Question(s) about page tours

[Craig]

Ideally, a tour would be 4 to 6 pages with total program information. (video, photo, models, sign-up) Or, based on a transparent tour, any number of pages without full access view.

Is it better to have a transparent tour?

Are people less friendly to tours that look nothing like the members area?

How extreme in difference can the tour and members area look?

[basschick]

i've made great sales with 2 page tours and 9 page tours. i don't think the number is a huge deal, although i notice that on longer tours, i usually make most sales on page 2 or 3.

my best sales come from either transparent tours, reality tours (which most surfers assume are transparent tours) and really well made high end standard tours, of which there are very few.

hard to say on my end - most of the sites that retain the best for me do have similar tours and member areas, but they also have regular updates and plenty of content so it's hard to be sure how much similar tours and member areas have to do with things. i know i prefer them.

i've seen some that were pretty extreme. they don't retain as well as some sites, but they also tend to have less consistency when it comes to pic and video sizes, update schedules and so on so again, hard to know how much impact the member area design and layout have.

[Craig]

For sake of example...

http://happysucks.com/0/gd/bbb.jpg

Odd, I know. Not a standard anything. Tossed together for the question.

A tour that runs along these lines and a streamline members ares with the same colors but not the same navigation, It's own logo and expanded links.

[basschick]

as a tour, that's a LOT of space before we get to the meat - although the right model could make that work. would each of those smaller thumbs click to the models' pages?

[Craig]

Ooh, If this was a tour I was building to use, then there would be a model on each side of the logo. And the logo would be more defined to the site name.

The model thumbs at the bottom, Yes. Again, If this was a tour I intended to use, I would have them Linkable and update with the newest models as they go live on the site.

As a whole I would have it like:

index1 - Multi-part splash with clips of all offers.
Index2 - follow through to the first self contained page (video showcase)
index3 - The next showcase item (photos) and so on as a "next" option

Each model would have an independent template that fit the style with bio and updates accessible through index4, the model page.

All pages would have a join option and remain fluid with one another.

This is, however, something I literally put together just for the post. Tall header, Stereotypical gay colors and odd arrangement to show a tour that isn't built for the member CMS.

[Craig]

Another example where the tour would stand apart from the members area

http://happysucks.com/0/gd/newspaper.jpg

I assume from your first post, as long as you show what you offer and possibly show a peek into the members area (maybe with screen grabs) or a tour design close to the members area layout, stronger retention (under long term study) could be maintained.