
Want to learn how to start a business from home for free? I’ll show you exactly how to do it.
When it comes to starting a business, it’s easy to assume that you need a massive budget to make it happen.
That’s not necessarily true!
The reality is that online business is one of the cheapest home based businesses to start and you don’t really need that much experience.
Yet even though there are so many benefits to setting up an online business, most people avoid online business. There is still a stigma to working online, and people are quick to assume that it’s all a scam.
Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not a scam. There are plenty of online businesses that you can start with just a handful of change, less than you spend on a cup of coffee.
How to Start a Business from Home for Free:
There are so many different types of online business, and we won’t discuss them all in this article.
But the type of online business that I highly recommend requires two things; a domain name and a hosting company.
Those are the only things that you need to start an online business, and both can be bought for less than a couple of coffees.
But if you are really tight on cash, and can’t even spare some change, that’s fine; as there are completely free options too.
I also recommend that you start with the free options as it gives you a platform to play around with to get the feel of working online.
When I first started working online..
I started blogging on a Blog Spot, Google’s free blogging platform.
Eventually I realized that to see ideal results you need to create your own website, one that you have full control over.
So where can you get a domain name and hosting for free?
There are a lot of blogging platforms that you can use for free, some of which are listed below.
- WordPress
- BlogSpot
- Tumblr
- Wix
- Weebly
- SquareSpace
Though the above platforms are free, there are a few problems with these website creators.
Problems With Free Blogging Platforms:
For instance, the website will be hosted on a sub-domain, not a real domain.
Websites hosted on a sub-domain don’t rank as well in search engine results (like Google).
Another thing to keep in mind is that the company has complete control over your website, and they can disable it whenever they please.
It certainly would not be pleasant to come home and find that your blog has been disabled for some tiny rule violation.
Do you really want to leave the fate of your business in someone else’s hands?
And you also can’t customize the website as each website comes with a theme that you can only make a few changes to.
That’s why it’s important to invest in a domain name and a proper hosting company where you can host your own website.
In this article, we talk about how to set up a website in a matter of seconds.
A domain name costs around $12 to $15 per year and that’s basically all that you need to get started online.
Once you link your domain name to your hosting and install WordPress, everything that you need to start making money is right in your hands.
Starting a website is not difficult at all, in fact it’s the easiest part of building an online business.
But most people assume that you need to hire a web-designer and graphic-designer and spend thousands of dollars to create a website.
That’s not the case.
So though you can make money with the free platforms mentioned earlier, I recommend spending some cash to get the right tools.
Use The Proper Tools!
The right tools will make it much easier to turn your website into a profitable business.
I only use three tools for my website.
And each one has a free membership or trial period so there’s really nothing to worry about.
The main tool I use is for keyword research.
It’s what I use to find low-competition keywords that I can target in articles and rank for maximum traffic.
Basically, my entire business plan revolves around writing keyword-targeted articles.
You can read a review of my favorite keyword research product here.
The other tool is aWeber, an email marketing and management service.
I always recommend collecting email addresses from day one because it makes it super easy for you to interact with your fans.
Additionally, it makes it easier for fans to consume your content because the link to your latest article pops up in their email inbox.
There are other free email management services that you can use too, such as MailChimp or WordPress’s default newsletter.
An email management tool is not completely necessity but it’s highly recommended.
When Do You Make Money?
A website isn’t a business until it starts bringing in cash, and there are several ways to make money from a website.
But before you create a website, it’s best to do research to find a need, a niche to fill.
Most people will create a website based on their passion.
However, more often than not, they share the same passion with many other people.
Therefore, creating a website based on your passion might not be the best decision because the competition could be quite tough.
Creating a new website in a competitive niche will be a challenge.
It’s not easy to beat other websites that have been around for much longer.
So I recommend searching for niches that are not competitive.
How do you find niches with low competition?
You can get a pretty good idea if a niche is competitive or not by using a keyword research tool and our favorite search engine, Google.
With our recommended keyword research tool you’ll be able to see the amount of competing websites for a keyword.
(This is often listed as QSR in the search toolbar)
Here’s a quick example of keyword research based on anti aging or anti wrinkle niche.
Ideally, a keyword should have double or single digit QSR as that means you’ll have a better chance to rank for that keyword.
But you still need to take a look at the currently search results for that keyword.
Copy the keyword into Google and do a search.
Are the first results filled by authority websites? Would you be able to beat those results?
Occasionally a keyword will be found that has a really low QSR but it will still be difficult to rank.
The reason for this is because even though there are only a few competing websites for that keyword, those websites are authority websites that have a lot of back-links and content.
So it’s always a good idea to take a look at the currently Google results for a target keyword.
If there are no well-known websites competing for the keyword, it’s a good idea to target it.
The purpose of targeting keywords is to bring in more traffic.
You’ll need to write an article that targets your keyword.
You want people to read the article and then take some sort of action, such as buying one of your products.
Read More: HOW TO TRAVEL AND BLOG: TURN YOUR WEBSITE INTO PROFIT WITH SIMPLE STEPS!
In the article, make sure to link to the products that you want people to buy or if you offer a service, link to your services.
To Scale Your Online Business, Repeat The Process:
Then it’s just a matter of repeating the process until you have plenty of articles on your website bringing in traffic and sales.
It takes time, but it’s well-worth the trouble.
Most successful bloggers started their websites on there own, from scratch, and with a tiny budget, much like you at this moment.
The only reason they became successful is because they didn’t give up and kept working on their project everyday for years.
Small changes over a long course of time can add up to some amazing results.
It’s okay to start small. Most people do.
You probably think that you need to come up with the perfect website idea to make cash online.
But sometimes a simple website can bring in more cash than an overly-complicated idea.
So it really all boils down to one thing and one person; YOU.
You can be the owner of a successful online business and earn money from anywhere in the world if you start small and make gradual progress.
How long does it take to make money with an online business? Check out this post for the breakdown.
Start Right Now:
Join me in the world’s best online business training center, and lets work together to build the businesses we always wanted.
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So now you know how to start a business from home for free.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article and if you have any questions please leave them below!
Wow, i had no idea that blog spot was associated with Google, but it makes sense since google adsense is one of their key selling points to try and get you to sign up.
I often think of domains and hosting as owning real property. If you don’t properly maintain your house and develop it, you won’t see it gain any value and no one is going to to want to visit, wouldn’t you agree?
Yeah, Ryan you’ve got to see make sure your site up to date.
I recently did some house keeping recently. Wealthy Affiliate had 2 great training’s the really have helped.
The first was about changing your site from http to https. This is a must have for membership sites, and is a more secure site essentially. Wealthy Affiliate’s hosting platform and training makes this easy to accomplish.
The second class was about amping up the mobile versions of websites. This was also easy to do and has improved my mobile site speed and rankings dramatically.
Both have improved rankings.
Your competition won’t know what hit them.
Best,
Todd
Hey Todd
Thank you for such an informative article. When you write about keyword research you suggest to google the intended keyword to see if there are some authority site ranking for it. How can I know which is authority site and whether or not I will be able to beat that site? Is there any tool to check on that?
Hi Arta,
I use Jaaxy to research all my keywords. I really try to go for low competition keywords that also have a high SEO score (See our review of Jaaxy) to get a feel of what I’m talking about.
Authority sites are massive sites that have spent years creating content. Forbes, Wikipedia, etc. I made this mistake from time to time when I first started and sometimes if it’s a really good post you can beat out authoritative sites, other times, it makes it impossible to get on page one.
At the same time, I have gotten some posts to outrank larger sites, but it’s because I really wrote a helpful post and added lots of quality content to really break down the subject.
For example, the phrase… what is an affiliate website, I’m pretty much the definition in Google for this keyword phrase and actually out rank wikipedia, amazon, and forbes.
In general, I follow the same procedure with each post I create to maximize my ability to rank. I’ve laid all this out in my Free eBook on Targeting Traffic.
Check it out for great results.
Todd
Wow this is such a comprehensive post I hardly know where to start. There is so much information in it I’ll have to bookmark it because there’s just too much information to take in in one sitting (besides I am tired).
This post would have a very high word count and I’ve heard that Google favors that? Surely you don’t write this much in all your posts? What is a good word count to aim for? Or is it better to mix it up and have some long posts and some shorter ones. This second option is more my style. I just don’t think I could write posts as comprehensively as this on a regular basis.
Hey Deb,
Yeah, it’s a challenge. Your second option is right with a little twist. When you start a an online business you want to have some pillar posts that are a bit longer and based on your site’s niche.
It used to be recommended to throw in a few 5,000 plus word count posts. I try to vary it from each post. I strive to get 1,000 words minimum, throw in some 1,500er’s and occassionally explore a topic like this with longer posts.
The key is focusing on providing quality information to your niche. You can rank with as low as 100 words, but I recommend at least 500.
Todd
I wanted to comment on your latest blog about starting an online business for nothing. I like how you introduce the topic related to those who can’t afford to start an online business at this time.
This certainly appeals to everyone who has any interest including myself originally. I know that there are online programs that cost thousands and are not scams but why work with them when we have Wealth Affiliate to help build a business online for almost nothing – especially at first.
Remind me if you can get your own domain, non sub for no cost? So many great blog topics. Keep up the great work.
Hey Marc,
Great point. You can join Wealthy Affiliate and get updated webinars weekly and step by step daily training.
You can buy domain names at Wealthy Affiliate, but the free ones they have are for sub-domains.
You also get free cloud hosting for up to 25 websites included in their Premium Membership.
All in all, Wealthy Affiliate is a resource that every online business needs.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi, Todd. Loved your post. I agree that you don’t want to have a free website. Back in the day, I had my first blog deleted off WordPress because I didn’t know I had to give myself credit for my own photos, and someone reported me for plagiarism.
The blog wasn’t profitable at all, so I just laughed it off and started over. Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?
Take care,
Kalie
Hi Kalie,
I was really lucky to follow the training program at Wealthy Affiliate. There I learned how to get my photos for free using a handful of sites. Here’s my training on it if you like.
But seriously, I was really blessed to have found Wealthy Affiliate. They taught me how to do everything. Last week I turned my site from an http address to https which is a Google requirement for membership sites, or if you want to take credit card info.
At the top and left of my site address, you see a lock or it says secure. This has improved my rankings in Google as well as it makes my site more secure than my competitors.
This is just one of hundreds of examples of how WA has helped guide me with my site so that I’m only using white hat SEO techniques.
This will also ensure my long term success with this site.
You just got to take the classes and watch the weekly WA webinars.
Cheers,
Todd