Links.com - New website launched. Did I achieve my objectives?

[richrf]

Well guys, I finally launched Links.com. It is a very simple concept that was suggested to me by a recent college graduate and someone attending college at this time. Just links to humor sites. My objectives were two fold:

1) To get people clicking for links (eventually I can monetize)

2) To keep people coming back?

Did I achieve this with this design? If not, how can I do better?

Thanks for the feedback.

Rich

 

[JFS]

funny, the first think that links.com feels like to me is a web bookmark manager...
the idea on the subdomains are nice:
~ fun.links.com - relative to funny links, jokes and so on
~ search.links.com - search engine of course...
~ photo.links.com - maybe a "place" where users could post their artistic talent?
~ tv.links.com - directory of tv relative websites?

and the list keep going...

anyway just my 2 cents...

 

[richrf]

Hi JagG,

My recent experiences with Sedo were extremely poor. I would never consider doing any business with them.I found their business ethics wanting to the extreme - but it may be average for the domain brokering business.

Rich

1. Park it with sedo NO COST FREE SIGN UP
2. No Out going cost, aprt from renew of domain name
3. Ummmm not sure about that.....
4. No problems
5. Maybe

You have a great name, I have not had the chance to view the site as its blocked on this PC. I will how ever check out the site when I get home, ftrom what I have read on this thread seem like the site you have created is poor.

Why not park it with sedo and when you get enough money pay someone to develope you a great site.

---------- Post added at 10:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------

I can't see why anyone would visit a site like that, low quality and looks awful. Would suggest parking.

Thanks but my objective is to build traffic incrementally. If I see an idea sticking then I will invest. However, it is tough to get stickiness with any idea which is why I am cautious in how I invest dollars in any given project. I just keep trying different ideas and see if there is any interest among visitors.

Thanks again for your comments.

Rich

---------- Post added at 10:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 PM ----------

Golf Golf Golf.

I tried golf but with great content it is a lost cause. There are lots of great golf sites out there and golfers know all about them. I it quite hopeless unless I get a Tiger Woods exclusive.

Thanks for the idea though.

Rich

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:02 PM ----------

Should at least be number two behind golf.com and maybe number 1? C'mon.....be serious here. That is going to need a massive site built around it, tens of millions spent. It is a bit like saying with Social.com you could be as big as Myspace.

Yes, this was my conclusion also. Golfers are looking for content - big time. And there are truly great sites out there with great content and sponsorship. The golf segment is taken and I would say it is impossible for me to penetrate.

Actually, I favor a specialized search engine if I could come across one. Mostly because I had some degree of success with Custom Google search engines. However, I cannot build a site that relies on custom google searches. It would not have any long term prospects.

Thanks for your comment. It pretty much validates my own views.

Rich

 

[snoop]

Thanks but my objective is to build traffic incrementally. If I see an idea sticking then I will invest. However, it is tough to get stickiness with any idea which is why I am cautious in how I invest dollars in any given project. I just keep trying different ideas and see if there is any interest among visitors.

What is chance of any of these ideas sticking though? Do you have a strong interest in any of the sites that have been developed? If not there is no real chance of success, it is just development for the sake of it. Personally I would sell this domain and buy something in an area you have an interest/passion in (if you want to develop) or park it and wait for a buyer.

 

[richrf]

What is chance of any of these ideas sticking though? Do you have a strong interest in any of the sites that have been developed? If not there is no real chance of success, it is just development for the sake of it. Personally I would sell this domain and buy something in an area you have an interest/passion in (if you want to develop) or park it and wait for a buyer.

Hi,

I do have a very strong interest in developing the site. It is, I believe, a matter of patience until the right idea comes along. If you look at the history of successful businesses, most took quite a long time to develop and had many failures before hitting on the right idea.

Rich

 

[richrf]

Hi there musicplace,

I have decided to move ahead and implement your ideas. I like them all. Do you have a graphics designer that you can recommend? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Rich

I agree that MyHumorLinks.com or Links4Humor.com could have been perfectly good domains for this guys website.

But since he has links.com (a brilliant domain), I'd suggest that he use the sub-domain funny.links.com or humor.links.com

... and maybe later on he could branch out to sport.links.com, 3dtv.links.com and medical.links.com etc... The possibilities are endless.


_____
For the OP:

I think Links.com could work perfectly well if you expand your site and include keywords in your sub domains like I said above.

I think the home page could be improved. To me the home page layout kind of feels like something from a few years ago when the internet was still young and browsers didn't stick to standards very well so CSS and HTML were kept very simple. People might disagree but I don't think you need that black bar across the top on the home page. I'd move the About Us, Terms of Service and Contact Us links to the footer. I'd leave the submit a link and register links at the top, but they might look better if they were in tabs coming down from the top of the page (I hope you get what i mean). I'd probably run the digg and facebook etc links down the side of the page in a column because they look out of place. I do like that you just have that big image in the centre of the page - I think that works well, although at some point I'd consider hiring a graphic designer to redo the image.

On the link pages, again i'd get rid of the About Us, Terms of Service and Contact Us links. I'd move the 'click here for more links' graphic to the left - by the way I really like that graphiic... I feel like I want to click it I'd have the home, register, submit a link and share links all aligned to the right of that black bar. I'd suggest changing the font or increasing the size of the current font because I find the current one a little hard to read.

Finally, i'd suggest adding some CSS styles to the form elements on the contact us, submit a link, and register pages - just make it look a little more up to date. On the contact us form, I wouldn't bother asking for addresses or anything like that. I know they are optional fields, but I don't think there is a need to ask for that information, and I think it could possibly turn people off completing any of the form at all. I think that with a form, the less fields that are present the better. If people have a reason to give you their address, they will be able to provide it in their message for you.

EDIT: I noticed some of the material in the links could be offensive or not suitable for some people/minors (i.e. humor of a sexual nature). I had a look at the terms of service and noticed that you say that users must be over 18 to use your site. Thats perfectly well, but you should probably make it more noticeable (like a big disclaimer on the homepage). Like most people I click first, think later. I don't think I have ever read a site's terms of service before I used it - and I think most people would be the same.

 

[biophase]

WOW. Great URL. I think you are wasting its potential. Even find some way to super monetize it or sell it at top dollar!

 

[richrf]

WOW. Great URL. I think you are wasting its potential. Even find some way to super monetize it or sell it at top dollar!

Yes, I agree that I have to find a way of monetizing the domain. I am reworking my idea based upon recommendations from other posters in this thread. The main thing I am looking for is repeat traffic, less bounce rate, and higher avg. time spent on the domain. I did achieve the latter two but failed in in the former. I believe that presentation and content are the key so I am doing some more work. If I achieve the results I am looking for then I will invest more in the idea (development, design, marketing, etc.). If not, then I have to again rethink.

Thanks for your assessment.

Rich

 

[maxeaus]

I can't see why anyone would visit a site like that, low quality and looks awful. Would suggest parking.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, i don't like the site at all i agree 100% with snoop.

This is your title, "Free TV Links Movies Game Links.com" WTF is that?

I know we discussed your site before and we talked about golf, link swaps etc etc, but this site is just a complete waste of a great domain.

There is absolutely NOTHING compelling about your current site that would make me even visit it for more than one second.

A parked page would be a 1000 fold improvement, at least it would be relevant.

I'm not normally so harsh but we have already been through this before.

I suggest you look for a business partner who can add the creative "juice" needed.

 

[richrf]

Hi there mazeaus,

Yes, I agree and I know. I had to take down the site I was working on for redesign and some rethinking. I definitely ran into issues with content as was previously noted by another poster on this thread. What you are looking at is a place holder for now.

I have looked for business partners and you may not realize it but people are much better at criticizing than they are creating. The vast majority of what is on the Web is junk. Maybe. And, IMHO, parking is probably the junkiest of them all.

At least I am very actively investing and trying to develop the site and add some value. I realize that I have not been successful so far, but at least I am trying. Value will be ultimately be measured by the visitors to my site. Do they stick around or do they leave immediately? Do they come back? Do they recommend my site to others? I am not there yet. I know it.

In a week or so, I will bring back the site with hopefully better content and presentation. If visitors stick around and recommend it to others (even if it is just a small increment) then I know I am on to something. Even in the last iteration that I had to take down there was much better bounce rate and avg. time on the site than there is now. So I know there is some merit to the idea. However, I need to do more experimentation to see if it can really grow. Wish me luck! If it fails though I will come back with another idea. You can bet on that.

And ... I am not giving up and I am not selling and I am DEFINITELY NOT PARKING! :lol:

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, i don't like the site at all i agree 100% with snoop.

This is your title, "Free TV Links Movies Game Links.com" WTF is that?

I know we discussed your site before and we talked about golf, link swaps etc etc, but this site is just a complete waste of a great domain.

There is absolutely NOTHING compelling about your current site that would make me even visit it for more than one second.

A parked page would be a 1000 fold improvement, at least it would be relevant.

I'm not normally so harsh but we have already been through this before.

I suggest you look for a business partner who can add the creative "juice" needed.

 

[Blade1941]

I dislike the site very much as how it looks. The design is very bloaty and unorganized.
Had I been a new visitors then I would not revisit that site again as it looks really bad today, and because of the messy design I couldn't care to browse around.

You need to go back to the drawing table and think again, best of luck from me!

 

[richrf]

I dislike the site very much as how it looks. The design is very bloaty and unorganized.
Had I been a new visitors then I would not revisit that site again as it looks really bad today, and because of the messy design I couldn't care to browse around.

You need to go back to the drawing table and think again, best of luck from me!

Hi there Blade,

Yes, I know that the current site sucks. It is the culmination of many failed attempts. The most recent idea is not visible since it has to be reworked. I'll see what happens when it relaunches with better content and presentation.

Thanks for the feedback.

Rich

 

[DotUSDomains]

Please turn it into a golf website.
You wont look back.

you will make a lot more money than you do now, thats for sure,

The current website doesnt do the name name any good for potential end users.

 

[richrf]

Please turn it into a golf website.
You wont look back.

you will make a lot more money than you do now, thats for sure,

The current website doesnt do the name name any good for potential end users.

Hi there Dot,

It was a golf site at one time. The problem was that no one looked back. Can't possibly compete against the big guys with content. So, the search for the perfect theme goes on.

Rich

 

[tamrafi]

Will you be interested in selling the domain? I can offer $$$$

 

[richrf]

Will you be interested in selling the domain? I can offer $$$$

Thanks but the domain is not for sale. I want to keep trying to develop it.

 

[Duende]

I'm sorry, but no. I immediately clicked away.

If I would have been confronted by something that made me think of Google... (or SOMETHING!) I would have been interested, at least enough to try it out. But as it is, even interested enough to reply to your thread, I had/have zero motivation to actually see what happens when using the site.

Best of luck, I still think you'll be a rich man, once you get a handle on things.

 

[wwwweb]

I have to commend you on trying to develop, but I went to the site, and I was not motivated to READ, I want pictures, interaction, multimedia, not strictly text, I think you need to really revamp, and put some money in the hands of coders, and get a niche use for this very nice domain. If you sold this domain, and banked the money you would probably be earning a better rate of return, basically this sort of domain should be earning you a return as it is a very liquid $XX,xxx valued domain.

 

[richrf]

I'm sorry, but no. I immediately clicked away.

If I would have been confronted by something that made me think of Google... (or SOMETHING!) I would have been interested, at least enough to try it out. But as it is, even interested enough to reply to your thread, I had/have zero motivation to actually see what happens when using the site.

Best of luck, I still think you'll be a rich man, once you get a handle on things.

Hi there,

Thanks for the comments and your suggestions. I did take the app off the site for some reworking so what you are looking at is just a placeholder. However, I am moving ahead and discussing your suggestion that you PM'd me. I think it is a fantastic idea. Let's keep in touch. I think you have an excellent sense of web development and business.

Rich

---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 AM ----------

I have to commend you on trying to develop, but I went to the site, and I was not motivated to READ, I want pictures, interaction, multimedia, not strictly text, I think you need to really revamp, and put some money in the hands of coders, and get a niche use for this very nice domain. If you sold this domain, and banked the money you would probably be earning a better rate of return, basically this sort of domain should be earning you a return as it is a very liquid $XX,xxx valued domain.

Thanks. I agree with what you have to say. The site I am working on (and had to temporarily remove) has all that you suggest - though possibly not in the right form yet. I'll have it back up in a week or so and if I see traction I will put more money into it.

Also, Duende has shared with me a terrific idea that I am earnestly looking into. Thanks all for the wonderful assistance!

Rich

 

[richrf]

Hi all,

I implemented many of the comments from this thread and relaunched with better content (which I am still working on). It seems the core idea has merit. Clicks and average time on the site have spiked. Whether or not it gains traction remains to be seen.

Also, I am also looking at developing Duende's idea as a companion app.

Thanks for all of the help.

Rich

 

[Duende]

I think it is 100% on the right track. You're looking good over there. Keep moving forward, buddy.