When opening an online business think of this list as you don’t always need to reinvent the wheel - The Top 10 American Websites

Below I have listed in order the top 10 most visited websites in the United States. The reason I am talking about this list is that when you are thinking of opening up a business or getting involved in one of an online nature you should see what peoples habits are and build around that. Underneath each of the sites I have written the one primary purpose people go to these sites for.

Top popular sites in the United States in order

1. Google
-> people go to Google to search for information of any kind

2. Facebook
-> people go to Facebook to interact with and find friends

3. YouTube
-> people go to YouTube to watch videos

4. Yahoo
-> people go to Yahoo to search for information of any kind

5. Amazon
-> people go to Amazon to online shop

6. Wikipedia
-> people go to Wikipedia for knowledge as it is a constantly updated encyclopedia

7. eBay
-> people go to eBay to online deal shop

8. Twitter
-> people go to Twitter to let the world know what they are doing

9. Craigslist
-> people go to Craigslist to deal shop or job search

10. LinkedIn
-> people go to LinkedIn to build their professional network

The reason I researched and found the list above was because I am in the process of revamping and rolling out AskTheDoctor.com version 2. I wanted to see what people were doing online and trying to figure out which of the above I could incorporate into my business.

So to share my thought process with you so you can see how my brain thinks and operates, the new version of AskTheDoctor.com will have the following things incorporated into it based on what I have learned from the websites above.

1. What I learned from Google: To create a very sophisticated medical search engine that when people search for things related to their health, they will be able to get the accurate information they are  looking for.

2. What I learned from Facebook: To create a feature known as Patients Connect, which will be a social network for people to communicate with others who share a similar disease or condition.

3. What I learned from YouTube: To create a online television show dealing with many topics related to health and wellness.

4. What I learned from Yahoo: To create a very sophisticated medical search engine that when people search for things related to their health, they will be able to get the accurate information they are looking for.

5. What I learned from Amazon: To create a medical store which sells everything from health products, medical equipment, etc.

6. What I learned from Wikipedia: To create an online detailed encyclopedia for all the drugs out there. This is to be created by top doctors and pharmacists working together.

7. What I learned from eBay: To create an online marketplace where people will be able to do things like sell their old medical equipment they don’t use anymore such as wheelchairs, crutches, braces, etc.

8. What I learned from Twitter: Have not figured out how to incorporate this in yet, maybe just having the website become very active at using twitter and trying to gain many followers.

9. What I learned from Craigslist: Very similar to what I am already doing with #7

10. What I learned from LinkedIn: To create a professional network where people in the medical, health and wellness fields can connect with each other as well as the ability for prospective patients to check out these peoples profiles.

Again nothing I have written here is written in set stone. These again are just ideas I play around with. Some will work and some will not but I believe if you are trying to open up a business, you need to see what peoples habits are and build around that.

Remember that in baseball a .300 batter is considered an all-star. What that means is he makes a hit 3 out of every 10 times he goes up to bat. If I can nail even 3 out of the 10 things I listed in my list above, my website will well be on its way to becoming an all-star.