Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
i can only comment on mixing landscape and portrait thumbs from a gallery posting perspective - and our sales dropped 50% doing it, even when they were organized so they were all the same height.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Thanks for your comments dzinerbear…
I think I might experiment with thumb size in the future.
I’ve only hyperlinked the text which says Blake Mason, which is why only some of it is underlined. What do you think about that?
I would like to try making my own banners and think I might spend some time on that for each of my favourite sponsors.
The link back to my hub is a good idea - thanks for that.
[QUOTE=dzinerbear;7455]I like your stuff. It’s very blocky, linear, and balance, like everything was laid out with a ruler. And I’m always attracted to that kind of stuff.
I also love your colours. They’re bold and they really grab you.
I’m a little disappointed with the thumbsize. I don’t know if bigger thumbs sell better, but my first impression when I saw them was, “Oh this guy is cheap.” That may not get a surfer in the mood to buy. Don’t know, let’s see what others say.
Question: Why is some of the your link text underline and some not? Not criticizing, just wanting to know if there’s a sales reason for it.
The other thing I think would make your site better is if you didn’t use the Blake Mason banners. I’d make my own. It’s a bother, but I think it’s worth it as those 468x60s get over used pretty quickly. I usually just use them on my warning page, but everything else, I try and make custom.
The only other thing I might suggest is providing a link to somehow get your surfers into the rest of freesites. I know you have one on the front page, I might put something else on your gallery page at the bottom. I usually link to a couple of names galleries, i.e. Big Hard Cocks and Straight Naked Studs, just to help with SEO. I also figure the longer I can keep someone on my own properties, the better my chances when a surfer gets horny enough.
Michael[/QUOTE]
Thanks for your comments too Mickey.
I might try just a simple ADULT CONTENT, 18+ ONLY warning instead.
[QUOTE=Mickey;7463]I am by no means an expert on this but imo the use of the red color for the warning box is a bad choise, i know you might want to signal stop/read this but red on blue is a clash of colors that will draw all the attention to something that we all have on the pages but to be honest we dont expect people to read etc - so i would probably go with another more neutral color there…
beyound that i think the site is very nice…[/QUOTE]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Ok,
I’m not a great free site builder or even know what sells on a free site. So anything I mentioned on here is just what I presonally feel or like. Not at all what might work best on site…
The thing is, the 3 sites we have on here… there are all actually very good. Compared to what I see on a daily basis these 3 stand out very much from the rest.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[quote=dzinerbear;7356]Okay … here’s my freesite for the tutorial.
I’m looking forward to the comments and feedback.
Michael[/quote]
Ok, Michael. here is my critisism of your site. I will only say what I dont like since in general it looks very nice. This is my view as a surfer and directory owner. Not a site builder or what might be good for sales.
[LIST=1]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[quote=marcjacob;7408]Heres mine.
I do 60 pic, usually 4 x 15 or 3 x 20 so I can get listed at alta gay links.[/quote]
Ok, Marcjacob. Again like i mentioned before. I will only say what I dont like since in general it looks very nice.
BUT I got to say I really like the warning page. Its a perfect example of a good, straight forward and practical warning page. Nothing more or less is needed on it. (Other than maybe some SEO text)
[LIST=1]
Meta tags I think can definitly help, if you get it right and together with text on pages you might find you get a bit of traffic from all kinds of places. Not much but more and more applications and spiders etc pick up all kinds of sites but still rely on Meta tags and some sort of descriptive text
Specially Google Images is FAR more important / bigger than most people realize. So by using good Image Alt and Title tags you could get a nice surprise from Google.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[quote=rudeboxxx;7443]I’ve made one promoting Blake Mason 
Sexy British Lads Fuck In The Ass
I think it complies with all the rules hehe. Please do comment :)[/quote]
Again like i mentioned on the other posts… ill mostly say what I dont like about the site or what i would improve. I do really like your sites though, love the colors!
Just first, in regards to the red on the warning page. It is true, it attracts attention. I love how it looks though, so I would have used that to your advantage. Draw attention to something else with the help of red. Colors are so VERY important.
Right, this is what i dont like or might have changed:
[LIST=1]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
I guess what you’re saying is that the advert at the bottom is deceptive, and it was designed to be. But I hear what you’re saying and other link list owners may not be so generous. I’m going to try something a little different.
Thanks for the feedback.
Michael
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Good point about the red, maybe I could use red to border the banners.
I’m not sure what you mean about the hover effect as I haven’t used it in the template (I don’t think hehe).
I think in the interest of SEO I will have to change the title to text rather than image and sacrifice the text having the white border. So thats a good idea.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
I actually really like that concept. Could you not just entitle it with something like “A preview of what is inside Sponsor Name” to avoid people seeing it as deceptive?
[QUOTE=dzinerbear;7539]I guess what you’re saying is that the advert at the bottom is deceptive, and it was designed to be. But I hear what you’re saying and other link list owners may not be so generous. I’m going to try something a little different.
Thanks for the feedback.
Michael[/QUOTE]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Hello all, I am new to this forum. I got an invitation from Bjorn today and just couldn’t refuse it since he’s such a nice guy 
Here are some of my characteristic free sites:
RB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/randymenforallseasons/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/dailydoseofcock/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/loadedguns/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/primalmale/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/menofsteel/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/extremepenetrations/
BSB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/deepassfucking/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/domehard/
Fratmen:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/nextdoorfrathunks/
CJB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/hotstraightcum/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/hornyashell/
These sites were taken form many different time periods (2004 - 2008). I would love to hear all comments, both negative and positive.
It would be interesting if you tried to guess which of these sites performed best and which made little or no sales on the basis of their design, and I’ll tell you if you were right
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[QUOTE=basschick;7364]michael, your site is spectacularly clean and looks good. has this style been accepted for you at all the sites you have recips for? i’m asking because i have posted to directories that definitely would turn it down for the amount of real estate given to the ad on the warning and main page, as well as for the thumbs linked to the sponsor at the bottom of this one
http://www.gay-porn-pig.com/freesites/collegedudes/horny-college-guys/01.html
…[/QUOTE]
I agree that some directories (especially the big super-strict adult directories) may decline Michael’s site for either of these reasons. The gay directories tend to be much more webmaster friendly (other than some have an outrageously-high minimum content limit). I really like Michael’s free-site graphic design, and his titles and descriptions attract a lot of clicks. (BTW, Michael, I don’t show you submitted this site to Latin Men Links yet.)
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[QUOTE=marcjacob;7408]Heres mine.
I do 60 pic, usually 4 x 15 or 3 x 20 so I can get listed at alta gay links.[/QUOTE]
I also think it would help to vary the advertising text on each page, and add a banner if the sponsor provides one.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
No, that might be the problem, you just have to create a rule for:
a:hover {
color: #000;
}
Remember it makes a huge difference what order you have a:link, a:hover, a:visited (they need to be in that order in your css)
[quote=rudeboxxx;7547]Good point about the red, maybe I could use red to border the banners.
I’m not sure what you mean about the hover effect as I haven’t used it in the template (I don’t think hehe).
I think in the interest of SEO I will have to change the title to text rather than image and sacrifice the text having the white border. So thats a good idea.[/quote]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Hi Ben, thanks for joining.
Yes it would be very interesting to see which ones perfermed the best. I bet it will be the ones we think would do worst! lol
Its interesting to see how you linked up between your different gallery sites. Do you find that works better? Doesnt that mean people surf around more for free rather than take the chance to buy?
[quote=Ben;7551]Hello all, I am new to this forum. I got an invitation from Bjorn today and just couldn’t refuse it since he’s such a nice guy
Here are some of my characteristic free sites:
RB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/randymenforallseasons/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/dailydoseofcock/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/loadedguns/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/primalmale/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/menofsteel/
http://www.bighornymen.net/sites/extremepenetrations/
BSB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/deepassfucking/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/domehard/
Fratmen:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/nextdoorfrathunks/
CJB:
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/hotstraightcum/
http://www.free-porn-masters.com/sites/hornyashell/
These sites were taken form many different time periods (2004 - 2008). I would love to hear all comments, both negative and positive.
It would be interesting if you tried to guess which of these sites performed best and which made little or no sales on the basis of their design, and I’ll tell you if you were right :)[/quote]
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[QUOTE=gaydemon;7813]Its interesting to see how you linked up between your different gallery sites. Do you find that works better? Doesnt that mean people surf around more for free rather than take the chance to buy?
[/QUOTE]
Actually people do say it helps. Surfers will surf for porn as long as they want to and we cant stop that. But keeping them in your network of sites means that they are more likely to buy from you rather than someone else. Hopefully they see something they like, get really horny and buy.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[QUOTE=Bec;7446]You don’t need to buy a domain for each free site, just do subfolders for them like this: yourdomain.com/categories/fake-site-name/index.html
Most do free sites on a domain they probably have as a main “hub” site.[/QUOTE]
Yeah thanks Bec. I realized that as soon as I wrote that but didn’t get the change to edit the post.
Ok so I’m working on one for Hot Barebacking. Now…we all know how infamous Gunzblazing is for their liberalism when it comes to videos (which I LOVE :D), but is it recommended to have both pics and videos on a free site? I will have 40 pics in total in 4 galleries. Would a video for each gallery help? Or is that overkill?
Thanks much!
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Ok…here’s my very first “free” site. Please don’t laugh too hard. At least…not out loud lol
Tell me what ya think:
http://www.all-gay-porn.com/rawbarebackstuds/index.html
Mucho gracias:D
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
Ben,
There are shitpot of links that go to pages which don’t match the link titles in all your sites.
The basic site layout is nothing noteworthy.
Also, is there a reason you skipped embedding ICRA or RTA tags?
The last is something which REALLY pisses me off - there are some parents who take the time to filter their kids’ internet experience and we should be meeting them at the halfway point.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
[QUOTE=gaydemon;7813]
Its interesting to see how you linked up between your different gallery sites. Do you find that works better? Doesnt that mean people surf around more for free rather than take the chance to buy?[/QUOTE]
It has always worked for me.
I guess my reasoning always was:
- The surfer is surfing around for free on the link list anyways. Eventually he may find something.
- Instead of the link list having him and the other free sites, why not me?
- It’s a good way to filter traffic.
It’s really no different than what Rude Box is doing, only executed in a different way. If I were Rude Box, I would provide a link to my main hib on all my sites to filter traffic.
Let’s take that Blake Mason site as an example. Maybe the surfer doesn’t like the model, but of he says “see all my BM sites here”, then the surfer may find a model he likes. And of course it’s nice having the surfer spend more time on my domain that the link list or other free sites.
I really try and get my average visit times up. My older free site domains that I didn’t hub together have a real lower average visitor time. The newer ones are a bit higher per domain.
Re: Free Site Workshop - Let’s Get Building!
RDude -
Nice layout and nice navigation. A dark background site that works well…
Comments:
You sort of jump right into nasty stuff, so you might want to make your first page’s title read “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT” since that is the first thing filtering software looks at.
You might also want to visit www.icra.org and grab yourself a label.
(No, you won’t lose sales when a 10 year old’s computer won’t play your page…)
— “That you are at least 18 years of age or older” —
should be “That you are at least 18 years of age, unless your local laws say you should be older”
Overall, one of the nicest free sites I’ve seen in a long time - no crap, right to the point, nice layout!
.