Basic Free Site Building
Newbie Project Of the Week

Voltar

Cloud Cash

This weeks project, Basic Free Site Building, will involve building the basic layout and traffic flow pattern for the site. This way you have an idea of where everything goes and why.

Please take special notice that the examples here are just that, "examples". You should take this basic layout model and add your own personal flair and design to it, make it into one that is unique to you. Then take it and repeat it in different niches/categories. Do not copy this simple basic layout except for the very first time you do this project. After that, get creative and use your imagination to make something unique. Unique sells better than run of the mill stuff any day of the week, and you are here to make money from your sites. Don't forget to be unique!

Special note on graphics: for this project forget about them. Fancy logos, heavy backgrounds, and graphics that don't make you money should be tossed out and forgotten. You are not here to make the worlds best looking site, even though you might have that idea in the back of your mind. You are here to make sites that make you money! Leave ego behind and you'll find yourself making much more profitable sites. After all, if a graphic doesn't make you money, it's only there for ego. That actually costs you money in bandwidth and lost surfers because your pages loaded to slow and the surfer left. The vast majority of surfers are still on dial-up connections. Build for the hardware that's being used, not what might be used in the future.

Since you are a new webmaster there are some things you will run into. Here is a brief bit of help (and yes, it applies to you).

  • Stop thinking like a surfer and think like a webmaster!
  • See the traffic flow thru your site. Make sure you present as many sales possibilities as possible to the surfer.
  • The more ads you have the more money you make. We are sales men and women. Understand this is "business".
  • The pictures on your site are nothing but free "SAMPLES" to get them to buy the sponsor.
  • The best sales approach is to tease them and leave them having to go to your sponsor to sign up and get more. That also applies to the pictures you use on your site.
  • Tell the surfer to click to go to your sponsors. Some of them are as new to surfing as you are to webmastering, so they need the direction.

    Learn HTML, all the software you have is junk and much of it "will" mess up your links to your sponsors. This means that your ID code in the link will NOT follow the surfer and you won't get credit for the signups you make! Front Page is one of the worst you can use. If you have it, take it, burn it, and roast marshmallows over the flames. Learning HTML takes about 2 days. Its not hard and is common sense most of the time. HTML is what your business is built on. You can NOT afford to not to know it.

    And yes, the odds are that "you" as a surfer did not buy into sales pitches and sign up with sponsors pay sites. You're different, you're webmaster material, which puts you in the top 1% of the top 1% of all the people on the net. Webmastering is hard work and takes commitment to be successful. This project will get you started on the right track. Welcome to webmastering!

    The Basic Freesite
    Follow the site shown below and build it. Start by picking your sponsor(s) and niche the site will be promoting. Then get content to softly reflect the sponsor your selling. Tease with soft, for hard make them buy! You profit. Each free site is solely there to sell the sponsor. Remember that when building this site.

    Index/Entrance Page
    Traffic enters your site at this point. Below is a graphic showing the basic layout of the page Under the graphic I walk you thru the page elements.

  • Sponsor Ad: This should be a "softcore" banner, under 18k weight, with targeted sales text around it. Make the surfer want to buy! This is one of the best sales spots on your site. Hit them hard, make money. 1-2 lines of sales text above and below the banner.

  • Site Name: You have to call your site something. Use a large font size here, and forget using a logo or graphic, they slow the page load down. This is the only place on your site you will need the site name. Everywhere else only put it in the title tag. No one is going to remember your site name out of millions of others on the net. It's only a little free site, so just use a witty name that isn't a company or paysite already. Try to make it reflective of the niche the site is in.

  • Niche Oriented Text: Say hello to the surfer. Say something about the niche your building the site for that is a turn on to them. Something about why this site is here, what you like about the niche, etc... This is where you start an illusion at so the surfer naturally goes on to the sponsor.

  • Sponsor Text Ad: Tell them about the sponsor site your promoting. Make the surfer believe the sponsor is the best thing since sliced bread! Balance it out. Make it 3-4 short lines long.

  • Warning and Exit Link: Warn the surfer its an adult site they are entering, no minors allowed. Provide a small link to a place that is NON-Adult that you can make money from. Don't waste any traffic, find some main stream items to promote as well for this link. Talk to an lawyer and build this to your comfort level after talking to him or her.

  • Recips and Link Trades: You get your first initial traffic from people you trade links with. Above the Enter link of your site, on the entrance page(s) is the correct place for it. This includes link lists, top lists, and a range of traffic sources. Use 6 to 9 recips or link trades per entrance page. This is not where you should put a tgp recip at. Those don't go on free sites. When you mirror your entrance page for additional link trades, this is what you change. Use text recips when ever possible. It's less bandwidth you have to spend by not loading or using graphic recips, and a faster loading site entrance.

    Have you checked out
    the sponsors of the DFN Weekly yet?
    Well what are you waiting for?
    Check them out NOW!

    • DFN Main ........................ Page 1
    The 411 Zone .................. Page 2
    Wide's World ................... Page 3
    This Weeks Tutorial ......... Page 4
    NPOW ............................ Page 5
    SE Noodles ..................... Page 6
    Newbie Sandbox .............. Page 7
    The Back Page ................ Page 8
    The DFN Top Dogs .......... Page 9
    The DFN Weekly ........... Ad Rates

  • Enter Here Link: A clearly marked entrance into your site. Linked Text will work fine for this. No need for graphics. This is the "only" place most link lists allow the word enter on the entrance page.

  • Sponsor Text Ad: Tell them about the sponsor site your promoting. Make the surfer believe the sponsor is the best thing since sliced bread! Balance it out. Make it 3-4 short lines long.

  • Links into your Empire: I included this here so you will know where to bleed off some traffic into your internal sites and pages once you get a few up.

    Main Page
    Traffic enters the Main page from the Entrance page(s). Below is a graphic showing the basic layout of the page. Under the graphic I will walk you thru the page elements.

  • Odd sized Sponsor Ad and Text: This should be a "hardcore" banner, under 35k weight, to get the surfers attention. Not the normal 468 x 60 horizontal banners, 200 X 300 one is a fine size, with targeted sales text around or beside it. Make the surfer want to buy! 4-5 lines of sales text total. Get the surfer interested in things the sponsor site offers. Do not put a "full page ad" (FPA) here and expect to get listed very many places for traffic. Use a little reason and common sense in balancing the look of the page.

  • Sponsor Text Ad: Tell them about the sponsor site your promoting. Make the surfer believe the sponsor is the best thing since sliced bread! Balance it out. Make it 3-4 short lines long.

  • Gallery 1 and 2 Links: Clearly marked links to your sample pic galleries. Don't hide these links, but don't make them be more noticeable than your sponsors links. After all, it's all about selling your sponsors site and not about the sample pictures.

  • Sponsor Ad: This should be a "hardcore" banner, under 25k weight, with targeted sales text around it. Make the surfer want to buy! 1-2 lines of sales text above and below the banner. Reuse this banner and text at the top of Gallery 2.

    Gallery Pages
    Traffic enters the gallery pages from the Main page. Below is a graphic showing the basic layout of the page. Under the graphic I will walk you thru the page elements.

  • Sponsor Ad: This should be a "hardcore" banner, under 25k weight, with targeted sales text around it. Make the surfer want to buy! 1-2 lines of sales text above and below the banner.

  • 5 Thumbnailed Sample Pictures: These should be thumbnailed sample pictures linking to full sized pictures (or pages with full sized pics and 1-2 sponsor ads). To create thumbnails and optimize pictures I recommend SuperJPG. We even have a newbie tutorial on its use at VNWR to help you out with it. Thumbnails should be between 100x100 and 120x120 size and weigh 2-3k each Full sized pictures should be optimized slightly and the size should be 450 to 520 on its longest side and weigh under 30k. Remember, that these pictures are "samples" only. Tell the surfer for the good stuff they have to join the sponsor you're promoting.

  • Sponsor Text Ad: Tell them about the sponsor site your promoting. Make the surfer believe the sponsor is the best thing since sliced bread! Balance it out. Make it 3-4 short lines long.

  • 5 Thumbnailed Sample Pictures: These should be thumbnailed sample pictures linking to full sized pictures (or pages with full sized pics and 1-2 sponsor ads). Thumbnails should be between 100x100 and 120x120 size and weigh 2-3k each Full sized pictures should be optimized slightly and the size should be 450 to 520 on its longest side and weigh under 30k. Remember, that these pictures are "samples" only. The ONLY reason they are there is to sell the sponsor. Tell the surfer for the good stuff they have to join the sponsor you're promoting.

  • Sponsor Text Ad: Tell them about the sponsor site you're promoting. Make the surfer believe the sponsor is the best thing since sliced bread! Balance it out. Make it 3-4 short lines long.

  • Links into your Empire: I included this so you will know where to bleed off some traffic into your internal sites and pages once you get a few up. On gallery 2 you should tell the surfer the site is over and to find the best in the "niche" the site is, to click there to continue.

    Now go make this site, submit it to the link sites and traffic trades. Submit it to at least 10 different search engines. You can mirror/copy the index page and add different recips to the new page. Name it something like "enter.html" "begin.html" "start.html".. etc... and then start building on your next free site! Keep building up your base of sites on the net. This is how you grow your business.

    Voltar

    "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."
    Judy Garland
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