Zac Johnson over at zacjohnson.com did a post on this topic and it really got me thinking so I went over and looked at the first website I ever built online...
LMAO... as the old saying: "You've Come A Long Way Baby" has never applied more.
I used Blogger for my first site and really I had no clue what I was doing. The SEO, both on-site and off is totally pathetic, I never even did any keyword research so the title and title tags are totally lame and untargeted... 
The monetization was totally out of control because I had all this empty space in the sidebar so I filled it with banner after banner, like I am talking endless banners, don't even get me started on the tags that I used as I had no clue what they were at the time.
My only traffic came from 3 people, 1 of which was my cousin who also clicked on some ad that paid 1 cent, so that was my 1st official online earning.
In reality that site taught me a lot and gave me the hands-on experience that allowed me to move forward, but it sure is funny to look at it now and it really gives me a great view of how far I have come in the world of Internet marketing and blogging.
So I'd like to hear from you guys about your first websites and/or blogs?
Did you get it right the first time?
Was that site inducted into the Amateur Hall of Fame like mine, lol?
Follow Me on Twitter @: EuniceCoughlin
(25 comments)
My first website was a Site Build It site so it didn’t look too bad but it was too broad of a niche so it had all kinds of crazy content on it.
I am curious, though, about what made you get better as a designer and marketer? Did you buy a book, find a mentor?
Eunice@Simple Internet Strategiess last blog post..Opportunity.Com Good Only for Serious Internet Marketers
@Eunice
A fantastic free ebook by Jeremy Palmer called Quit Your Day Job and a free webinar he created for newbies.
Reading forum posts at 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums and asking lots of questions over there.
And when I felt ready to really start I bought BANS and built a store site, that one too was not my best work, but it makes me great money now, and it was basically trial and error and putting what I learned to work, and that hands-on experience that led to more questions that I looked for answers to, once I learned how to rank that site, then I just built more and more and got easier and easier.
It’s really all about the experience and jumping in!
Thats funny, i was just talking about this the other day, I thought hey looked good they were free bloger blogs, I wasted a bunch of money on domains, but back then there wasnt a lot of competiotion for my niches, I would get 20,000 hits on one event, i was building ppv stream sites,now there everywhere and I just sold one of the best earning sites, but even though the sites useto look like crap, they still get traffic years latter, so my point is it;s not the design, yes everyone loves to have the best looking site but it’s the content that gets traffic. Im really into autoblogging now and finding out that this is the way to go, I will have a http://eautoblog.com/ live real soon, they will be ready built autoblogs, just add your feeds, and your done. Just wanted to let people know,cless is more sometimes, all kinds of widgets, and crap and banners and adds that dont convert just dont cut it, more to come.
Two words: Wayback Machine (now owned by Amazon & Alexa).
@Matt
The Wayback Machine was your first site???? That is so funny, I was just over there yesterday doing some research. Wow Matt I’m impressed!
@JR, very funny guy you are……what I meant was “Look at the Wayback Machine” to see how my site looked in 1998-99. You didn’t mention WM in the article, so I thought it would be helpful to mention WHERE you find the old pages.
@Matt
Ohhh okay got it and here I thought you were this big Internet mogul from back in the day
Follow Me on Twitter @: AMater
(13 comments)
Great topic, JR. My first site was an e-commerce site selling (or trying rather) radio controlled vehicles. The site itself didn’t look too bad, but it failed miserably. My second site was my own personal site and barely got any traffic either. I didn’t know anything about marketing back then.
I’ve come a long way since then and have learned so much more about how to effectively market my sites.
Alan @ Work From Home Ideass last blog post..Build Long-Term Traffic to Your Work From Home Site with Article Marketing
@Alan
It really a business of experience, that is always #1
Follow Me on Twitter @: AMater
(13 comments)
@JR, You got that right! There’s always more to learn and things we can improve on. It’s a never ending process.
Alan @ Work From Home Ideass last blog post..EzineArticles Changes That Affect Every Article Marketer
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
(224 comments)
LOL good topic. My very first site was an ecommerce site I bought – long story but it was illegal at the time and I got burned.
My next couple sites were horrible e-commerce sites built with lame “site builders”…never again.
Dennis Edells last blog post..100 Strategies Book Review FollowUp – I Name Names!
@Dennis Edell,
LOL, yeah my first site is still PR n/a never even indexed as I had no clue!
lol, you guys talking about building your first site on blogger is making me feel seriously old. I just went to the wayback machine, and the oldest site of mine that I can find was built in 2000. (I’m sure I had sites before then, but can’t find any). The one I did find was hand coded html with nested tables to make colored borders.
I also found another website from 2002 promoting the candle business I’m still working. Ironically, I think I actually like the look of that site better than anything I’m currently using.
Thanks for the fun flashback.
Todd
Todd Morris @ tmtips.coms last blog post..Essential WordPress Plugins
@Todd Morris,
Very cool!
Follow the link to see my first blog. It’s evolving everyday. Thanks for the great article!
I put off building a site for 6 months because I thought it had to look professional or I’d have sit in the corner for the rest of the day or something. Then someone said to just get a site up because the worse it is ever going to look is how it looks on the first day. I finally got the guts to start posting and it was great. Then I had my first 10 cent click from Google and I was on top of the world.
I learned that internet marketing is a study in growth because your websites are always growing and your knowledge is always growing. I have learned a lot reading this blog and a few other straight shooters.
Agrande with network marketing leadss last blog post..Network Marketing Lead Prospecting Requires Planning
@Agrande
Thank you, and yes you are totally right it is a process and you just get better and better with experience, you just gotta jump in. That first 10 cents is always the best
my first website was still running and when i analyze it there is no any seo work but i remember when i was developing the site, i was developing it with seo point of view. but now i realize that on that time i was not fully aware of seo.
My current blog (in the URL) is my first blog, but when I first started my blog, it was not about make money online, it was my personal blog that wrote about my lifestyle. After a few days, I was bored and I started to think some other thing to write, since I like to make money from blogging, so I changed my blog to make money blogging.
In term of blog design, my design was suxks, I mean restructure the ready WP themes, but now I know more than what I knew before.
In conclusion, my blog is improving day by day from the first day I started my blog..I believe that others will be the same..:)
Regards,
Lee
Make Money Onlines last blog post..How I Upgrade My Blog To WordPress 2.7.1
This is my first blog and it is still going strong. It is a simple blogger design. I played around with the design a bit to get it to look a certain way..always try to keep it simple..less is more!!
best regards/dave
dave@import from chinas last blog post..China Exports Show Sharp Fall
My first site is still up: http://www.quiz2d.com/ . It’s changed a bit over the years — I’ve gone from Java to JavaScript for the quiz proper — but the overall look and feel is the same. Very pre-blog-era.
Carl M. @ Paid to be Richs last blog post..Obama Unveils Massive New Subsidies for the Rich
About my first website, it was not really good. As time goes by I already improve myself in designing a website and now I can create my own blog with own coding. I really just dependent on a free hosting and trying to keep it up.
sommerhus.orgs last blog post..Luksus sommerhuse
I’m laughing as I type this. I know I came a very long way with my first blogspot blog!! I really wish they would make better templates for blogspot fans such as myself. They also need plugins than those whack applications.
PLR Health Articles For Purchases last blog post..PLR Health Articles- Quality Health Website Content
My first website was one I still have going, my personal blog. Thing is, I know it’s better to have a site on its own server, but the page rank of my blogspot blog is 5, so I don’t want to abandon it and start over. It’s had many template changes over the years – started out generic, now less so.
@Neostead,
PR5 is certainly the big time, do not change anything!
@JR, I registered with Blue Host about a couple months ago with the intent of re-engineering my own blog. However, my PR has also been slowly inching up, so I think I will reserve the self-hosting experience for the next niche blog I am working on. Do you have any good resources to recommend besides 5 Star Affiliates for learning how to build your own website with WordPress? I would really like to use the Thesis theme.
Steve@Success Factorss last blog post..3 Ways to Make Sure You Crack Under Pressure
@Steve
Sorry for late reply, just got back from Vegas. If you go to Caroline Middlebrook’s site at http://www.caroline-middlebrook.com/, she has a really good ebook on building a blog from scratch, it’s the Bloggers Bible and you can sign up with the pop up window that comes up when you enter her site. The free version sends you lessons once a week or you can pay and get it all at once.
Also, John Chow has an excellent ebook on building a blog. Just sign up for his mailing list at the far top right corner at his site or from the pop once you enter and you can get it right away – http://www.johnchow.com/
@Steve
Also, the Thesis theme is really user friendly from what I’ve heard, and all in all it’s not much different than Blogger, actually easier to use than blogger. You just have to learn the WP dashboard-admin which you will get used to pretty quickly.
@JR, thanks so much for your replies, I will take you up on those resources you mentioned, as I seek to progress in the art of getting my JR skills
Steve@SuccessFactorss last blog post..A Key Success Factor to Render Your Weaknesses Irrelevant
@Steve
JR skills, I like that, might have to make it my new tagline!
This post made me grin quite a bit
Talk about nostalgic! My first blog was on Blogger and needless to say, I had no clue as to what I was doing. I was far from knowing what a blog was even about except for a “buzz” word that everyone started using. I think my first blog was about puggles (the designer dog crossbreed between a pug and a beagle). Anyhow the posts were monotonous and I had an extremely hard time knowing what to write. – That is definitely a skill that comes with experience blogging.
Thanks for taking me back down memory lane… It’s been a humbling yet fun and insightful experience!
I officially started my first website a few months ago and its far from complete. Chatting to my IT guys shows me that a website is never complete. I take my hat off to people that have successful websites.
I start my website 2 years ago, It was not so good but have very good traffic. So it became slow now I’m and my team are repairing it and making it some more beautiful and faster than before.
I have to be honest and say that I don’t even remember what my first site was. I have so many now and I’m not sure if I even have the first one anymore.
However I do know that it was far from perfect and that I have learned so much since then.
Mikael @ Retire Earlys last blog post..Google Keyword Competition: How to Do Competitive Keywords Analysis
Hi JR,
Great post! Had me laughing. I saw a copy of my first “home page” a few years ago. I made it almost ten years ago right after I’d learned to make animated gifs. My description of my first (version of my) site would be “cute” and obviously amateur. I should have printed a copy of it for the memories and laughs, but maybe it’s better that I didn’t.
Great question! ~ Steve, aka “trade show display”
My first blog was a personal blog and just like you, I really had no idea what I was doing. I earned a total of 3 cents on that blog for two years! Haha. Those were the days.
Ninah@Free Articles for Sitess last blog post..The Truth About Duplicate Content
Well, I won’t tell about how my first website looked (you can check Wayback machine as Matt said), but how my optimization strategies “looked”. After following several strategies I read on the net I managed to to bring about 150 visitors per day. But that was not the problem. I also managed to get a “+30 google penalty (or something like this)”. However, after several years it is almost out this. phew..
My first site was a ready built site PIPS site so I was lucky. Actually if I were to do it again I would still get someone else to build it for me. There’s too much work involved and it’s best to get a web designer to make it look good.
Peter Lee
Affiliate Marketing Tipss last blog post..One Week Marketing Plan Review
Dont think about it, now I think it looked really funny.
Ben Peis last blog post..Your e-Book – Should It Be EXE or PDF?
My first website was an incomplete project that when I look at it … I say to myself… was I drunk when I was working on it?
.-= Jerry Larach´s last blog ..Viral Submitter Pro Review – The Full Review =-.
@ Jerry
LOL, me too.
Looking back always teaches us so many things. Its good to see some of my favorite bloggers making changes to their blogs. The first ones are rather too simple if not overloaded with contents, that flavor is usually not present but with time the blog owners bring changes which makes the sites even more interesting.