This ultimate guide to creating a website for Amazon brand registry will be your guide and companion as we walk you through exactly what you need to do to get your online FBA presence up and running.

Before we get to the specific steps you should take; we want to explain a few principles that will provide a basis for everything to come. Two of the most popular methods to build your own online business are Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) and Private Label businesses.

Here’s how they work.

Because online giant Amazon has built one of the most sophisticated logistics networks in the world (soon to include drones!), they have set expectations very high for what people expect when it comes to ordering products online. If people don’t experience the same ease of ordering, speed of delivery and low prices that Amazons provides, they are not likely to buy your product.

Thankfully for you, Amazon has decided to take advantage of their inventory and logistics system to create a service called Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, where you get to benefit from their experience.

You store the product you want to sell in Amazon's fulfillment centers. They do the rest – pick, pack, ship and provide customer service for these orders. They will even let you list your products on Amazon.com, which can boost your sales.

A 2014 survey reported that 71 percent of FBA businesses who responded to the survey saw their sales increase by more than 20 percent since joining FBA.

A private label business is when you sell existing products under your own private brand or label. Once you decide what product you want to sell, you can contact manufacturers directly. They will make your product with your label and ship it to Amazon ready to sell, which is where FBA takes over.

While FBA is a popular model for business owners right now, drop shipping and affiliate marketing are other lucrative models.

Drop shipping is a way to run an online store where you don’t have to store inventory or ship your own product. You set up your store and collect money for orders as normal, but instead of packing and shipping a product, you turn around and make the same order with a distributor at the wholesale price, which is less than the retail price you collected. Your profit is the difference in these prices.

With drop shipping, you don’t have to manage any inventory, but you do have to take care of customer service and deal with distributors who may not be reliable.

With affiliate marketing, you refer customers to another business, and then you get a commission if they make a purchase. Your website is just a referral source – you don't actually sell any products. The entire sales process is hands-off for you, but the downside is that you don't collect direct sales income (you get periodic commission checks), and you are not likely to get repeat customers because you are not actually offering any products for sale.

FBA is booming in popularity right now primarily because the barrier to entry is so low. You can decide to start a business today and be making a profit in just a couple of weeks if you choose your products well.

You need very little capital to start up (you can start with very small quantities), your audience is built in, you don't have to build your own website, Amazon handles almost all the customer service and logistic details, and you don't even have to manufacture your own products – you can just buy low and sell for a profit.

There has never been a better time to start your business because the speed and reach of the Internet are unparalleled.

Amazon is probably the world’s best marketplace, and it is amazing that you can gain access to it so quickly with the FBA program. You have exposure to a wider audience than you could ever dream of on your own, and you can quickly make a significant profit.

You face one major disadvantage, though: you don’t control the platform!

While business is booming and Amazon shows no signs of slowing down, they could end the entire FBA program tomorrow if they were so inclined. If you are entirely dependent on Amazon for sales from your product, your profits would immediately disappear, and you would have to start all over again.

The answer to this dilemma is simple. Yes, take advantage of Amazon's incredible reach and resources, but don't make FBA your entire strategy. It is absolutely crucial for your long-term success to build your own brand outside of Amazon's reach and influence.

The best way to establish yourself online is with a well-designed, functional website bringing in natural traffic without the benefit of Amazon. Your own website gives you a piece of online real estate entirely under your control. No matter what happens with Amazon, you will have your products for sale under your brand, and that is a valuable asset.

What now? You still don’t have a website, and you don’t know how to attract traffic to a site even if you did have one. You have a long way to go before you are up and running.

That’s why we’re here. In the next three or four articles as part of this series, we will talk about the importance of keyword research and how to attract traffic using the best keywords for your niche. Then we’ll get into the nuts and bolts of how to actually build your site - we’ll walk you through every step you need to take.

This is an exciting time with lots of opportunities and we are happy to be apart of it!