Owning Your Own Website In Your Retirement Years

1/26/2018

Owning a Website in Retirement

According to the most recent statistical data available for the 2016 calendar year, over 85% of folks aged 50 - 64 and 65% of folks over 65 are regular internet users. With the constant push toward online banking, shopping and social communication, the amount of boomers and retirees will only continue to grow in the coming years.

If you have a hobby, skill, or any kind of product or service you want offer for the benefit of other people, then owning a website in retirement can help build a solid bridge between you and your desired audience. Specifically, owning a website in retirement can provide the following benefits:

A website provides you with a dedicated, professional showcase to advertise and offer your ideas, expertise and/or goods and services for sale
Building off of #1, a website gives you the potential to increase your retirement income to supplement your living expenses and enjoy life even more
A website can even help create a healthy emotional bond between you and your visitors, especially when dealing with personal subjects and ideas

What Types of Websites Are There?

There are three main types of websites that are common on the Internet today:

Personal. A personal website is simple. It usually has an introduction (or home) page, a biography page, a contact page, and a blog article section. A blog is very similar to a journal, in which you can post articles detailing your life experiences, ideas, skills, expertise, or anecdotal stories that can help add value to other people's’ lives.
Business. A business website is more in-depth than a personal website. It usually has all of the components of a personal website, but also has one or more pages to outline/detail the goods and/or services your business offers. The blog article section on a business website usually has articles on specific goods, services or anecdotal information demonstrating your industry expertise.
E-Commerce. An e-commerce website generally involves all of the components of a business website, but it adds a dedicated section where you can list individual goods or services for sale. Most e-commerce websites also have some sort of checkout function that includes a way for customers to pay for your offerings directly through the website (either through a platform like PayPal, or a credit card processing company).

The kind of website that is appropriate for you depends entirely on you individual reason(s) for having a website. What is more, choosing a website development platform that allows you to change or expand your online exposure/presence as your desires or needs change ensures your website can always be expanded or customized to grow as you do.

What is a Website Development Platform?

A website development platform is the software program you choose to either build your website yourself on, or to have a professional construct your website for you on.

Some platforms are very limited. This means if you decide to start with a simple, personal or business website you will not be able to add an e-commerce section to it without building a new website that is e-commerce capable.
Other platforms are very expandable, meaning you can start with a simple personal or business website and add many different customizable features as your online presence and/or personal desires grow.

It is very important to make sure you choose a website development platform that has the capability to grow with you, so that you never need to change platforms because doing so can take time and money you would not need to spend with a bit of foresight and planning.

What Should Your Online Presence Include?

Besides building a website, you should consider the following things in order to construct your safe, professional online presence:

URL Domain Privacy Registration. In order to have a website, you first need to purchase a domain name. A domain name is what a customer types into a search engine like Google to be taken to your website, like www.joepublicswebsite.com. When you purchase a domain name, your personal information is automatically registered in WHOIS, an international database of domain name owners. However, many companies like Google allow you to add privacy registration. This means that your name and personal information remains private with a Google based address and contact information put in its place. This is totally legal, and strongly recommended.
A Reliable Website Hosting Company. Just like a URL, every website requires a host. The host is the connection point between the development software and becoming a live site on the world wide web. It is important to choose a website hosting company that provides its clients with personalized customer service, and is not so large that it treats its customers like ID numbers instead of individuals. It is also important to make sure its pricing is straightforward, and its service does not experience periodic maintenance that causes the websites it hosts to go offline at inopportune times.
A Professional Email Address. This uses your domain name in the address instead of Gmail, Yahoo mail or another free personal account. For example, a professional website would be something like “[email protected].” This allows you to have a public email address that is seperate from the personal address you use with family and friends. For businesses, it is also a way to present yourself as a professional, which can help your visitors feel comfortable trusting you.
A VOIP Phone Number. If you plan to provide your website visitors a way to reach you by telephone, a VOIP phone number allows you to have a dedicated phone number that is separate from your personal one. Many VOIP numbers even allow you to download an application on your smartphone to make and receive calls through that number than you give your family and friends. This turns your smartphone into a two-line phone without having to purchase two seperate phones to conduct personal and professional business. This also helps protect your privacy by allowing you to have a dedicated, professional voicemail message to help your visitors feel comfortable trusting your business experience and acumen.

Self-Built Versus Professional Designed Websites

It is important to understand that just having a website is not a guarantee for online success personally or professionally speaking. After all, there are over 1 billion websites on the internet today. Therefore, you should make sure that your website looks professional and functions flawlessly if you want visitors to be impressed with the presentation of your idea, goods or services versus the many other websites they might choose to visit instead.

Self built websites are usually the lesser expensive option, but they can tend to become overwhelming to some folks who are not computer savvy, or do not have previous web design and build experience
Professionally designed websites can cost more to create, but can lay a solid foundation for you to grow online from because you are trusting a team of professionals who design successful websites for a living.

Additionally, a professionally designed website can provide you with specific features like search engine optimization.

Search engine optimization involves structuring a website for Google to be able to scan, index and recommend the most efficiently and effectively. This includes using keywords that potential visitors search for in Google, Yahoo and other major search engines when searching online for the goods, services or ideas you offer on your website.

It is important to keep in mind that today, just about every business, and many private citizens, have a website or at least an online presence of some sort. This makes websites as common as listings in the White or Yellow Pages phone books used to be. This is why it is extremely important to trust a professional with creating a new, or reformulating an existing website.

A professional website developer who is versed in design and search engine optimization can build you a visually appealing, psychologically appropriate, emotionally engaging, and fundamentally solid website separating you from other websites and/or businesses in less time, and with less hassle, than you could build a website yourself. This combination of factors significantly increases your chances for sustained, prominent online success.

seOdona Organic Website Development Services

seOdona offers professional website development services to a diverse array of people of all ages, professional backgrounds and general walks-of-life. Although seOdona began in Arizona, their dedicated team now operates satellite locations in Southern California and Washington State that allows their team to serving clients throughout the United States.

The seOdona team specializes in designing elegant, intelligent and engaging websites that are organically search engine optimized to help clients achieve a prominent online presence personally or professionally. With very fair fees for their expertise and services, as well as a straightforward pricing policy, seOdona believes in educating and empowering its clients while positioning them for long-term online success.

The seOdona team welcomes you to visit their beautiful, informative website by clicking here, and to contact them if you would to discuss your ideas and visions…. as well as set up a free, no-obligation consultation to help you decide if they are the right professional website development company for you!

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