hey folks + site comments welcome

[furry1]

hey everyone,

I thought i'd stop in, say hey and introduce myself, as i'm new around here. I've been poking around the boards, read'n up and figured i should say someth'n.

If any of you who are a bit more in the know than i, have a moment and could give me your feedback on these free sites i put together i would be grateful. Free sites and some AVS seem like a good place to start out. I have not submitted these yet, so now is a good time for feedback. A few other free sites i submitted didn't really amount to much, so i'm curious and thought i should ask for opinions. Though maybe i just need to keep hammering at it and submit more. Or if there's anything else you'd like to add which would help someone starting out to get in the groove.

www.costumephantasy.com/tgp/hotCops/
www.costumephantasy.com/tgp/cuteTranny/

(if ya can't tell, i'm try'n to set some things up at www.costumephantasy.com )
Is it worth putting any amount of effort into designing free sites? On one hand you'd think nice free site promoting nice site yields results. I see lots of sites which are mostly text, very plain which are on different link lists, yet it seems surfing them you're just like well here's another site trying to sell porn; or does it not matter?

After you get accepted on a list, how long are they usually active? A week, a month? Can you take this stuff off your server, or are you better off letting it hang out for months.


I'm sure i'll be back around ask'n more questions or looking things up. 'Till later.

thanx,
furry

[AndyS]

Hi furry 1

The sites look like they follow most standard rules and should get some listings so good start.

You mentioned you had looked at others which tend to be mostly text; the reason behind this is that free sites are being aimed more at long-term SE traffic and less at the initial traffic gained from listings.
In addition to that you are trying to sell the site to the surfer and create a reason to buy a membership of this site over the 1000's of others.

Another general thing is banners with text tend to work better than just plain banners and simple text links I have found work the best.

I got a bit confused about the banner for costumephantasy and why it was there on this page.

Hope that helps a little

[sirkakashi08]

nice design!

[furry1]

at first the text vs. graphic thing seems counterintuitive. maybe i'm just too much of a graphics person....

do most link lists add your site, or is it typ just not to make it onto some? i'm try'n to follow the rules, but didn't seem to get on everywhere. if that's the way things work, thats fine as long as i know how it goes.

so how long do free sites hang around for? i don't really seem to be getting traffic from any of the ones i submitted even a week ago. or should i just wait a month and recycle it. change it up a bit and resubmit?

ever bit helps, ty.

[japamor]

Hi furry1

Hot Cops
For a first attempt that's a very nice site. I'd accept it and I think most LL's would.

From your own point of view of making sales from the site, you should put text under your banners.If you don't you're just wasting prime advertising space. And text sells better than banners. Surfers are getting so used to horzontal 468 banners they hardly see them!

Your gallery thumbs are way too small. Some LL's, including Penisbot, will turn you down for this.

Finally, your pics should be in logical order - it looks like you were running out of images with the last 2 on Gallery 2!

Once you're accepted on a LL the site is usually there pretty well forever. That's the big advantage of Free Sites over Gallery subs to TGP's. You'll make sales from sites 3, 6, 18 months or more down the line. And once you've submitted your site don't change it! If you try and get found out you'll get banned double quick. Just build and forget. Build and move on.

Cheers

[Lemmy]

Your freesite shows promise for a 1st attempt. Definitely make bigger thumbs. You're not seeing much traffic because it's a fairly small niche. I would decline your sites after seeing your whois.

[furry1]

k, thanks for the advice on the thumbnails and info on the time schedule. sales months down the road huh? hmm... and i was think'n i would take um down or change them in a month. guess that would'a rubbed some people the wrong way.

so, what is that about the whois? i had my registrar make it anonymous when i signed up. i didn't think it would matter, figured my site is my business. but one list did turn down a previous free site due to it. i guess if it's an issue i can remove it. just being new, i don't see it making a difference.

[Lemmy]

Originally Posted by furry1

so, what is that about the whois? i had my registrar make it anonymous when i signed up. i didn't think it would matter, figured my site is my business. but one list did turn down a previous free site due to it. i guess if it's an issue i can remove it. just being new, i don't see it making a difference.

It matters. I, and many others, won't do business with people who hide their identity.

[furry1]

how'd i know that was going to be the answer.....
never the easy solution...

[ronnie]

Think most was pointed out already. For sure you need to use different ads, as said surfers don't usually see those banners. The old school 480 wide usually don't pull crap for clicks. Your wasting your time if you use those banners. Along the same lines if you want to do it right, you should be tracking all your ads to get the most out of them.

Ya, the private whois will cost you. Also use the same nick everywhere, board, submits, ect. You might get listed more if people get to know you or have seen you around.

[Licker4U]

As said before, add some text above and below the banners. I try to put a catchy statement above a banner and some juicy linked text under the banner. Something like this linked to the sponsor: "Click here to see ALL the uniform babes at Uniform Zone!" (Or come up with something more creative)

Where you have this:
THOUSANDS OF UNIFORM PICS

LIVE CHAT AND BONUS FEEDS

HOURS OF HOT VIDEO

& TONS MORE!!!

There's no "call to action". Just under that you might add "Click Here For The Free Tour At Uniform Zone".

Just my .02

[furry1]

thanks all. it's nice to get usefull info out of the critique. i'll prob check into the domain reg issue too.

[ronnie]

Originally Posted by Licker4U

There's no "call to action".

Exactly. Sure can make a difference when you tell people what to do.

[Licker4U]

I learned (and have forgotten) from a newbie webmaster board years ago 3-4 things you need to do to get someone in the mood to buy. The call to action was the only one I remember. One thing I remember from a "real world" selling job is to get the potential buyer thinking "yes". Ask questions that can only have one answer...yes. On a lesbian site: "Do you like watching girls kiss each other?" "Is it a turn-on for you to see fresh teens licking pussy?" "Do you want the best lesbian porn to be found anywhere?" They're already mentally saying yes, yes, yes so when you ask them to buy, they're thinking YES (hopefully) Then, the call to action: "All you have to do to get it is..." (or your own more creative "call to action" or "closing statement")

I know there are 3-4 things that can be done before the "close" where you try and get someone to buy so if anyone knows what they are I promise I won't forget this time if you care to post

[JohnnyR]

furry1 nice sites to begin with. I've seen people do way worse. I've seem me do worse. But live and learn. Speaking of which: ronnie, how do you track your ads? More specifically, how do you tell which ads get clicked, and which don't (on a freesite, that is)?