Consoles

By

Rich C.

MaxCash

Preface
Before diving into the world of consoles, there are a few things you should be aware of. A huge chunk of the world's traffic (and hence your share of it) is determined by human editors. Yahoo and other such directories, link lists, and tgp's all have two things very much in common.

1) Their listings are determined by human editors.
2) Those editors are looking for sites which add some level of value to their listings.

That being said, understand that humans are humans and their view on consoles is not consistent. Some humans realize that consoles do not diminish the value of a sites listing. They understand that a console is simply an effort to help the surfer have a more pleasurable internet experience. They understand that a console is just an effort to help them to find the content they are looking for in a fast an effective manner. Some humans disagree though. They feel that consoles are distracting to the surfer. They feel that the value of a site is diminished by the use of consoles because of the distraction factor.

What's important to take from this...is this: If you want to use consoles make sure your dealing with humans that feel they add value. If you try and tap traffic resources where the human feels they de-value your site, then your odds of receiving traffic from such resources are diminished.

How do I figure out what sort of humans I am dealing with? Keep in mind, all sources of traffic which derive from human editors love to add sites to their listings which bring value and quality. A lot of humans are kind, and will tell you upfront what kind of sites they are looking to list. So try and read and find out what they're looking for.

So you say, ok I looked, there are no guidelines. The next best way to figure out the human is to write to them, and ask them how they feel about consoles. Typically these humans like people who write and take the time to figure out what brings value to a given site.

Ok I wrote, they didn't reply... what now? Look at their listings. Look at a decent amount not just one or two. Figure out if the editor lists sites with consoles or not. The reason I say look at more then one or two... Some humans submitting sites are sneaky. They might change their listing after the editor has listed it. I don't recommend this tactic. While it can make you nice short term money... Humans are humans, and they get pissed when you screw with them or the perceived value of their listings. If You piss of a human, they may just decide to piss off you.... and pull all of your current listings and/or blackball you from future listings.

The above being said, let's move onto consoles. There are 4 main types of consoles in use today. They are: 1) exit consoles 2) blur consoles 3) full screen traps, and 4) sleeper consoles.

1) Exit Consoles: Exit consoles have been extremely popular with webmasters for a number of years. Primarily because webmasters tend to copy other webmasters when they here about something that works. Exit consoles are really a waste of your traffic though if you are popping them from a page that has a slower load time.

If you are popping an exit from a given page... that console will not be locked and loaded until the page you are popping from has fully loaded. In other words, if the surfer closes your site, before the main page is done loading... no console is popped and the surfer is lost. I would only recommend using an exit type console on a page that is pure text (fast loading). An exit console is more productive then no console, but is inefficient.

2) Blur Consoles: Blur consoles are extremely efficient if done properly. Blur consoles always load first. They pop and then hide underneath your main site page. With a blur console, it doesn't matter if your main site finishes loading. The console is sitting there, waiting for the surfer when they close your main site. Hence with blurs, there is no chance of losing that surfer pre-maturely. I recommend building your blurs in pure text. Doing so will ensure that your do not hamper the load time of your main site. Furthermore, it you build your blur in pure text, it now makes sense now to pop an exit console from your blur console (if ya wanna do that).

3) Full Screen Traps: A full screen trap is without a doubt the most powerful console available. If you can pop a full screen from your blur, do it. A full screen trap has a couple of advantages. They require effort on the surfer part to close them. The surfer cannot simply click the "x" on their browser to close the window. There isn't one. They must press ctrl+w to close the window. Because of their nature, you can use more graphic type ads on a full screen console. Load time isn't a huge issue here. The surfer is going to see the ads. Keep in mind though...the preface of the article...if your site is getting traffic from a human...find out if that human is cool with you using a fullscreen.

4) Sleeper consoles: I'm not a huge fan of sleeper consoles. The reason I'm not a huge fan is because they only have a use if you give up control of your surfer. A sleeper console basically works like this. You pop a consoles on loading your main site....that console minimizes itself to your taskbar. The sleeper console on your taskbar is programmed to pop a new console window after a delayed amount of time (which you set).

The only reason for using such a console is to recover a hit which you sent to someone else. You might see someone use a sleeper console to work over a toplist for example. eg. Pop a sleeper...deliver hit to a toplist...gank the hit back with your sleeper. Anyways, if your're trading traffic with someone else who pops a sleeper on their page...you should at least be able to figure out why they are doing it now. :)

Consoles can make you a whole lot of money AND can help surfers find what they are looking for. Just remember, if you're gonna use them, and your deriving traffic from a human type directory. Read the preface again. :)

Rich C.