Over at ProBlogger there is an exceptional discussion on whether to recommend SiteBuildIt as the best way to build a Web site. Since I’ve actually seen and tried out their system while assisting a friend in building a site there I wanted to share some insights and recommend you check out the great comments that other Site Build It users have shared.
One thing to understand is that Site Build It is NOT simply a way to create a Web site or Web pages. There are many of those that are far faster – and some easier – to use. Simply building Web pages is not really what Site Build It is all about. It goes far beyond that and anyone considering Site Build It as a platform for building an online business needs to understand that.
The difference between the Site Build It system and any other method of creating a Web site is the research it forces you to do to ensure that:
- There is a demand for what you intend to build – or to find niches that will generate a demand
- That your site is search engine friendly so that your visitors will find you
- That the site is usable
While those things sound simple they are extraordinarily complex. Few people who build sites – even those who do it for a living – have adequate experience with all three of those concepts. If you don’t cover all the bases, you’re going to be leaving business on the table. If you don’t understand any of them adequately, you may build an online business that never makes any money.
That is the bottom line: the Site Build It system forces you to build a business that will make money online. Other ways of building Web sites do not. There are many comments in the ProBlogger discussion from people who are building sites with Site Built It and other platforms.
The most telling is from Kathi whose site is How to Make Resumes – Learn How to Do Resumes Correctly wrote:
“I am an SBI owner, having built 6 of my own sites using this platform. I also have a number of other non-SBI sites that I built using straight HTML, WordPress and Blogger. None but the SBI sites are making any significant amount of money.
And that’s despite thinking I’m using all of my SBI knowledge to build those other sites. There’s something special about how SBI sites succeed.”
That pretty much sums it up. If you want a turn-key system that teaches you Site Build It could be what you need. It is one of three platforms that I can strongly recommend. The other two are WordPress and Volusion Store Systems. Both of these can be very successful and both have similar learning curves to Site Build It.
No matter what platform you use, to make money requires understanding generating visitors, being found by the search engines (SEO), and Web site usability. You either have to learn it or hire someone who already knows it. Just be wary of hiring those who THINK they do, but don’t.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: businessnquotes
December 2, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Twitter: @businessnquotes
You I have heard of Site built it but I never really spend the time to really check them out. I am looking to build an online business so I will be sure to read more about them thanks for this post very informational…
It is actually a great system for filtering people that will make it and people who wont.
If you try sbi and find it too much work and give up, then at least it saved you the time of making your own site on wp or whereever, then not putting in the work needed but just fumbling around for a long time and then giving up.
You either put in the work needed and succeed, or you see that it’s too much work, making money online is just not for you and you don’t quit your day job.
Danny would love you to read ..Earthwise PS40008 8-inch Electric Pole Chain Saw
Those that build websites for a living have no way of knowing how to do all those things, because the information volume is huge. That’s why i find it better to team with at least another competent and experienced webmaster. You’ll have to share the profit but you’ll grow a lot faster.
Antonia would love you to read ..Master Hypnosis – Why Your Tone is so Important
Twitter: lookbigcommerce
April 4, 2011 at 12:30 am
Twitter: @lookbigcommerce
I’m all good CMS systems. I think they’re brilliant. I often use one whenever I build a website. But would you ever consider building a site without a CMS platform these days?
Ayden would love you to read ..BigCommerce Review
The most amazing thing about SBI is that if you follow the action guide till the end, and do everything they tell you to the best of your ability, you will succeed with your new website. You will rank high in the serps, you will get visitors, and you will make money. It is not easy, you have to do the work, and a lot of it. But in the end, you will be very very happy that you found it in the first place.
No regrets.
Joe would love you to read ..Partner Links
Twitter: GrowMap
February 13, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Joe,
I totally agree that the SBI process is simply brilliant because I understand what it is doing – having done the same things manually. I suspect many who try it give up not realizing the importance of the tons of work required up front, but if they will stick with it they WILL end up targeting the right niche keywords to make money.
growmap would love you to read ..Yahoo Stores Expert Rob Snell 10-354-767 Sales Increase
Well I agree with your points. Good content is must for building a better web site. Nice article.
Twitter: MyDubaiStay
September 5, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Twitter: @MyDubaiStay
Quite well said there is a huge difference between building a site and building a business. Although money is not everything but it sure is the driving force behind all businesses.
Thank you for sharing such a nice post
I’m looking for the right platform to build an ecommerce website. I’m currently looking for some references.
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Twitter: GrowMap
September 5, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Roger,
There are three platforms that I have recommended most over the years because their shopping carts worked best. Those are Volusion (best independent platform), Yahoo! Stores (which you pay a percentage of sales to because they have existing traffic) and ProStores (which had a great reputation but I have never had a client that actually used it).
It has been some time since I worked closely with a lot of ecommerce stores. There are now ways to add a shopping cart to WordPresss that MIGHT be suitable. That would require more research and may depend on the size of the store you have in mind.
I am assuming that by ecommerce site you mean one that has a shopping cart and uses your merchant account. If you mean an affiliate site all you need is WordPress although some prefer Joomla.
Which you prefer may depend on whether you are going to hire someone to build it or you plan to do it yourself.
I highly recommend Rob Snell as one of the very best http://ystore.blogs.com/“>Yahoo Store experts around. The main reason to work with Rob is that the default design of Yahoo! Stores does not convert nearly as well as the upgrades he uses and most importantly, Yahoo! Stores were severely hit by the Google MayDay Update with many of them losing 20-30% of their traffic ands sales virtually overnight and what they are doing will continue to affect more and more small businesses and ecommerce stores. Rob’s customers were not affected because he had advised them wisely.
If you prefer an independent store I may be able to reach the Volusion expert I used to work with most closely.
Be very careful of many of the most popular shopping cart solutions. I found that they declined far too many sales for all kinds of reasons from the person’s name being too long for the field to not recognizing a particular abbreviation when entering an address – and the worst thing is declining sales but not providing a specific reason.
Most buyers will NOT contact a site when they have difficulty checking out – they simply leave – so many stores are turning away a large percentage of sales and don’t even know it. It is challenging enough to make money without doing that!
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Hey I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write something worth reading. I am all over the net and I see so much pointless content that is just written for the sake of putting something fresh on their site . It takes devotion to create good stuff, thanks for caring.
.-= Making Money Blogging´s featured blog ..What Is A Blog =-.
Twitter: toptenservices
April 27, 2010 at 9:55 am
Twitter: @toptenservices
I have been using Xsitepro so far but didn’t like it much. I have built 3 sites with it but none of them look up to the mark. I guess, I will try Sitebuildit and see if that’s better in comparison to XSitepro. Thanks for sharing the insight.
Andy.
You’re totally right, i thing to most important thing is good content and smart to get more and more visitors and keeping them.
.-= Aspirefreak´s last blog ..TimelineX 5820T =-.
I agree with you. A well designed site must attract visitors then only your bussiness will grow. SEO services deals with all the website business growth.
Twitter: GrowMap
March 11, 2009 at 11:05 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Brian When you post your article you’re welcome to share the link in the comments here.
@Jim I am familiar with SBI because I once assisted a friend to create a site using the system. I had access to it and did the keyword research for her and because of my own background in ppc and keyword research I was impressed with what the system was doing behind the scenes – and also knew that most people would not have the patience to stick with it.
I do not personally have any SBI sites so I can not accurately answer your question. However, I can say that I saw some sites targeting very small niches that were able to generate traffic and sales far beyond what anyone would expect precisely because they used SBI. I am certain they would never have flown without it.
The one I remember most clearly was a featured SBI site on juggling. Imagine how much traffic juggling alone would bring in and then consider that SBI had him targeting children’s parties, events, etc. Those are FAR larger niches that would be interested in juggling but unlikely to be actively SEARCHING for juggling.
What’s the performance comparation between your SBI sites and non SBI in terms of traffic and revenue?
Jim’s last blog post..How Make Money Online With Google Adsense
Very useful stuff here. I am researching content for an article. Bookmarked, will be back.