I took some time today and brainstomed a list of tasks that I do when I create a niche or authority site. Of course each task can be an article or book in itself and will very based on what type of authority or niche site you are developing. I hope this list will be a useful resource of some of the things to do and take into consideration when developing a site.  This is by no means a complete list but contains most of the basics. Everyone should make their own list. Here is my checklist:

Researching

1. Seobook
2. Wordtracker
3. Webmaster tools at http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/
4. Research the top 20 websites and find out where the gaps are.
5. See what competition is selling and determine if you can sell the product.
6. Research affiliate products.  
7. Research own products. 
8. Setup Hosting. I use Wordpress for all my new sites because of the ease and flexibility. If I am looking for a new hosting company I make sure that it will support wordpress and has cpanel access. Also check out the Authority Site Center which includes hosting and some great tools to get your site up and running fast.
   • Create hosting account.
   • Setup hosting package
   • Setup appropriate subdomains 
   • Setup user emails
9. Load Word Press
   • Activate Plugins
   • Setup Users
   • Setup Categories
   • Update ping list
   • Load alternative editor
   • Choose theme and modify appropriately.
10. Setup wordpress.com account and get API key for Akismet spam filter.
11. Load initial Content
    • Elance
    • PLR articles (private label monthly, PLR pro etc). Research to find PLR articles for your niche.
    • Hire writers
    • Create your own articles. Go to places like ezinearticles, pick 2 or 3 similar articles and rewrite in your own words and add your own thoughts.
12. Create a page with your wordpress feeds.  Here is where you can learn about wordpress feeds: http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Feeds.
    • Setup RSS feeds for domain and any subdomains
    • Setup Auto-discovery links
    • Create custom RSS link page
    • Initial submit to RSS directories using RSS submit
    • Setup feed in google reader and allow to be open to everyone
    • Make sure all your feeds are validated at http://www.feedvalidator.org/
13. Get and setup a program to cloak affiliate URL’s
14. Get Google Adsense account and setup in Ad spaces as appropriate
15. Research affiliates/ebooks/elance etc.
16. Load Content press and setup initial news, cartoons etc.
17. Tag and Ping
18. Setup Link Directory and start linking. PHP link directory is a great one.
19. Setup Forum?
20. Find resource/link partners
21. Claim Technorati blog
22. Create Google webmaster account.
23. reate google/ror sitemap and submit.

Resources/software

1. Istockphoto.com
2. WS/FTP professional
3. RSS Submitter
4. Ebook Pro
5. Firefox and SEOBOOK
6. Digitalpoint.com for keyword research
7. Dreamweaver suite/studio (fireworks, flash, dreamweaver etc).
8. Coral Draw X
9. Services like PLR Pro for niche articles.
10. For a shopping cart you can use #1 shopping cart, or you can use paypal or the new google shopping cart.

Ongoing tasks

1. Tag each article using a free wordpress plugin such as Ultimate Tag Warrior.
2. Social bookmarking. If you can use something like Tagtooga and Onlywire. Also submit to such places as myweb on yahoo and netscape.
3. Post social commentaries.
4. Utilize answers.yahoo.com
5. Participate in niche related forums and MySpace.
6. Link exchange
7. Monthly RSS submit
8. Monthly Sitemap submit
9. If you have your own products, froogle update
10. Content

Regards,
Kevin
My Niche: Parenting Site: www.more4kids.info

Tags

Internet Business, Blog Marketing