Web Business Adventure

So far it looks like my ads are doing well. According to Google Ads I get quite a few clicks, which is awesome, and they're all within my niche. It also shows me which things people are most interested in, my most clicked keywords are "cheap decorating" and others similar to that. So that tells me I need to do more cheap decorating projects. Though I'm also seeing that people don't stay on my site very long, but Analytics is being funky so I don't even know if that's accurate. Its super frustrating, especially since Google Ads says I get a lot of clicks, and then Google Analytics says I get almost no users on my site. Apparently my site tag wasn't even set up, which is annoying because I definitely did set it up, and it was reporting for a while. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I've reached out to Google for help and they are very unhelpful. I don't really know where else to go for help. 

 The relevance and quality scoring seems really helpful, but I'm worried I won't be able to follow/apply the help it can give me. I used blogger for my blog before I started this class and I loved that it would show me who visited my site and which posts they viewed. It would also show me how people reached my site, whether from facebook, instagram, or from looking it up directly. This was really helpful for knowing how and where to market my site. But I'm having a hard time with google analytics, I can't figure out how to view all the things I want to. I also had a hard time trying to sink it with my site. I just find google products hard to work with. I hope that with time I can learn and understand it better. I think I just need more practice and time getting to know how it works. 

 Ads have honestly been the hardest part of the whole process. I don't really like working with Google, but I also am just not very good at marketing. I wish we'd had a few lessons on good marketing strategies and what makes a good ad. Learning about keywords has really helped because that allows me to focus on things that will be helpful for my site and bring people who are actually interested in  my business.  I've learned its important to use good keywords, and to be straightforward in my descriptions. I think that again helps focus my ads and bring the right people to my site. It also helps people understand and be more interested in what is on my site. I hope that with more practice and more content on my site to advertise  I will get better at advertising and making ads. I would like to see more advertisements and other people's ideas. 

 This week was surprisingly hard. I don't like working with Google, I've found that they aren't very user friendly especially for beginners. I feel like I don't have the right skills and knowledge to understand what they're talking about or want me to do. I'm starting to understand keywords, but I feel like I'm not very good at coming up with good ones. They remind me of hashtags on Instagram and I'm still struggling to get good at those. I think marketing is the hardest part for me honestly.  Maybe I just need to do more research. I understand they're really important, I'm just not understanding how to make it work in my favor. There's a lot of information from Google out there too, support forms, FAQ pages, and all kinds of videos and blogs, but when it comes down to it you have to figure it out on your own. I had the same problem with Google analytics, and I asked customer service for help with my problem I was having and they told me they...

 There was a lot more that goes into the legal structure than I thought. I knew there was a lot of legal things, but I figured with such a small business there wouldn't be as much. It was interesting learning about the legal structures, I thought I would like an LLC best but after some research and discussion I will probably go with a sole proprietorship. It seems a lot simpler especially for such a small business. I didn't realize that I would need a lawyers help for an LLC so that was a bug part of my decision.  Plus I think I can change it in the future if my business gets bigger, or just transition to a more comparable legal structure. I still don't understand licensing really, or if I need any. I didn't know I need to register with the state government though so that was goo to learn.

 With website design I learned that less is more. A minimal website design helps make the site easy to navigate and draws viewers eyes to the most important info. If a site is too confusing, hard to navigate, or frustrating they wont stick around. The sites I studied they really just had a white background with their logo and their content. I think this helps you notice their logo and name, making it stick in your head. It also showcases their best posts, making you want to read and explore more. The design makes their site look more professional and credible, so people are more likely to trust them and read more.  Having a good quality logo is good too. It makes you marketable and look professional. I have a logo I created plus my simple design and it already looks more professional even though I don't have much content.  I hope to be able to learn more as I become more familiar with how to customize it.

 This week was very productive. I learned a lot about hosting and site building and I feel a lot more prepared now.  Before I felt so overwhelmed by all the choices and all the terminology I was unfamiliar with, but after some research and some guidance from our class I feel much more confident in the decision I've made. I feel like I understand better the inner workings of my blog and the business side of it, and it makes me so excited to get started.  I also understand that as I'm just starting out I will only need basic hosting and such, but I like that I can test it out and look at it again in a year or so and make it better if needed! Especially since I still have a lot to learn and I think with experience I will better understand in a year what I need from my hosting and what is still lacking.