Link to hosted galleries?
 

Is it ok to link to a sponsor's hosted gallery instead of their tour. One of my sponsors has weak marketing in regards to their tours and I wanted to use a hosted gallery instead? Will my free site get rejected if I do this?

Sir Horny you can link to what ever you like as long as it doesnt break any rules and there is no rule against linking to another gallery.

Free sites generally require that all pages are html files, all in the same folder and that all of the pages and content are on your own domain. That effectively eliminates using sponsor hosted galleries as part of your free site.

If a sponsor has that weak of a tour, I'd probably find another sponsor, but if you still want to use that sponsor just create your own galleries, utilizing the pics and best selling points of their galleries.

Toby, the gallery pics on the free site would not be links to hosted gallerys - those pics would be located on my site. I meant one of the links to the sponsors, like on my main page, would go to one of the sponsors hosted galleries instead of one of their tours. To be honest with you, I don't see much of a difference, since the newer tours are giving away free pics and videos as well.

OK, I now understand what your saying. I don't see any problem with that, but let's wait to hear from some of the List owners and reviewers themselves.

Wouldn't the surfer just see the crappy tour after they looked at the hosted galleries? Seems kinda pointless to send them to more free pics & then to the crappy tour - just pick a different sponsor.

Ya, I was thinking the same, after the gallery, the surfer will still be on the bad tour. Another option, if the sponsor allows, is linking to the join page. You make your own tour and send them to the sponsors join page instead of tour. But not many allow that.

Course, if they have a weak tour, makes you wonder how good they are in the first place. If it's a partnership, the inside might be just as bad and you'll make no money anyways.

ronnie

You are definitely right that I should promote a new sponsor; however, someone close to me has got it into my head that this sponsor has great reoccurring sales...so I am a bit set on promoting them. I just want to give the surfer a little taste of what they will see if they join the site and I don't think the tour is successful in doing that. GG, I just wanted to make sure I would not get rejected if I did that. Thanks.

I never said that I'd allow it - just wondering why you would add another step & then send them to a tour which you think will not convert.

It makes no sense to me.

The site is for a single girl and the tour does not sell her well. I was thinking the hosted gallery may give them a little bit more of what they can expect and may help it convert.

So you can't sell them with your free site & the tour can't sell them, but sending them to a hosted gallery from your free site and then to the tour will?

It doesn't make any sense.

I submitted the site last night. You'll see what I mean. Sorry, I wasn't clear.

Did you get your answer today?

Have you stopped to think that this person that is feeding you this information is on a completely different level than you are right now? And perhaps their traffic sources are somewhat different than what you would find here? And finally, many of the linklist owners/reviewers have stated time and again that what may work for one person, does not guarantee that it will work for someone else.
Hope this helps.

I totally agree! If the tour isn't going to convert how is another set of free pics going to make the tour miracuously convert?

That's what I thought, but re-reading I think what Sir Horny is saying is that even though the tour is a load of old shite, seeing more of what is inside the site itself by seeing the FHG, that may help convince them that 'well the tour sucks but I know there's good content inside' kinda thing.

As ronnie stated, probably the best thing if the sponsor allows is to make your own tour, be it a 1 page wonder or whatever, and link direct to the join page.

This thread popped back into my head just now (making a freesite where the tour is not so good but I know the content is good stuff) and thought of a way you could market it maybe?
How about some spiel along the lines of your friend told you about the site so you checked it out but wasn't impressed with what you saw, and told your friend it looked crap. He then showed you some of the content inside, and once you saw what was in the members area you signed up. Lo and behold he was right - they focus on the content more than trying to show off with flashy graphics etc.

How'd it go with the approach you went for anyhow?