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I found several ancient apache log files from 2003 and 2004. By analyzing them it clearly shows that big gay link list sites such as Hunkhunter and Manpics2000 easily sent about 2000-4000 unique visitors daily for a new AVS or free site. And those surfers bought memberships!
Now big link lists barely send 200-300 unique visitors to a new site. This was most pronounced during this summer. Maybe it will change dunno?
So what has changed? Is it because of the sites like xtube?
one thing that has definitely changed is there are many more sites listed for people to browse and updates often include more sites, so each site gets a smaller piece of the pie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by basschick
I think you're right (I still blame xtube though! ;) ).
How to get more traffic now in the light of this fact (except for buying traffic for which I have no money)?
start a blog and trade with blogs, and it will also start picking up SE traffic.
make a hub to link all your avs and free sites together, and put a link inside each site leading back to it.
post some galleries and link them to your other sites or to your hub.
and make sure that all your sites and galleries have lots of really relevant text for search engines!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
Great tips Basschick! These kind of tips are not often posted and those reading who don't already know this should write them down as they are worth gold.Quote:
Originally Posted by basschick
blogs are the way to go now - even if you are writing blog posts about your AVS or freesites. They get way better traffic and are much stickier too.
Thanks for the suggestions. So blogging is the king... When blogs first appeared I thought it would be a short-lived fad that nobody would remember in one years time. How wrong I was.
Blogs should be a part of any traffic strategy as they get good SE traffic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
Back in the day, you could create a free site, advertise just one sponsor, and make a killing. I remember pulling 15 sales one day in just one free site I submitted to Manpics. It was bear lovin and at the time ARS had yet to make a banner for it.
Now you need to triangulate your traffic.
Start with free sites. At first you don't have much to link them to except external sponsors. After you get a few free sites, you get a hub. Once you get a hub, develop another domain (examples - fake tgp, site that sells dating sites, site disguised to upsell to VOD or live shows, whatever). Then link them together. You will start increasing your sales. The goal is to show less traffic more $$$ making stuff. Then add some AVS sites, then hub the avs, then link it to whatever else you have. Triangulate your traffic. Then grab another domain and spend a few yours developing that. This maybe a fake toplist. Link that with everything else. Then do a blog which links to everything else you have. Then five other blogs that YOU write for. Then create a blog hub that pulls RSS feeds from your blogs. Triangulate that with everything else you got. Keep repeating. Pretty soon when you put up a free site, you will be saying, "which one of my properties makes the most money and filters this small amount of traffic the best." Then you will be sending surfers to that. Based on what niche you have it maybe a blog, your blog network, your AVS site, or your MAIN hub that links everything you have together.
For me, the goal of a free site has turned from sending primarily directly to a sponsor to sending to my surfer trap. A sponsor may convert at 1:300 - 500 on free site traffic. But my surfer trap converts at maybe 1:100. Plus I get bookmarkers.
becuase of reasons you mentioned, I primarily only use revshare on exclusive content sites as you almost need the member to retain from billing cycle one to two to make it worth your while.
I am having AMAZING luck with these join one, get access to 20 sites deals. As part of my hubs I have created my own pages that describe the deal. Last I looked one sponsor was converting at 1:76 overall that had this. Even Topbucks (which is overexposed) is doing 1:125 ish. Python is about the same.
Best advice I can give. Register 20 domains and dabble in everything - VOD, live cams, dating, blogs, Avs, free sites, fake tgps, fake toplists.
If you have a link list script, signup with StudPort and create a link list with just his hosted AEN sites on it. He setup a downlable excel file with links to teh 2000+ free hosted sites he has.
BOTTOM LINE - Be a thief. Give the surfer that goes to a link list and clicks your site a reason to leave the link list and not click the next link on the link list. Sending your traffic just to a sponsor is reason enough for a surfer to continue down the link list looking for something better. Send them to an overwhelming amount of your money making properties will have him soon forget he was surfing the same link list he does every day. Surfers like choice and they enjoy change once in a while. Offer that to them.
Lloyd
BostonBoy has spent a lot of time thinking about what he wrote above, and included some extremely wise and valuable info, take that along with what Basschick wrote and you have a great biz plan.
Anyone on this board who is making money is using similar techniques, it will not happen over night, even if you did everything that they suggest... the SE's take time to recognise your efforts and reward you.
As I used to say to one WM on here, 'set it and forget it' then come back in 5 weeks to 3 months and look at your traffic from that source. Then tweak it if required.
NOTHING is dead in this industry it just may take a little more work to make it perform, and that is the same in any industry.
One thing to try and ensure .... have your fingers in as many pies as possible, the adage of 'jack of all trades master of none' does not apply to us, poke around and dabble in every type of traffic source... one will work best for you, sure. But you can't afford to miss out on the one that brings you a couple of sales a week either :)
Good Luck !!
Dave
Wow some very good advice Bostonboy.
Btw. Can someone post an example of a good surfer trap designed for the purpose of filtering traffic from free sites? This (I suppose) gives surfers several paysite choices instead of only one. Is it done with FPAs or in some other way?
Ben,Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
I just registered about 20 domains in the past week for just that - a new surfer trap.
This is a site that was linked to from a free site just submiied to boston boyz as we spek....
http://www.cheapmalesite.com/sale/cu...pmalesite.com/
Now this is a great way to filter traffic that is looking for bargains.
Here is what I do. I goto the link lists and actually visit every site listed on a certain day once in a while and click links labeled "links, more porn,etc", that's usually the beginning of a surfer trap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
My employee is a huge free site builder. He actually builds more free sites in a day that I do in a week. 1/2 he never submits to any link list. He just puts them on his own domains. I will ask him for urls of his traps as he makes some sweet sales.
BTW, he has no blog.
Wow great threads, Bostonboy, Basschick, you give really good info! Thank you for sharing this. Now I know i'm on the right path:)
What is the best way to create a blog. I've seen them, however I'm not entirely sure to develop one. Can anyone provide suggestions?
Quote:
Originally Posted by abostonboy
Thank you and everyone else for the advice. We'll be consulting each other via that new site of yours when you get it up and running.
I work alone, don't have any employees, so doing all of the things you mentioned will be quite overwhelming - but it's the only reasonable strategy now so I have to do at least some of it. Or everything but to a lesser extent.
I'll admit I'm painfully slow, pay too much attention to details and I'm sometimes awfully picky (Virgo in horoscope; who would have thought :indian: ) and it's not unusual for me to spend an entire day making and tweaking ONE free or AVS site.
Sebastian, as for the blogs it's a new thing for me as well. I know someone wrote a very good tutorial on how to make a blog at gaymainstreet board about 2 months ago.
I dont use Gay MainStreet. I was a member with that for a very short time last year I think. And the webmasters to that were just complete ass holes and all they liked to do was bashing people. So I said :fuckyou: and left, I have no intentions of going back. I'd rather look elsewhere.
Ben,Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
Actually it takes time but can be done. IF however you spend a day making a free site, that is a problem. I have that problem with blog design, but that's about the extent of my problem.
Look at each part of your hub strategy individually. A surfer trap may have 10 domains involved. I just registered straightmentv.com to sell some VOD. That domain I can develop in two hours. All I do is put up a se friendly splash page, add a sponsor to, and a link to the AEBN theater. I will also add some outgoing links at the bottom of the page. Maybe to wiki articles or other high PR pages in that subject.
On it's own that site will do nothing as I have no links coming into it. But IF you have blogs, free sites, etc then you can link to it and get some good incoming one way filtered traffic links. Trust me, if they see click here for straightmentv, they are looking for videos of straight men. If you tweak it enough, you will make money on small amounts of traffic.
That's the whole goal with less link list traffic - Make the most of what you get.
Adding a fake toplist is just as easy. If you have the server edition of tgprotator then doing a fake tgp is not much more difficult.
Hope this helps.
Check out netpond, there are a lot of very smart bloggers there.Quote:
Originally Posted by SebSloPro
:dog: :dog: Okay, sounds great! I'll look into it now! :donmike:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SebSloPro
Indeed...this site is a model example of a complete lack of drama and bashing! grin
I don't know what experience you had, but NOW at least, I think you will find Gay MainStreet to be VERY friendly webmaster wise.
Okay, perhaps I'll give it a shot again! I'll check it out tomorow.
Thanks for your support.
It is better than before, but there are some that continue to make so much noise that it can be tough at times.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mansized