I'm new to posting on this forum but I've been browsing it for quite some time. Well without further ado, here's the gist of my site: After that student out in England made 1 Million Dollars by selling pixels, my mind started working on an idea that could help me out. I eventually came up with the idea of selling links to a directory of sorts, except not any directory. It's based on category, but when someone clicks a specific category they're taken to a random site based upon all of the links in that category. I give a more detalied description on the site that you can visit on the FAQ page here: http://www.linkgoggles.com Stupid? Maybe, but I thought selling pixels was dumb as well. Anyway, the main reason why I am here is to see if anyone knows any ways to be able to advertise to website owners. Anyone who doesn't own a website won't be interested in buying links. Thanks for reading.
Some advice, To begin, when I first look at your website, not only does it make me not interested but it is actually screaming at me to go look at another website. Secondly, hosted by Yahoo pushes me away as well, I think free hosting. Thirdly, the idea is kind of alright, definetly isn't driving me to purchase, might want to research AIDA. Fourthly, pretty is good, this looks like it was thrown together overnight, which it most definetly could of been. Fifthly, come up with a better story then poor college kid. Try something new that has never been thought of, because the poor college kid skit has been played. Sixthly, get $500, write an amazing press release, buy the press release. I mean ground shatteringly amazing and the rest should be money in the bank.
Wow. Spend some money on having the site redesigned! I don't mean to be blunt, but the above poster said it right. The site looks like a 12 year old put it together on a free hosting account. It's not going to inspire people to whip our their credit cards and start spending money. Alex got started because he got his friends and family to buy first, then friends of friends and then he contacted the local press himself and told them about the idea. Unfortunately, the press is very unlikely to want to hear about similar sites these days.
Thanks you guys for being completely honest. I've taken some steps in the direction that i've been pointed in, i changed up the look of the site alot (still not great, but i'm working on it), added a page before everything to divert webmasters (I attempted to do the AIDA there, idk how well i did at it) and deleted the hosted by yahoo badge. Only thing I really couldnt do is decide on a different angle to write the story from, since I really am doing this for college. Here's a pic of the old site: http://i13.tinypic.com/4hwmpzb.jpg new site: http://www.linkgoggles.com Also, i wrote up a press release , but a lot of sites release them for free. Can anyone clue me in on the difference between spending the $500 and it being free? thanks. "High School Student’s Innovative Way of Internet Advertising Looks Promising Windsor, Connecticut. January 7, 2007 Just as any other senior in high school, the thought of expenses for a higher education were creeping into the back of 17-year-old Nicholis Jones’ mind. In mid-January, Jones launched a website, www.LinkGoggles.com, a new and creative directory that helps business and customers come together like never before. With the launch, Jones’ site features a unique way for webmasters to get the word out for their web page. Instead of a search engine or banner ads, LinkGoggles.com features a randomized database that is sorted by category. When the viewer selects from the choices, he or she is launched to a page in the site’s database that pertains to that subject. “Colleges are getting very expensive to pay for,†said Jones, “so I tried to apply my knowledge of the Internet to better myself later in life. I know people were tired of seeing pop up ads and having their email addresses cluttered with junk mail, so I wanted to make it easier for them to find what they are looking for on the web. The website takes a new approach of bringing website of all kinds and people together. Designed with everyone in mind, it isn’t just for shopping. From personal websites to entertainment, there is an array of what you can pick from. You can find out more information online by visiting http://www.LinkGoggles.com."
Please get rid of the splash page. It is so unprofessional, I was tempted to just leave when I saw that.
hi njones to improve your design, give a look at http://www.oswd.org/ they have tons of quality free templates/designs (be sure to linkback though) your design is not so good, as said above, be it the initial design which i saw yesterday or the one currently in place. this really needs improvement to look quasi pro also, i really don't like a first page to be an entrance page, ie "click here to enter". if somebody stumbles upon linkgoggle.com, don't put another hurdle by requesting the guy to click on a link to see more, bring them directly to your content. the webmasters, if interested, will always find the additionnal link to find all the info on how to join. also, should you happen to have friends with websites, or are a fan of cool websites, put them up, even if only temporarily... just to make the site look less empty and make it look more successful. keep us updated on your progress
Thanks for the help about the entrance page and the design templates, I was able to pick one off of the site that I thought would fit. You can check out the new layout at www.linkgoggles.com If anyone from this board would like to help me out and have their site hosted, send me a message (through here or through email at nick@linkgoggles.com) and i'll put it up the first couple free of charge. All the help is greatly appreciated.
Now get rid of those images with the text in them, and change the font. And make nicer images on the right column and nav.