SEM Tycoon

**imported_andy** · 07-31-2006, 11:17 AM

Hi, I have just finished designing my website nextgenerationwebdesign.com and am looking to make some money from it.

I already have Google AdSense. I have tried Clicksor but it was too slow and I got declined by Text Link Ads. Are there any other ad programs out there that would suit my website?

Also, what do you guys think of the ad placement and colors?

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

**CyberWyre** · 07-31-2006, 11:19 AM

Some tips: Your site is ugly. Change that.

Second tip: Don't put banner ads on your site until you have a stream of traffic coming in. Have some real solid content built up before you try to spam it with ads.

Why would someone want to go to your site if all they see its ads and no content? Far too many people these days think that making money from a site means putting up some crap and then inserting some adsense code. No offence to you really, I just think that if you really work on some quality content for a few months before you insert your adsense then you'll do much better in the long run.

**TDXkev** · 07-31-2006, 11:26 AM

Hey Andy,

I noticed your adsense ads aren't targeted towards your content. It would seem to me that there is not enough keyword heavy content for Google to display relavent ads. Concerning placement and colors, I would try placing some relevant pictures above your main leaderboard, and getting rid of the border around that ad unit. I don't see those text links at the bottom being very effective, you might want to move them into your sidebar when you get it up and running or near your top navigation.

As far as Text Link Ads go, I don't think they accept sites unless they are PR5 or above. You could try something like Commission Junction to see if there are any suitable affilate programs out there you could join.

Good luck!

**imported_Luke** · 07-31-2006, 11:30 AM

That was abit harsh CyberWyre, although I do agree with the point you made. Andy you shouldn't try to make money off a site that has little or no content as it simply wont happen and will make you feel bad! Try to get as much decent content as possible and advertise as much as you can! Soon you will get repeat hits and a steady stream of unique visitors! Then I would intergrate some text ads and see how things go! Remember its all about content! if you have tones of decent content then users dont care about ads! but they wont stand for it when you have no content!

Now with regards to your design its ok for now! and is simple! Again people dont bother about the design of the site if the site has content! You could have little or no design at all and still receive millions of hits (like google.com which people only use for the content).

Keep it up and maybe seek some help etc and get a new design up!

Can I also point out that your potential users will be webdesigners and webdevelopers, no offense but you dont seem to be ultra elite in your field and persoanlly would advice you to make a site geared to people in their teens who dont care about design layout and ads!

I think I may PM you some ideas.

Luke

**imported_andy** · 07-31-2006, 11:50 AM

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWyre

Some tips: Your site is ugly. Change that.

Do you think you could be a little more specific?

I have just finished building the site and opened it this morning - thats why there isnt much content on it. I will be adding content over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for the advice about the link units at the bottom. I was really just testing a few layouts out, will remove it.

As for the design I was really just throwing something simple together so I could open the site - the main focus of the whole design was recoding the core in ASP.

EDIT: I have now removed the ads completely. Hows that?

**codeism** · 07-31-2006, 12:11 PM

A question to drive your site building:

* If I make this site, what do I have to offer that other sites don't?

The colors of your site should be a little darker -- the metallic / futuristic look just doesn't really look good, in my opinion.

Also, I think that you really should fill it with content before showing us. If you're trying to open up a site, a good sample of content will show visitors that you're worth the click.

It's really tempting to launch without content -- but the "coming soon" era of websites is ending, if it hasn't already died.

I look forward to seeing where your site goes. I think we're all just trying to help!

--Isabella

**imported_andy** · 07-31-2006, 12:53 PM

Thanks for your comments.

I think I will wait untill I have the content online before launching it then.

**Nocturnal** · 07-31-2006, 01:23 PM

Your domain is kinda long. Was nextgendesign already taken? I'd resort to using that.

**Kacy** · 07-31-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWyre

Some tips: Your site is ugly.

Ugly works from my recent experiences :tooth:

Design Tips:
I would recommend you make a fixed with and make sure it's center. I would also change the background to a darker colour and then make a container with a lighter colour. Also try not to bring too much attention to your menu or footer images or any other images that aren't important, so none of the flashy bright gradients as they will distract attention to the content.

Make your text stand out by adding it into a box maybe or darking the colour of the font and making a bright colour and large font size for your h1,h2,h3 headers.

Content Tips:

I see

Quote:

Coming Soon
Feature coming soon

Why? If I was looking resources and tutorials and/or support I'd like to see everything finished and not messages saying 'Coming soon'. This will most likely push visitors away. If you have too many of these messages they will. So get rid of that area for now (Left hand side column) because it's doing nothing and it's taking attention away from your content.

Link to some good resources and tutorials on the first page, make them noticable and stand out. If they're good enough people will check round the site for more good resources etc...

Lastly, try and run some sort of weekly event such as a new article every friday or something of the sort. Also try and update your resources and get your forum almost everyday.

I hope you don't take my post as putting you down or anything but to simply work on what I've said and improve your design. If you have a good design people will remember it and bookmark it, when it's bookmarked and they're telling others then you're doing good.

I would concentrate on building a good appearance and status before thinking of making money, trying to make money too early in the game doesn't always work. Adsense might work however.

It's your site and run it how you please and just have fun with it.

Best of luck!

**DailyD** · 07-31-2006, 02:11 PM

ironicly your site say "Next Generation Webdesign" but it looks like its a step backward. Honestly, if the site was about something eles say... gardening then fine but if its a site about designing then you need to make the graphic the feature or look somewhat decent. Simple design might work for something eles but not for a designing site. I suggest you get someone to design the site for you or put more effort into it.

If you don't have the funds to hire a designer and can't do it yourself then I suggest you don't use this domain because there is nothing next gen about it. Get a coding name instead and focus on the coding aspect since you don't exackly need eye poping graphics.

Also I think the domain name is way too long. Don't give up, keep on trying.

**imported_andy** · 07-31-2006, 04:06 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments everyone.

As for the domain - I know its kinda long but all the shorter ones I could think of were already taken.

I am still unsure, what exactly is wrong with the design? Is there any particular part which is terrible or is it all just rubbish?