An online business can be a highly lucrative business opportunity but it certainly isn't for those who don't want to put forth the effort to be successful. If you've taken the time to create a quality website to market your business opportunity or products online, it's important to learn how to create a web presence so potential customers or business partners will be able to find you on the web.

While the majority will hire a web master to create a website, I highly recommend creating your own website to gain complete control over any changes you wish to make on a routine basis. If you are even remotely interested in learning how to become your own web master, you will save yourself a ton of money and gain the satisfaction of being able to make changes immediately. There are many programs on the market today that will allow you to create a quality website without any knowledge of html coding. I have had great success with BlueVoda Web Builder and recommend this program to all of my friends who are interested in creating a website.

Search Engine Optimization is key to the survival of your online business based on your online exposure. Search engines rank websites based on two major factors: unique content with pertinent keywords in the body, and link popularity - the number of quality incoming links your website has. With this in mind, it is important to establish a quality, content-rich website with the following characteristics:

Page Titles- Each of your pages should have a title that is relevant to the content. Look for words or phrases that are repeated in your text and use them in your title.

Content- Your content is extremely important. Once you have established the body of your text, look for key words and phrases that are similar and begin to alter the text so they are repeated in the same manner. For example, a website that contains the phrases ‘work at home' and ‘work from home' should be changed so all phrases are repeated the same way.

Metatags- Search for repeated words and phrases that are important to those who would do a word search. Put yourself in the shoes of those who may be looking for a website like yours. What type of words or phrases would you type in the search engine to find your site? These are the types of words you should use as your metatags.

Unbroken Links- Be sure to have all of your links working properly. The search engines don't like to see a website with broken links. Not only is it important to link to other websites within your text, it is also important to link certain words or phrases to other pages within your own website.

Link Partnerships- Creating a link partner's page is critical in creating a healthy web presence. However, search engines will look down on websites that are perceived to be a link farm. Carefully select other website partnerships based on content. For instance, a website selling children's clothing would benefit from linking to other sites selling similar items. However, be selective because you don't necessarily want people to be drawn away from your website to shop on someone else's site. The merchandise being sold does not have to necessarily be the same, just similar in nature.

Remember, success does not usually take place over night. Creating your own website and web presence will take a lot of time and patience. Set goals for yourself and take small measures towards a long-term plan of growth. You'll be able to look back and see amazing strides if you stick to it.

Sabrina Coffin currently works exclusively from home and enjoys staying home with her 4 children and husband of 16 years. To learn more about her home candle business you may visit her site at http://www.Oceansidescents.com/. She also has created a site for Work at Home Moms at http://www.WahmsAlley.com/ .