Templates Templates Templates

[MrYum]

Originally Posted by Fonz

Well said MrYum
I'm seeing the same designs pop up every day too. Gonna be a bit more anal about that in the future.

Yea Fonz, using the same design and color scheme is a sure way to turn off the surfer. Then, using the same title, metas and on page text is a good way to get hit with dupe page problems too

I'm seeing lots of both. Some folks do change up the colors a bit, but then they repeat exactly the same on page text, with a minor change to the title.

[Mr Spock]

Some interesting points Mr Yum which gets me wondering , how exactly does one define a template. Their are only so many ways that one can present a gallery with 16 pix, 4 across 4 down ,One can play around with these actual permutations to mix it up a bit.

Should the main and index pages be substantially different each day ?

From your post it seems that submitters are merely changing the title and pix and submitting.

[tigermom]

Great post (good to see you posting such useful advice again!). I don't think I have an, ummmm, template problem but I do sometimes wonder how different do I actually have to make the templates. I actually find the thumbnails arranging the easy part - there's so many ways to arrange 12 thumbs and 3 banners/text links, you just need to play with your tables a little. The problem I have is with the warning pages and welcome pages where I find it harder to arrange 3 banners/links and 2 links to galleries in creative new ways

[MrYum]

Originally Posted by Mr Spock

Some interesting points Mr Yum which gets me wondering , how exactly does one define a template. Their are only so many ways that one can present a gallery with 16 pix, 4 across 4 down ,One can play around with these actual permutations to mix it up a bit.

Should the main and index pages be substantially different each day ?

From your post it seems that submitters are merely changing the title and pix and submitting.

Well, speaking for myself and therefore my reviewer...I'm not that concerned about the specific layout itself. But, the site should at least look different (colors, etc.)...so the surfer doesn't think it's the same one he's already seen.

But, more importantly...the text has got to change. It's well known that search engine spiders frown on duplicate content. And we see submitters not only repeating the same text/metas on every page of a free site...but also repeating the same text/metas on multiple free sites.

Now, it's one thing to re-use blocks of text...very commonly done. But, one really should take care to ensure they're not duplicating pages.

Oh, and YES...we see quite a few submitters merely changing titles/content and re-submitting

Originally Posted by tigermom

Great post (good to see you posting such useful advice again!). I don't think I have an, ummmm, template problem but I do sometimes wonder how different do I actually have to make the templates. I actually find the thumbnails arranging the easy part - there's so many ways to arrange 12 thumbs and 3 banners/text links, you just need to play with your tables a little. The problem I have is with the warning pages and welcome pages where I find it harder to arrange 3 banners/links and 2 links to galleries in creative new ways

As someone who's cranked out a bunch o free sites over the years, I understand completely

You'll probably get different opinions from different reviewers, but again...we don't really care too much if the layout changes. As long as the site 'looks' different...that can be done with colors, fonts, banners used, but most importantly TEXT used.

[bluemoney]

I've been known to decline for "Redundant Design" lately.

[KG Gary]

Threads like this one are great to give me a swift kick up the backside just in case my freesites are getting a bit...samey.
Thanks MrYum.
Still luv ya, even though you're sort-of-gone.

[Emerald]

Great Post Mr. Yum

I agree with everything you have pointed out and I am sure many LL owners will also . its not just the layout and colors you choose that makes a difference.. the TEXT is very important to change in each of your free site submissions - get tired of seeing the same blurb over and over on the sites that are submitted.