How to build converting free sites

I see a lot of people just throwing up random free sites and wondering why they get thousands of hits but zero sales. The days of easy money are gone. You need to guide the surfer. Here is a quick breakdown of how I build my galleries now.

1. The Hook. Your front page needs to look like a premium site. Use a clean template. Don't use 50 flashing banners. Pick one main sponsor and make it the focus. The surfer needs to know exactly what the site is about within 3 seconds.

2. The Gallery. Keep it to 15 or 20 thumbnails. Make sure the thumbnails are high quality and match the text. If the gallery is about a specific niche, don't throw in generic images. Be specific. If the user clicks on a gallery titled "Brunettes", they better only see brunettes.

3. The Exit. This is where most people mess up. Don't just link back to the index. Use a pre-checked exit or a well-designed gallery exit that pushes them directly to a join page or a trial. Make the call to action obvious.

It takes time to test templates, but once you find a layout that converts at 1:2000, you can scale it across your whole network. Stop focusing on traffic volume and start focusing on traffic quality.

What do you mean by a pre-checked exit? I've tried using exit consoles but they always seem to lower my click-through rate on the actual sponsor links. Am I doing it wrong?

You have to test it. If your exit console is too aggressive, they will just bounce. A simple "Click here to enter" button is usually better than a popup with 5 different sponsor options. Keep it simple. The path to the sale should be a straight line.