This Weeks Site Review Thread

[Lee]

The last review thread started rolling really well after the site had been posted and reviewed so id like to do another this week.

However, please bear in mind that we want to keep the reviews to one site per week to give everyone a chance at getting their site reviewed so, with that said, if anyone wants to get a review on the GWW community of their site please post ONLY a url to your site in this thread and we will make this the 'master list' as it were of sites to review each week in the order that they are posted.

This weeks site is going to be http://www.mencaliente4sex.com/index.php at the request of Alex

Next wekk, we'll review the first url that one of our community posts in here after this post.

Regards,

Lee

[caliente4sex]

Here is the URL for my site http://www.mencaliente4sex.com/index.php

Thanks for your comments.

Alex PG :twink:

[Lee]

Okay so here goes

The first thing that i noticed is that the index page of the site is centered yet, when i click a link (all of which are the same just with different text btw) the site is left aligned, im not sure if its just me but i like to see a site centered throughout, it makes sure that everyones surfing experience is that same regardless of what browser and / or resolution they are using.

I like the colors a lot btw, they are uniform throughout and i do think a lot of webmasters could learn from your use of the same colors on the site, i see a lot of sites that are, putting it nicely, a mess of colors thrown on a page with no real 'purpose' to them other than to have as many colors as possible on a page

Once you get past the main index page the one other thng that *I* would personally change are the buttons on the left side of the screen, especially the webmaster button, lose that or, move it to the very last button space if you must have it there although, imho as you have an 'webmaster' text link at the base of the page its just adding extra load time to a page $0.02

Also, on this second page, you have a lot of what i like to call 'white space' that is to say, blank space on the page, you have a good 400-500 tall section in the black part of the page and a further 100 pixel high area in the orange at the bottom, imho thats lost marketing space, fill it in with some text or, some graphics, perhaps a couple of pics of the current sites members with links to their profile?

One other thing i did notice, the banner you have towards the top of the second page with the 'No Credit Card required for
FREE ACCOUNTS' text link below, id link that up, i tried to click it so im sure your surfers will be trying to also

Other than that i actually like the layout and color scheme of the site a lot, you might want to think about getting a new logo done for the entry page on caliente4sex though, its not vital but IMHO it portrays 'professionalism' if the site logo is clean and easy to read.

Regards,

Lee

[caliente4sex]

Thanks Lee... I am Taking Notes... :coffee: I am really happy with my sells now I am selling about 7 memberships per day... and I have a lot of rebills this moth... that's right I am jumping to do advertising in another state... I will try California for the next 3 months... then I will jump to New York.

I really appreciate your comments.

Alex PG :twink:

[Xstr8guy]

http://www.hairybearmovies.com/

Doesn't convert for shit! Help!

[Squirt]

I usually don't like giving site reviews because it's easy for people to take offense or just be overwhelmed by information and not use any of the tips you give. Also you can have 10 guys that make $10k a week give you different advice on the same topic LOL. So here's what I see:

Your front page loads unusually slowly and on Alexa it shows that 87% of pages load faster then yours so I ran a quick page speed report on your home page and found that even on ISDN your page takes about 8 seconds to load completely. You can run your own report here After you input your URL pay attention to the analysis and recommendations at the bottom of the page.

After taking a quick look at your html and graphics I realized part of the reason your site takes so long to load is your graphics, you're not optimizing them. I took just a couple of your graphics and popped them in Photoshop and simply selected the "save for web" option and your banner went from 27k to 12k. your flags graphic went from 5k to 1k. I've pasted the modified banner for you below. as you can see it looks exactly the same at half the size. Do this to all your graphics and load the page in half the time. Your black and white background graphic should be saved in two color to make the size smaller. You want to try and trim your home page size down to 30k theoretically.

ok enough about graphics and loading speed.

Alexa shows you having a 14 page view per user average which is great. So once surfers get in they stay around a while, if you trust Alexa stats.

If you made it more clear, on first glance, what your site offers, you will get more sales. You have no tagline for your product which is costing you money. Try something like "Cruise interactive Gay personals for free" or "See hot naked guys in your city for free" etc. etc. That way you mention the free membership and what your site offers in one sentence. The way you have it now, on your front page, your mentioning all these membership levels and money etc without even telling them what they get. I'd advise you don't even mention the other membership levels AT ALL. Use a single tagline, like I mentioned above, they will sign up , give you the email addy., and once inside they are already qualified and much more likely to buy.

The search on the front page is a great idea. Drop the Script to make things glow, if you want to do that do an animated .gif. Sorry I have to cut this short, company is here.

[DigitalJay]

The site is great, but the graphics DO take way to long to load. I also am not crazy about the dark blue links on the front page (when u type the domain without index.php) There should be a plain, light colored Enter link somewhere.

I think your prices are right on, and the highly detailed search is awesome. The only suggestion I can think of for features to add, would be a "featured member" or something similar on the front page. Feature one of the hottest guys profile each week/month, make the link open in a new window. That way anyone surfing through is one simple click away from seeing the kind of men featured on the site, the layout and style of profile pages, etc.

[Dzinerbear]

Just quickly ... I can't do more than that at the moment, but I'll look at it later.

Your logo could use some work. Alex, your logo is so important. It gives the surfer a first impression. I think you have a lot going for you on the site ... the colours are hot. But you're logo is overwhelming.

You just spent a whopping amount of money on a mailer, perhaps you could spend a couple of hundred and get a logo design. http://www.kinkydwarf.com has done some good work for me, but he tends to do cartoon characters so maybe that's not your style. But I'm sure there are some good places in the GWW directory that can give you a hand with that. (The money I spent with KD was the best I've ever invested, I'm so happy with the logo he did for one of my sites.)

Cheers,
Dzinerbear

[Scorpio]

Alex, at least change the logo... it won't hurt at all. And frankly, ANYTHING would be better than what you have right now.

Just my 2 cents

[DigitalJay]

I made you a new one, it's got the same dimensions but it's smaller, and I think sexier :p

I like keeping the logos really simple, something like this would be hot. With maybe a tagline under it like "Where all the hot men cum 4 sex" or something.

[Scorpio]

I made you a new one, it's got the same dimensions but it's smaller, and I think sexier :p

I like keeping the logos really simple, something like this would be hot. With maybe a tagline under it like "Where all the hot men cum 4 sex" or something.

yeah it's gonna look clean and fit the template better.

[caliente4sex]

Thanks guys... taking notes here... :coffee:

[DigitalJay]

Actually, I think the tagline would look good above it. Instead of men, you could put "Hot men who are..." right over the logo.

[caliente4sex]

I made you a new one, it's got the same dimensions but it's smaller, and I think sexier :p

I like keeping the logos really simple, something like this would be hot. With maybe a tagline under it like "Where all the hot men cum 4 sex" or something.

Hi DigitalJay

Thanks for the logo... can you make it so it says just

MENCALIENTE.com and the word men in color white... please. I am going to move my site to this domain. Thanks.

Alex

[DigitalJay]

Like this? These are just samples btw, I highly recommend asking for some designer referals from regulars or mods here. You'll notice a big difference between what I can do and what a true designer can do, they'll really polish your logo and make it unique and eye catching. If you are making those kind of sales, it would definately be worth your time and money to get a pro logo.