Functions are used to perform a well defined task that is normally repeated at various places within a web site, web application, or other software application. The function sometimes needs certain information before performing its task, and sometimes returns a value to the calling page or program.

An example of how to use a simple function in PHP:

 function showMessage() {
echo "{$_SESSION["message"]}"; }

The above example shows a very simple function that displays the contents of a session variable called 'message'. The idea being that while a user is using a web site, etc, various messages are generated and stored in the 'message' session variable. Whenever the showMessage function is called, the contents of the session variable are displayed. So, for example, when the user logs on, you could display a message saying that they have done so. Likewise, when they log off, a different message could be displayed.

Calling a function

To call the showMessage function, you would just need to include the line:

showMessage()

in the web page (wrapped in php tags to distinguish it from normall HTML).

Passing values to a function

Often, a function requires one or more input values in order to perform its task. For example, take the following example that takes two numbers as input, and adds them together. The result is then returned to the calling web page or program.

function addNumbers($number1,$number2) {
$answer = $number1 + $number2;
return $answer; }

In the calling program we would have something similar to the following:

$number1 = "5";
$number2 = "6";
$sumOfNumbers = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$sumOfNumbers";

Obviously, in a real program you would not have the numbers hardcoded like this, but they would be obtained from user input or by some other means. Notice also that although the name of the returned variable is $answer, the calling program makes no reference to that. We could, if we wanted to, change the calling program to:

$answer = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$answer";

which might make things slightly easier to understand.

You put up a website to attract clients for your professional service business. Maybe you even put up a sales letter - a solo web page designed to promote an information product, tangible product, or seminar.

And so far...nothing! No takers. No sign-ups for your ezine. What's going on?

(1) Get solid evidence that people want your product -- and will buy it online.

Even on eBay and craigslist, some products go unsold. Some markets don't buy online, download ebooks or listen to mp3 files: they shop in brick and mortar stores, buy books at Borders and listen to CDs.

(2) Make sure you have targeted traffic coming to your site.

If you have no traffic...well, there's your answer. But not all traffic is equally valuable. Your keywords, positioning or referral site may be attracting visitors who are outside your target market.

(3) Encourage each visitor to begin building a relationship with you.

Often visitors won't buy on a first visit. So you need to invite them to sign up for an ezine, an ecourse, or even a downloadable manual. Some people read my ezine for over a year before they buy from me.

(4) Showcase unique, meaningful benefits for your target market.

Many professionals focus on how they deliver the service instead of how clients feel about their new lives. And you need to tell readers why you're unique - why nobody else can make the same offer.

(5) Make it easy for your visitors to say yes.

Believe it or not, when visiting other people's sites, I often have to hunt around for an order form when I'm eager, even desperate, to get my hands on a product. Ask visitors to buy...and consider adding some bright red arrows to point them in the right direction.

(6) Create a sense of urgency.

Ideally, your product or service reaches readers by connecting to their pain and their toughest challenges. But you also need to suggest reasons for buying today - not next week, not later.

(7) Test...and test some more. For example:

Test 2 or 3 versions of your headline. Sometimes a news-oriented headline actually works better than a sales-oriented headline or vice versa.

Test backgrounds. I once tripled sign-ups to my ezine by changing the background color.

Test the small stuff. Once I compared two google adwords ads. I changed the spelling of one word in the headline - from midlife to mid-life. The hyphenated version attracted 40% more clickthroughs. Go figure.

Bottom Line: Even when experts create your marketing message, you need to keep evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing materials, especially your website. The Internet gurus share one passion: testing and revising. They're constantly enhancing their sites and their messages. And the rest of us need to do the same.

Internet really is the money-making, cash-spitting, wealth-building profit machine, just like the dreamers said it was. However, not many people realized this huge earnings potential. The biggest problem they faced is just that they do not know how to build website from scratch. And their lack of knowledge about HTML often holds them back to build a successful money-making website.

This article is about that, teaching you how to build website from scratch without HTML knowledge at all.

Let's get going...

List Everything You Know About Anything

The best capital in the online world is not about money, but knowledge instead. The good news about making money online is that, you can monetize your knowledge instantly. No matter how useless you think about anything you know, there will always be someone out there that is looking for that information. The best part is that you can get paid by just sharing the information.

You can start by listing everything you know about anything. This can be an activity that you love doing during your leisure time, something that you did as a part time job or techniques that you had learnt while working in the office. Divide those subject matters into several topics and rank them from the theme you are most comfortable with. It is a good idea to begin with the top preference first.

Research The Most Profitable Keywords

Refine your preferred topics by doing some keyword research. You can use the free keyword tools like Overture Keyword Tool to get started or some paid keyword tools like Wordtracker to dig even deeper. After collecting all those possible keywords, continue researching its profitability by looking at the possible affiliate products as well as the cost-per-click (CPC) in the Google AdWords.

Moving forward, you will have a list of the most profitable keywords and the "not so profitable" one. Rank them accordingly and start structuring your web design concept. Then, locate the most profitable keywords in the Tier-2 pages; where they are accessible from the homepage, and the rest in the Tier-3 pages. By doing so, web pages with the profitable keywords are able to enjoy maximum exposure.

Build Web Pages With WYSIWYG Softwares

By now you must already have a concrete web structure. Remember it by heart because you are about to build a website that will make money 24/7. What left is just a great content that will makes your website stands out than the rest. From now on, focus on building great contents and keep on creating them so that the visitors able to keep in touch with you in the long run.

However, you need a website builder that able to connect your contents with the visitors into a presentable or user-friendly format. You can start building your profitable website with Site Build It. In fact, it comes with paid keyword research tool, hosting, domain names, auto-responder and marketing tips for free. You don't have to worry about how to build website from scratch without HTML knowledge anymore.