Freesite Templates - a Little Rant

[Linkster]

OK - actually a big rant

For years (heck I can remember even having discussions about this on the previous board we worked at before GG moved) LL owners have been preaching about the use of templates on free sites.
Yes it is a good thing to do - if you do it right!!!
Step 1 - And I know this is Greenies way of explaining it so Ill leave it at that - build a new template every day for one month - then start rotating them so that the reviewer sees the template once a month - at the end of one month you should have 30 templates or so - all different!!!!
Step 2 -Now the second month comes along - you start using the same templates - real good thing to do and definitely acceptable at every link list I know of - and the first thing you should do is:
CHANGE THE DAMNED TITLE!!!!!!!!

Now we're at the meat of my rant - the title on free sites - take a look at the bigger link lists - and make up a title that isnt already listed - for two good reasons - one - it only takes a second to make somthing up original and you will stand out from the other sites listed, and two - if you pick a good letter for starting you can be at the top of the rotation lists on certain days of the month
These are things that submitters did for years but seems to have fallen by the wayside for some reason - I guess a lot of submitters have gotten lazy

The last part of the rant - and this is something for both submitted free sites and hosted free sites - YOU WILL NOT GET LISTED IF THE PAYSITE NAME IS IN THE TITLE - changing the order of the words in a paysite title is not the way to do things - use some originality!


There ya go - Im cranky cause I just banned two submitters and removed 500 free sites - all because my damned quality control inspector for the link list had to give me my report today

[stuveltje]

grin you rant about templates and all, i decline people already for 3years because of the same template, oh sure i can blacklist them but i just like the fact of getting a linkback to the linksite they submit too and they wont get listed yep an evil side of me and probably i have the hots for reviewing free sites name it getting a good result of bad submits day in and out.........i know what you mean, i have my rant days also a couple of days a year

[SheepGuy]

Originally Posted by Linkster

OK - actually a big rant

For years (heck I can remember even having discussions about this on the previous board we worked at before GG moved) LL owners have been preaching about the use of templates on free sites.
Yes it is a good thing to do - if you do it right!!!
Step 1 - And I know this is Greenies way of explaining it so Ill leave it at that - build a new template every day for one month - then start rotating them so that the reviewer sees the template once a month - at the end of one month you should have 30 templates or so - all different!!!!
Step 2 -Now the second month comes along - you start using the same templates - real good thing to do and definitely acceptable at every link list I know of - and the first thing you should do is:
CHANGE THE DAMNED TITLE!!!!!!!!

Now we're at the meat of my rant - the title on free sites - take a look at the bigger link lists - and make up a title that isnt already listed - for two good reasons - one - it only takes a second to make somthing up original and you will stand out from the other sites listed, and two - if you pick a good letter for starting you can be at the top of the rotation lists on certain days of the month
These are things that submitters did for years but seems to have fallen by the wayside for some reason - I guess a lot of submitters have gotten lazy

The last part of the rant - and this is something for both submitted free sites and hosted free sites - YOU WILL NOT GET LISTED IF THE PAYSITE NAME IS IN THE TITLE - changing the order of the words in a paysite title is not the way to do things - use some originality!


There ya go - Im cranky cause I just banned two submitters and removed 500 free sites - all because my damned quality control inspector for the link list had to give me my report today

Solid advice, a lot of that was talked about on OTB today. Fairly simple things that will make you money if you plan ahead.

[stuveltje]

btw ever thought to rant about some linksite owners who make free sites who suck like hell and are against the rules? and i am talking about the people i do not know very well, because the other linksite owners i get submits from are good and if i have to tell them something i do by pm, but lately every webmaster is a linksite owner and they make shitty free sites, how the fuck you can run a linksite yourself and telling webmasters the rules if your own sites also are shitty and against the rules.........i dont get that part.

[KingK]

Some good advice there, especially the 1 per day for 30 days thing...

[Linkster]

stuveltje I look at those LL owner submitters you are talking about in much the same way I look a their link lists - they really arent link lists

[MrYum]

I'm stacked up about 10 days behind on reviews at the moment, but still see sites as they hit the preview window in my script. Noticed one guy who's submitted the same exact template...at least 6 or 7 times now, bg color changed, but that's all

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by Linkster

...Now we're at the meat of my rant - the title on free sites - take a look at the bigger link lists - and make up a title that isnt already listed - for two good reasons - one - it only takes a second to make somthing up original and you will stand out from the other sites listed, and two - if you pick a good letter for starting you can be at the top of the rotation lists on certain days of the month
These are things that submitters did for years but seems to have fallen by the wayside for some reason - I guess a lot of submitters have gotten lazy
...
There ya go - Im cranky cause I just banned two submitters and removed 500 free sites - all because my damned quality control inspector for the link list had to give me my report today

First of all, my email account is down for the night so I have no idea if I was one of the unlucky submitters banned, but I'm hoping not.

Second, I was thinking about the title thing myself today. Say I want to build a pornstar freesite and get all I can out of the pornstar's first and last name. That's two words, it's real hard to make up a creative title using only one more word. A four word title would open up so much more possibilities and not just for pornstar sites, IMO.

[Linkster]

Dont worry Preacher - youre not onthe "list"
As far as the title - I put that little guideline in there because I needed a reason to ban the people submitting the titles with 20 words in them but its just a guideline

[Preacher]

Awesome!

[JoeBlack]

First you want new content and now you want surfers to feel like there getting a variety of sites? Next thing you know you guys are going to expect us to spell check our site as well.

[DJilla]

Originally Posted by Linkster

changing the order of the words in a paysite title is not the way to do things - use some originality!

That technique doesn't work either? I'm really surprised... I think something like: "Knees Babe Blowjob On Hot Sexy" makes for a pretty original title

[Tekster]

Wow, I just hope I am not one of the banned. Then again everything said looks to me to be a lot of common sense. I think one can avoid all of those mistakes just by reading this board and asking questions.

Also, some of the LL owners will send emails explaining the problem with your submitted site and if you just read and fix it you can avoid a lot of the problems related to your site; including titles and descriptions.

Site Title: So is it O.K. to have up to 4 words in a title? I tried to stick with 3 but like Preacher said, sometimes using 4 just makes it easier. Just making sure, before I get my ass banned on some LLs.

[DJilla]

Originally Posted by TekAngel

Site Title: So is it O.K. to have up to 4 words in a title? I tried to stick with 3 but like Preacher said, sometimes using 4 just makes it easier. Just making sure, before I get my ass banned on some LLs.

If the Rules specify a specific number like 3 or 4 words (and they often do) then stick to that only. IMHO, Where you have the flexiblity of more words you should always use them as descriptive seo text and perhaps even change them up a little as you go along though it depends on how many LLs you submit to whether changing title and descriptive text might be of any benefit.

[MrYum]

Yea, quite a few lists do limit it to 3 words. Some go to 4, and a few will allow up to 5 (like myself).

What I'd do is get a base title of 3 words for the widest acceptability, then add one word to the end of the title on the page. That way, you have a bit more flexibility for those lists that will accept 4. I doubt reviewers at the 3 word limit sites will decline for having that 4th word at the end of the title onpage. Hope that makes sense

[LowryBigwood]

Originally Posted by MrYum

Yea, quite a few lists do limit it to 3 words. Some go to 4, and a few will allow up to 5 (like myself).

What I'd do is get a base title of 3 words for the widest acceptability, then add one word to the end of the title on the page. That way, you have a bit more flexibility for those lists that will accept 4. I doubt reviewers at the 3 word limit sites will decline for having that 4th word at the end of the title onpage. Hope that makes sense

Good advice. I will also take more than the standard 3 title, in fact I don't think I have set a limit to the title. With just 3 words, it seems almost unrealistic to expect a different title each time. For me, it can be difficult coming up with a unique catchy title for a freesite with just 3 words. Why limit your freesite submitters and your chance at long tail listings in the se's?

[fresh]

i make every freesite from scratch and it takes 100 minutes to build each, but they all look alike...somebody can think they are templates

[Mateusz]

Originally Posted by MrYum

Yea, quite a few lists do limit it to 3 words. Some go to 4, and a few will allow up to 5 (like myself).

What I'd do is get a base title of 3 words for the widest acceptability, then add one word to the end of the title on the page. That way, you have a bit more flexibility for those lists that will accept 4. I doubt reviewers at the 3 word limit sites will decline for having that 4th word at the end of the title onpage. Hope that makes sense

Uhmmmm I think we've got little misunderstanding here.. 3 words refer to site's title you enter in the form and IMO has nothing to do with title tag.

Althought I think its good habbit to put put sites title in this tag and always do that myself, as long as you have title visible on page, I cant imagine anyone rejecting FS for adding few words in title tag (especially if we refer to main or gallery pages )

[SheepGuy]

I really don't care if the title submitted is over 3 words, if it's too long I'll edit it. I also don't care if you don't submit the same title as the title on the page, as long as it accurately says what the site is about. I don't use descriptions so I give more leeway to the length of the titles.

[MrYum]

Originally Posted by Mateusz

Uhmmmm I think we've got little misunderstanding here.. 3 words refer to site's title you enter in the form and IMO has nothing to do with title tag.

Althought I think its good habbit to put put sites title in this tag and always do that myself, as long as you have title visible on page, I cant imagine anyone rejecting FS for adding few words in title tag (especially if we refer to main or gallery pages )

Sorry Mateusz, didn't mean to be confusing...

Yep, 3 words does indeed refer to what's entered into the submission form. I'm just saying that the onpage title of the site could be 4 or even 5 words, but just use the first 3 for those link sites that only take 3.

Regarding the title tag itself, I prefer to see it be the same as or at least similar in theme to the onpage title. But, don't think I've ever declined a site based solely on the title tag being different.

[Jel]

Playing Devil's advocate here:

What if I'm targetting a 3 word keyphrase (I thought all fs builders chose their titles this way?) and jan 1st I use the template with title 'my wife's tits', then feb 1st I use the same template, and same title on a different domain, again going for that keyphrase? I've done this myself, usually no more than twice, and definitely not more than 3 times, but now I'm worried I've been banned for using what I'd have thought was a legit tactic

[SheepGuy]

Hey Jel,
I do that all the time with AVS feeder sites, why not? I rarely submit feeder sites though. I just do them to use the AVS traffic and give an SE boost to premium sites
So this is totally unrelated, hmmm... bedtime in my corner of the planet

[Linkster]

Jel - think about what you just said from a SE point of view - "I own three domains and each of them has exactly the same set of keywords and are named the same and have exactly the same text content owned by the same owner" - do you think that will work in the SE's ?

When I go through sites like this - and not referring to yours specifically as I dont think you were involved in this - what I see is a free site submitter putting up the same template and using the same text and title over and over - to the tune of 10 sites with exactly the same title - although spread across categories - and exactly the same template - looks to a reviewer like they are just to lazy to change the text and titles

[Jel]

Originally Posted by Linkster

Jel - think about what you just said from a SE point of view - "I own three domains and each of them has exactly the same set of keywords and are named the same and have exactly the same text content owned by the same owner" - do you think that will work in the SE's ?

When I go through sites like this - and not referring to yours specifically as I dont think you were involved in this - what I see is a free site submitter putting up the same template and using the same text and title over and over - to the tune of 10 sites with exactly the same title - although spread across categories - and exactly the same template - looks to a reviewer like they are just to lazy to change the text and titles

I am talking with completely different text Well, not completely, but with hopefully enough changes as to make a difference. I'll also use a different template, but same title & target phrase, across a couple of domains, so my first post was probably a bit inaccurate.

Good to hear that it wasn't my sites though