Text on Free Sites

[marcjacob]

How important is this? I didnt want to hijack Michaels freesites thread, but Pauls reply about reading it got me wondering. Do you think most surfers spend time reading the blog type text in free site galleries? Is that a major sales driver?

Also if it is important, and Pauls reply makes me think it might be, what makes "good" text?

[gaydemon_jr]

I got someone who is better at writing to do my descriptions for free sites, and it's more than paid for itself.

Not only that, it will help getting google traffic.

[HunkMoneyLuke]

its brilliant for SEO, and getting a good boost in traffic from google after your freesite has been online for a few months is always a nice surprise

[abostonboy]

Marc,

The best text in free sites is text that is huge that says, "click here surfer now - buy your porn."

Text in free sites is goog for Google, but most webmaster blow any chance of getting Google index their site by having warning pages all look the same.

[basschick]

true, but on the other hand, there are zillions of ways to say "click here surfer now - buy your porn.", partly because of all the niches and keywords, partly because you don't want all your links to be the same.


Marc,

The best text in free sites is text that is huge that says, "click here surfer now - buy your porn."

Text in free sites is goog for Google, but most webmaster blow any chance of getting Google index their site by having warning pages all look the same.

[abostonboy]

true, but on the other hand, there are zillions of ways to say "click here surfer now - buy your porn.", partly because of all the niches and keywords, partly because you don't want all your links to be the same.

Agreed. I was just trying to say that it's all about the size of the text more than anything. Big text and a call to action.

[basschick]

i like bigger text, but i also like a mix of 1 line and 2 line links with 2 sizes of text, one of which is a call to action.

[desslock]

Well I run what people describe as a "free site" and my experience is very different. My porn site primarily contains original, detailed pages with lots of text, written in journalistic style, with almost big text and a de-emphasis on long, thin, endless columns of flashing ads that scream out of cluttered pages.

Let me tell you how my view of porn site graphical presentation has evolved:

Last Fall, I went to my local art museum, which happened to be running two exhibits that I thought were fascinating. Both were depicting art movements based in New York City/Greenwich Village in the late 1960s.

Of the two I really enjoyed "The New York Graphic Workshop 1964-1970" which incorporated some excellent graphic designs.

I came home from that exhibit with a clear new idea for friskyfans. Porn sites all tend to be just sensory overload - big text, flashing things, a jillion pictures. On and on.

I immediately came home and cleared all the cluttter off my front page - effectively making it aesthetically "anti-porn."

I guess I'm one of very few who sit and contemplate the aesthetic messages of my porn site. You could counter that I'm running a commercial business, not an avant garde art house - but so what?

Didn't Andy Warhol demonstrate with his Campbell soup can drawings the power of graphic design in commercial enterprise?
Hasn't Steve Jobs built an impressive computer company in part because of his relentless attention to design and translating that into satisfied customers using his products in ways PCs have never approached?

Personally for me it makes doing my job a lot more fun.

And if I wanted drudgery, I'd get a real job.

Steve

PS: As to marc's text question --- you are doing yourself a disservice by slapping brief labels and jargon ad infinitum on your web pages. Make it snappy!

[dzinerbear]

I immediately came home and cleared all the cluttter off my front page - effectively making it aesthetically "anti-porn."

How has this translated in the sales department?

I've certainly gone against the grain in many areas. I've been told time and again my AVS sites aren't AVS sites. But just because I choose to do them differently than 90% of other people doesn't make them non-AVS, in fact, they're very AVS because they require one to get inside. And actually since I've been doing my AVS sites this way since 2003, I've noticed that many other webmasters have picked up the style.

Anyway, Steve, I'm interested to see how your new style is affecting business.

Michael