AB-QA
02-03-2004, 05:03 AM
Hi there,
For those of you who do not know, I do the first level site approvals.
I have been getting a lot of submissions lately and have had to reject about 90% of them. This may be due to many different reasons, some examples are:
-.zip, .exe, .rar, .ace files
-Non-Licensed Content
-Divx Content
-Incorrect URLs submitted
-Site is Aesthetically Unappealing
-Site is not complete
But the MOST COMMON reason why I reject Sites is that they are not fully functional. By that I mean, broken links, broken images, unfinished pages, etc. When you submit a site, it is supposed to be fully complete, and only waiting for content to be put in.
I realize that most of you will not have any content at this point, but what I am looking for is a template where you can insert blank images as placeholders. Once you get the content, all you have to do is replace the placeholders.
The SECOND MOST COMMON reason I reject a site is because it is not aesthetically pleasing. I am not saying that you need a degree in webdesign or anything, but the point of the site is to sell memberships, and that requires some amount of professionalism. Currently, there is a lot of competition amongst adult websites. In order for your site to be competitive and sell, you should implement some type of design that would be pleasing to a surfer(potential customer). I am tired of seeing the same sites over and over using the same times new roman font.
Here are some tips on site design that you may find useful:
1. Try not make headers too big, you want surfers to see the content, and as much of it as you can without having to scroll down.
2. Themes can be very useful when planning out a site, creating a theme and sticking to it can give the site a nicer feel to the surfer.
3. The goal is to sell your site and not your photoshop skills, so creating that huge 600x600 animated header might look cool to you, but you should ask yourself: is it really going to sell the site?
4. Screenshots are a good selling tool to use, which is why pretty much everyone uses them to sell their sites. Spend time and make sure that your screenshots are good quality. If they aren’t, try using an image program to enhance them. If you have blurry or dark screenshots, the surfer might get the impression that the full movie is going to be of the same quality. You don’t sell a VCR to a customer by showing them your crappiest model, the same thing applies here. You don’t sell your site by showing them crappy screenshots. If that means taking extra time to go through the movie to get that screenshot, then so be it. You want to show your best stuff first, that will get the surfer more interested and he will click some more.
5. Using flash, DHTML, javascript, and other site enhancing tools may give your site a cool look or sweet intro, but it is also cutting into your potential customer base. Some people do not have browsers or computers that will support these features. These things also slow up load times and can crash browsers. You need to determine if there is not another alternative that may accomplish the same goal without using flash or DHTML.
6. Remember that all computers are different, and that not everyone has a 21” monitor. Most people typically use 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions and surf with Internet Explorer. Also, avoid using fonts that only you have access to, because otherwise the surfer will see times new roman. =( Try looking at your site from different computers if you can, and from different resolutions. This way you can see what your customer sees.
7. If all above fails, make friends with an experienced webmaster and ask them to critique the site. “One who is truly educated, never stops learning.” There is so much you can learn from others, so keep an open mind.
Keep in mind that this is not an official guidebook of how you should design and run your site, if you have found something that works and sells for you, then more power to you. My goal is to find ways to better improve your site, so that you can improve your paychecks.
If anyone else has any other tips for new webmasters or would like to expand on any of my points, feel free to post them.
Thanks for reading,
For those of you who do not know, I do the first level site approvals.
I have been getting a lot of submissions lately and have had to reject about 90% of them. This may be due to many different reasons, some examples are:
-.zip, .exe, .rar, .ace files
-Non-Licensed Content
-Divx Content
-Incorrect URLs submitted
-Site is Aesthetically Unappealing
-Site is not complete
But the MOST COMMON reason why I reject Sites is that they are not fully functional. By that I mean, broken links, broken images, unfinished pages, etc. When you submit a site, it is supposed to be fully complete, and only waiting for content to be put in.
I realize that most of you will not have any content at this point, but what I am looking for is a template where you can insert blank images as placeholders. Once you get the content, all you have to do is replace the placeholders.
The SECOND MOST COMMON reason I reject a site is because it is not aesthetically pleasing. I am not saying that you need a degree in webdesign or anything, but the point of the site is to sell memberships, and that requires some amount of professionalism. Currently, there is a lot of competition amongst adult websites. In order for your site to be competitive and sell, you should implement some type of design that would be pleasing to a surfer(potential customer). I am tired of seeing the same sites over and over using the same times new roman font.
Here are some tips on site design that you may find useful:
1. Try not make headers too big, you want surfers to see the content, and as much of it as you can without having to scroll down.
2. Themes can be very useful when planning out a site, creating a theme and sticking to it can give the site a nicer feel to the surfer.
3. The goal is to sell your site and not your photoshop skills, so creating that huge 600x600 animated header might look cool to you, but you should ask yourself: is it really going to sell the site?
4. Screenshots are a good selling tool to use, which is why pretty much everyone uses them to sell their sites. Spend time and make sure that your screenshots are good quality. If they aren’t, try using an image program to enhance them. If you have blurry or dark screenshots, the surfer might get the impression that the full movie is going to be of the same quality. You don’t sell a VCR to a customer by showing them your crappiest model, the same thing applies here. You don’t sell your site by showing them crappy screenshots. If that means taking extra time to go through the movie to get that screenshot, then so be it. You want to show your best stuff first, that will get the surfer more interested and he will click some more.
5. Using flash, DHTML, javascript, and other site enhancing tools may give your site a cool look or sweet intro, but it is also cutting into your potential customer base. Some people do not have browsers or computers that will support these features. These things also slow up load times and can crash browsers. You need to determine if there is not another alternative that may accomplish the same goal without using flash or DHTML.
6. Remember that all computers are different, and that not everyone has a 21” monitor. Most people typically use 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions and surf with Internet Explorer. Also, avoid using fonts that only you have access to, because otherwise the surfer will see times new roman. =( Try looking at your site from different computers if you can, and from different resolutions. This way you can see what your customer sees.
7. If all above fails, make friends with an experienced webmaster and ask them to critique the site. “One who is truly educated, never stops learning.” There is so much you can learn from others, so keep an open mind.
Keep in mind that this is not an official guidebook of how you should design and run your site, if you have found something that works and sells for you, then more power to you. My goal is to find ways to better improve your site, so that you can improve your paychecks.
If anyone else has any other tips for new webmasters or would like to expand on any of my points, feel free to post them.
Thanks for reading,