress account to deciding on topics and formats to installing customized themes is covered in specific, screen-shot detail that anyone can follow.

The WordPress company blog is another excellent (and free) way to stay current on all the latest features, plug-ins and tricks available to you as a blogger. No matter what blogging questions or challenges you have, the answers are usually there.

SEOBook.com

(SEOBook)

Of course, a well-built website that carries out your goals isn’t very helpful unless people actually go there. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. Now, if you have any experience on the web, you may know that SEO is a “murky” skill set. There are more “theories” about what makes websites rank highly in Google than you can count, and seemingly no assurance that any of them have documented, repeatable success behind them.

Aaron Wall’s SEOBook.com blog eliminates all of that. While SEOBook does offer a paid monthly membership, its free articles also offer straightforward, no-nonsense SEO strategies to anyone who’s interested. Refreshingly, the focus here is on specific, implementable answers that you can test immediately (rather than high-level theory that leaves you confused.) Read about link building for starters.

Google AdWords

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It may also benefit you to learn about pay per click (PPC) marketing as well. While effective SEO (gaining inbound links, developing high-ranking content, etc.) can take time, a PPC advertisement can be displayed as soon as you sign up and agree to pay for it. As the name implies, you only pay when a visitor clicks your ad and visits your webpage, rather than paying for mere exposure. Google AdWords is the premier PPC network and, luckily, offers a wealth of knowledge and training to those just getting started.

The AdWords Beginner’s Guide is a recommended place to start. It is here that the basics of AdWords and PPC are explained, including:

• Account setup
• Costs & bids
• Keyword selection
• Writing your ads
• Testing & tracking your ads

Website Goodies

(Website Goodies)

Website Goodies is a miscellaneous “grab bag” of help resources for just about any website-related problem or challenge you could have. If you’ve ever wanted to know how a website got its cool mouse-over effect, Website Goodies can tell you. Want to find out how quickly your site loads? The speed test has you covered. Need to find out where in the country one of your visitors is? The IP Checker is here to help.

Whether you want advice (in the form of articles or videos) or a specific tool to get something done right away, Website Goodies is a solid one-stop resource to check out. Add it to your bookmarks and consult its arsenal of tips and tricks whenever a need arises.