The foundations for building a long-term sustainable online business

Most startups fail within the first year of operation, and Internet businesses are no exception. In fact; Online businesses may fail in the first year. That’s because most online entrepreneurs rely too heavily on trends or tactics.

I’ve seen tactics come and go and I’ve seen which ones have stayed. Sure, when you follow trends, you could easily get a lot of attention in no time. You can get a huge influx of customers or clients when you follow the newest tactic. But the only thing you have to remember is that trends don’t last. All the traffic you get by following that last “trend” could easily disappear as soon as that trend dies.

When you start an online business, you need to think about things that you know will work for the long term. When you think long term, your business becomes sustainable and you will continue to make a profit as long as you take care of it. Sure, it takes a bit more work, but you only need to do most of the work at the beginning. Any maintenance work you need to do is quick and easy from then on.

And the great thing about building a long-term business is that you can easily step back and let someone run that business for you. You can outsource your entire business and let your staff do all the work because you know it will work despite the changes Google throws at you.

So how do you build a business that is sustainable and lasts for the long term? Here are the top 4 fundamentals of a long-term online business.

1. Careful niche selection and business model planning. You have to choose your niches wisely. When looking for niches, you basically have to look at 3 things: competition, profitability, and ease of getting there.

Once you’ve found your niche, choose to create a business model based on the amount of work that will be involved in that niche. Is it an affiliate product or are you going to create your own products? How much demand is there and how much work do you have to do to meet that demand?

A carefully selected niche and a planned business model will be the blueprint for your business. Getting it right and planning it carefully helps ensure that everything that follows runs smoothly.

2. Good content never goes out of style. It is something that Google always wants and what its customers will always want. Invest in good quality content because it is what keeps traffic and is what makes your customers want more.

3. Do SEO the right way. SEO is highly dependent on Google’s whims, but if you do it the right way, you won’t be affected much by the policy changes Google throws at you.

Doing SEO the right way means using white hat techniques, not spamming, and building links naturally. You can make these links look natural by starting small and slow and making your links more random.

This process always works and when done this way, the links do not disappear. Your ranking may change slightly as Google changes, but in the long run, it will keep your ranking and stay there.

4. Invest in good quality links that last. Focus your SEO efforts on building lasting links. Quality links like directory submission, article submissions, videos, social media, social bookmarking, high PR site links, or mini networks are the things that keep your site on the first pages of Google.

Building and maintaining these quality links takes work, I know. But by far, they are the best way to determine which sites are the best. Google and all other search engines know this and there is no other way around it. Building as many good quality links as you can takes time, but any effort you put into building good links is time well spent because it drives quality traffic to your site.

Investing your time, effort and money in the things that will make your business successful and competitive in the long run are investments worth making. Don’t be dazzled by “instant” or “get-rich-quick” schemes. The Internet moves at the speed of light, but the Internet business is still a business. If you want to make a profit, you have to work towards it, put in some time, and do your best to make your online business the best it can be.