New free site format (version 1.5)
 

This is not a big secret, traffic leave Link Sites last years, especially after Google algo sfiting last 12 motnhs.

Last years I understood, the free sites layout is not so usable for surfers as tgp gallery. But good SE traffic made Links Sites profitable even the looks very ugly.

Last 12 months Google clearly shown: Classic free site is bulshit and worse. Most of free sites moved to the supplemental index and therefore Link Sites lost good SE positions because the list worse objects.

Free sites is a bad quality site in therms of Google because:
1) They never updates.
2) Text content duplicates many times and equal texts of hundreds other free sites.
3) They don't have new incoming links after initial listing in Link Sites.

Free site is a bad quality site in therms of Surfers because:
1) They have bad usability: surfer must click 3 times to see the gallery (warning page -> main page -> gallery).
2) They have small content amount (2-3 galleries)

Lets try to improve free sites topology and make them more competitive.

I offer one simple rule for discussion:
We accept free sites without warning page if you will add ICRA or RTA meta tags to your site HTML code.

I name this format: free site V1.5
http://thepurelinks.com/tmp/f2.gif

Benefits:
1) There is no reason to keep warning page if you add special meta tags to HTML code.
2) Therefore free site layout become more usefull for surfing. Content can be accessed by two clicks instead 3 clicks before.
3) Decrease free sites mirroring.

PS. Read initial discussion on Master-X here (russian text)

Interesting. But will everyone else accept fs 1.5? I'm not sure I follow how I should or even if I should start using this...?

All this does is knock out one whole page of ads and possible sales. I see no reason for link lists to reject your layout but it fucks free site builders in the ass without lube. |shocking| I won't build sites like that.

I don't understand how is this going to "Decrease free sites mirroring"
Also, since most of the sales come from the index page, this is going to help the submitters how?

I like change sometimes, but I think these are some unanswered questions.

Also, I wish I could read russian. maybe someone will translate.

I love it and I'd definitely list that format. I don't understand how it could help with SEO for the free site or the link list, but I think it would be far more welcoming to surfers. I'd bet that a lot of surfers click away when they see a warning page and no obvious or direct route to the content. I'd still want 3 ad blocks per page though. I see only one on that proposed format.

We often say that most sales are attributed to the index and main pages of a free site, but how many of us are saying that because we read it somewhere? That's why I say it. (Most of the shit I spout off is based on what other's have said.) Not long ago, DD stated that sales are created by content. That makes a lot more sense to me than the idea of surfers being instantly sold by "click here for more big tits."

This is a great idea and a great discussion. I *think* even |greenguy| himself may have said that the free site has needed to be revamped for quite some time.

I like the idea of streamlining freesite navigation, especially from a linklists perception.

I want freesites listed at my linklist to be as easy to navigate as possible for my surfers. That way they come back to my site and then travel on to my submitters freesites. Doing away with the main page is a step towards that.

Now notice I said getting rid of the main page, because there's no reason a small block of warning text couldn't fit into Kit's suggested page layout above.

This, from the guy who has perfected the hiding of the Enter link. |loony|

I would list sites like this, I like the idea of having to put the tags in there. I'd build like this too if I was sure they'd get accepted, so it'd be helpful if LL owners would post whether or not they'd take them :)

this made me lol :D

They're not "hidden" reviewers just have to actually read the links they click on. |catfight|

Like others here I don't really see how this would change anything with regards to the SEs, mirroring, duplicate content and text etc. However, if it makes the surfer happier and he/she stays at my site longer I'm all for it.

I've ready about this posted on other boards...If the major sources of traffic will accept the freesites built this way then I have no object building them...I'll tow the "company line" but, as far as format, where are we picturing the recip table? At the top, bottom? And would having a recip table with multiple styles on a page with gallery links make the page too busy as opposed to just text links for the recips? I'll make a few and submit them and see how it goes. Taking out the warning page is inline with the notion I think I've read on this board that a warning page might not be needed if you're entering one subdirectory from another subdirectory....

I just looked at that picture with the recip table on the left...I know that's just a proposed spot, when I was proposing the question, I had an entry link in mind and the relationship to it, but the question still stands if LL owners will want their recip above the content or below it...

thats one step closer to galleries. So sales/conversions one step closer to galleries.

You could still easily keep the recips above the content links.

http://www.theactusreus.com/schlampe/turtles.html

I dont really understand either how this would be better for the submitters but Im not an expert (at anything). Besides, my earnings from freesites get lower and lower everyday so I would give it a try (of course all the mayor LL would have to accept it too)
And my own LL would accept the new sites too

With the third gallery you would still have 4 pages to put ads on...but I'm not sure if that means more free content given away...not good, imo. Perhaps we could put fewer pics/movies per page to keep total content used the same...(?)

No real problems for me either building or listing. One thing that bugs me in the post above is "content can be accessed in 2 clicks instead of three"...is that a good thing? That makes it easier to get the free stuff..|huh

I actually like Preachers version a bit more. I think if the index page is kept with a small blurb of Warning Text either seen fully or placed in a scroll box wouldnt hurt anything.

I also dont see how it would help mirroring..as you can only add so many LL links to whatever front page is used.

In regard to Lusciouses comments...would if feesible to create a free site in the version


Main Page
Gallery 1 10 pics or 2 vids
Gallery 2 10 pics or 2 vids
Gallery 3 10 pics or 2 vids

keeping the 3 sponsor out link max per page

I like it. I like it a lot!
When I first started building free sites (way back when, not in the last few years) it wasn't so regimented and they all didn't look the same. Any ideas that will allow a little more creativity are fine by me, and might even convince me to build fs's again.
Whether I do or not I'll definitely list free sites that don't fit the standard warning-main-gallery1-gallery2 grind. I'm listing some galleries now because the free site model is boring to me, and I would imagine it's boring to surfers as well.
I believe it is time for some free-thinking, and some changes to the rigid rules so many LL's live by.
Shit, if somebody was to send me a site made up of 3 galleries with no warning page I'd list it.

I don't say it because I read it somewhere, I say it because from my stats that's the way it is. If anyone wants to see my stats I can copy and paste them into a PM. I want an index page and a main page....

I thought the main idea of that thread was no-mirror site with 1-link resips on it. This is how they were going to improve SEO.

Maybe both formats could be listed..just as a test run? Im not saying run amuck, but what if there were a few acceptable ways to build FS's I mean galleries have different criteria with number of thumbs, out links sizes etc.

Just a stray thought...

If the LL rules allowed for 3-page sites, and if 3-page sites (and only 3-page sites) were allowed 4 outgoing links per page instead of the usual 3 links, then the amount of total outgoing links would be the same on a 3-page free site as on a 4-page free site.

Personally speaking I have always included the ICRA header to every FS I have built, so that's nothing new to me. In fact I assumed most people did this as a matter of course and my sales appear to be on par with everyone else’s.

Using Google as an example. They appear to penalize a FS because of its lack of updating. That and the obvious keywords, similar free content, and the once it’s built its forgotten marketing strategy used by everybody.

This more than anything appears to me, to be the main reason for lowered sales by any FS built and as a kick on, lowered sales to LL owners because of these static sites.

Because of this I doubt the proposed design will alter that much, although it will help while search engines try to catch up with what were doing differently. Once they understand the new format I think we will be back to square one again.

As a suggestion, it may that two or three agreed upon FS formats should be used so that there is a greater difference in design. That at least would slow down se’s from taking them out of their main listings so quickly.

Another suggestion would be to grant the ability to trusted webmasters by LL owners, the right to update the galleries and text on a FS, which would help to keeping them listed on major search engines due to the constantly changing content. Updating FS pages should also improve the LL page listings as well.

Once a change has been made the FS should be flagged by the submitter so that the changes can be checked by the LL owner. As a trusted submitter, this could be done by using a special email address.

How would removing index page change any of these?


A freesite is a mini tour for sponsor with the exception of getting more free samples. I'd go back to submitting galleries if I just want to hand them the content. I can use the content for a freesite (new suggested format) and build 3 galleries.

You know what a bad quality site is? A bad quality site is the ones you can read the text 3 or 4 times, and still can't figure out what the fuck it means. A bad quality sites is, using crappy colors and over compressed thumbs/images.......

This does not benefit the submitter one bit. I stayed up late last night to look at some numbers and here is what I get:

Sales from my freesites index page 49%
Sales from my freesites main page 38%
Sales from my freesites first gallery 9%
Sales from my freesites second gallery 4%

If I have to give up 50% of my income to make link list owners happy, I'll give up on the link list.

However, as a submitter I agree with a change. Why not allow the site to be a mix of pics, movies and stories? Why all galleries have to have the same type of content? Link lists strict rules is the reason all the sites look the same. For example, if I build a site for a single model and make a bio page on freesite that has a link to her site, I have to count the link to bio page as an external link because the page does not have content! Link list strict rules limits the creativity to produce different looking sites. They are many many ways to make your site look different without getting rid of the index page.

Have a list of trusted submitters, allow them to use their creativity and build a few sites with completely different structure, evaluate them and if you like their ideas, let them go at it and keep building.

Just my 2 cents

If you have separate ad campaigns running on your index and main pages than you have on your gallery pages, which is the only way I can think of to know which pages create the sales, then go ahead and show us.