When setting up a new website, or even introducing a new design to your current site, where would you go for advice? Opinions? Reviews?

Try the nearest webmaster forum, where you will find many people in a similar situation to yourself. No matter how good your website looks, you will always get differing views with some liking the site, some not sure and some dead against it, but if the majority are happy then great - if not, then maybe you need to look again.

There is no better place to ask for constructive criticism than a webmaster forum along the lines of Sitepoint and Digitalpoint, two of the largest and most active around. Do not expect everyone to fall over in awe of your new site, as you will probably receive a number of comments which you did not expect. Take all of the comments on board, and if a number of people mention the same issue, then you should probably have a look again and see what you have done wrong, or even what you have done right. Asking for constructive comments is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you are willingly to see what the outside world think of your ideas.

Never hang too long on the outright rude comments, as you will always get someone trying to pull you down, but rather go for the respectable comments with comments you can relate to and understand. Many of those who review your site will have been in a similar situation themselves, and they may be able to pass on detailed instructions, whether this be about the colours, the design or even the positioning of your adverts.

Do not ignore critical comments, rather read them, break them down and take them on board - they may just be the different between a site which attracts the masses, and one which crumbles.

While the internet offers the chance to create and run a variety of different types of business, due to the massive traffic on the internet, many people choose to offer free services and use online adverts for their income streams (with Google Adsense by far and away the most popular). The problem is when do you add the adverts and where about do you place them? These are questions which could really make or break your income projections!

The first dilemma is when to place your adverts on the site, although we have a few simple guidelines for you :-

Do not place adverts on your site until you have sufficient traffic to make it worthwhile.

Only place Adsense adverts when your site is optimised and the adverts automatically pick up on your content. There is no use showing adverts which are not relevant to your site and subject matter.

The next big question you will face is where to place any adverts, and again we have a few guidelines for you :-

Do not over kill your site with adverts, as this will mask the overall reason for your site and potentially scare off your readers.

Never try and dupe your readers by placing ads under false pretences. Always be up front with your readers, and ensure they know they are clicking on an advert. Apart from the fact it is against Adsense rules, it is also against the spirit of online business.

These are just a few of the simple clues as to when and where to place Adsense (and other advertising services) on your website. Each website will be different, with a different crowd, different feel and different subject matter. Do what is best for you , but stay within the guidelines otherwise your life online will be short and sweet.

When you have been through the hassle and stress of building up your own site and eventually moved it into profit, there is possibly your biggest question to come. How much, if any, profit do you reinvest back into the business, and where exactly should any reinvest go?

This is a massive question for anyone in the business world, not just online sales. You have reached the holy grail of the internet world, a profitable business, but where do you go next?

Some business will need substantial reinvest along the way to ensure they stay up with the latest fashions, the latest looks and increase their advertising exposure. On the other hand, there are some very useful sites which effectively look after themselves and will need minimum regular reinvest, but perhaps the odd revamp or advertising program (often referred to as cash cows). When do you know when to invest? And Where?

The golden rule about reinvesting into your business is the expected rate of return, and what each pound reinvested will bring to the company now and in the future. If there is no expected return, or the return is tiny, then your company may already have reached a peak whereby you may need to look at other avenues such as other legs to the business, etc.

While you do not expect each £1 of reinvested money to make a return instantly, you need to be in a position to estimate the future return, see if this is acceptable, and then arrange the necessary finance to go back in. Do not fall into the trap of reinvesting for the sake of reinvesting - some businesses are very investment intensive, needing extra capital to increase future profitability (which is fine if you can see where it is coming from), but if there is no acceptable return, don’t reinvest your profit as you will just be throwing your money away.

One good rule to remember in business, always keep some funds available to hand in case an opportunity arises or you spot a niche in the market. Do not spend all of the profits as successful businesses often attract interesting expansion opportunities!

When setting up a retail site, or at the very least a site where some form of online payment is required,. there are many many different payment options available. The cost of installing them all into an online shop format can be quite costly, but do you need to cover all of the angles, or just the main ones?

While some of the main payment methods include PayPal and Google Checkout, there are many more and even the likes of Amazon are set to introduce their own third party system into the market place. A number of factors which online retailers have to consider are :-

Who are you trying to attract? Which market.

Do you really want to go all of the way down the payment options chain? Some are more reliable than others.

These are just a few of the questions that you need to ask yourself when setting up your own site. Different payment methods have different charges, different usage penalties and different charge back rates (i.e. when customers cancel). You really need to find a balance between offering the best all round service, not giving your customer too many options (which may confuse them and make your site look untidy) and retaining a quality of service on your site.

While it is great to be able to attract more and more customers, some payment systems have troubled histories and are prone to certain actions by customers. Do you really want to become involved in this end of the market?

While there is no doubt that the internet has increased the number of new business ventures being released to the market, there are still many pitfalls and potential problems which business owners need to navigate through. How much preparation do you really need, or can you react to situations as you go along?

Those online business ventures which have even the slightest chance of being successful will need to be the subject of much preparation and organisation. There are so many factors to consider, costs to compare and strategies to put in place that it is just not possible to “react as you go along”. Budgets, target markets, profit margin and what your customers are doing is vital, and needs to be addressed before releasing your venture to the consumer market.

Once you go live with your business you need to be in a situation to ensure the customer receives a great standard of service, otherwise they will not return, not to mention strategies for getting customers to even consider you in the first place! It is not easy and those who claim to have created a business within a couple of days, released it to the market and moved into profit are either very very fortunate or not telling you the whole truth.

When setting up an online business you need to consider :-

Hosting services.

Assistance. Do you actually need help, or can you automate parts of your business and look after the rest?

These are just a small selection of what you need to start your business with many many more tasks to carryout once you have gone live. You need to be informed as to what is happening in your market, what is hot and what is not, and you need to be honest - Is there really a viable market and a viable business out there for you?

If you are not 100% certain that your business can flourish, why should anyone else believe you?

For those who have not come across viral marketing, it is a marketing system which takes a long time to perfect, but can have impressive results. In basic terms, it involves putting together a package, offer or information pack which thousands if not millions of people will find useful. As you may be able to guess, the viral effect is the mean by which it is passed from person to person, like a quick moving virus.

So how does it work?

Some of the more successful viral marketing campaigns have covered anything from the latest iPhone available early, codes to unlock certain systems or scandal on the top celebrities. Sport has also been heavily involved in viral marketing, with world cup winning goals, sports people behaving badly and the like all very popular.

A good example of a viral marketing campaign would be the link to a world cup goal video, with an affiliate gambling link inserted within the email. The idea would be that the email was passed from person to person, with each viewer seeing both the link to the video, as well as the link to your gambling affiliate link.

Each and every person who placed a bet via your affiliate link would bring in commission for you, and if your viral email were to go global, that could turn out to be a very substantial amount.

Who uses viral marketing?

While viral marketing is open to anyone with a good idea, product or service, the cost of approaching a professional marketing company may mean that many people are not able to reach these heights. That is not to say that you could not do your own viral marketing campaign, but it is not as simple as it sounds. As well as a well worded email or advert, you also need to have the outlets to release the campaign, and there are some excellent marketing firms out there who can release your campaign at the right time, in the right places.

Just one viral marketing campaign has the potential to put you “on the map”, and kick start any business, but if may be worth while taking advice on the best release methods and campaign styles.