Website Review and Suggestions

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 06:33 AM

hi. Im new to the forums and Im looking for some help. I have a social networking site for graffiti artists.

my site is called... http://aerosolicons.com

right now Im in the process of thinking of and writing articles so that I can build a good amount of content on the site.

Ive been using a myspace page to try to reach my target audience. Ive also been submitting some pages to sites like digg.com and mixx.com. Ive also submitted the few articles I have thus far to ezinearticles.com. Ive done a little bit of link building.

so far most of my users have come from word of mouth, either people I know or people that people I know know. there have been a few that have came from myspace.

as with any site like this there have been a handful of people that signed up and then did nothing with there profile. but for the most part there is a good amount of people that are on my site on a daily basis and participating in the forums and what not.

I know growing a community such as this takes a while to do, but I was wondering if someone could tell me how Im doing so far, what I could be doing better, what kind of things would help my site, what would bring in more users and keep users active.

**chrishirst** · 04-10-2010, 06:37 AM

They are probably all to busy damaging public buildings and releasing damaging propellants into the atmosphere!!

**linksforu** · 04-10-2010, 08:48 AM

First of all, i just want to say i like the look of aerosol.

You are right in thinking that these things take time, usually the rate in growth is exponential, as more people take and interest they will tell more people.

Assuming your search engine rankings are good i would suggest posting on more forums, getting a facebook group set up and focusing on your myspace page. You will be surprised as too how many people will stumble on your site.

Also, id like to add that i building a website myself, designed to list all the best websites for a particular category (such as social networking). So if you like, maybe we can thrash out an advertising idea?

Chris

**AndrijaM** · 04-10-2010, 08:56 AM

Everything is so hard to read, small fonts. All elements on the site are very close to each other, you should make some more space between them, text is right above this main image etc.
It's too dark for me, makes me depressed

change the background to something lighter.

**Knight13** · 04-10-2010, 05:08 PM

Like chrishirst said they are probably out doing graffiti, that is why they are not coming to your site, the topic you picked for a social networking site is probably low to begin with, you will just have to promote the site as much as possible.

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linksforu

First of all, i just want to say i like the look of aerosol.

You are right in thinking that these things take time, usually the rate in growth is exponential, as more people take and interest they will tell more people.

Assuming your search engine rankings are good i would suggest posting on more forums, getting a facebook group set up and focusing on your myspace page. You will be surprised as too how many people will stumble on your site.

Also, id like to add that i building a website myself, designed to list all the best websites for a particular category (such as social networking). So if you like, maybe we can thrash out an advertising idea?

Chris

right now my search engine rankings are horrible. the domains only a month old so it hasnt really had time to get good ranking... still page rank 0.

but I appreciate the comments.

and about the advertising idea, hit me with a private message and we'll talk more!

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrijaM

Everything is so hard to read, small fonts. All elements on the site are very close to each other, you should make some more space between them, text is right above this main image etc.
It's too dark for me, makes me depressed

change the background to something lighter.

thanks for the comments. I can definitely see what your talking about. especially with the text being to close to the images.

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight13

Like chrishirst said they are probably out doing graffiti, that is why they are not coming to your site, the topic you picked for a social networking site is probably low to begin with, you will just have to promote the site as much as possible.

were not machines! lol

and all of the illegal stuff happens late at night. were probably just as active on the internet as the majority of people. some of us live on the internet like some people, some of us get on once a day like some people... etc...

so I think it will be similar to any other niche social networking site.

but do you have any ideas as far as promotion goes? anything is appreciated.

**Knight13** · 04-10-2010, 05:50 PM

I guess you could promote it by spray painting your site name on bridges.

I am just joking, but i thought it was funny.

Go to places where you know graffiti artists go and promote on those sites, do banner exchanges and stuff like that. It will take a while but it will start to grow.

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight13

I guess you could promote it by spray painting your site name on bridges.

I am just joking, but i thought it was funny.

Go to places where you know graffiti artists go and promote on those sites, do banner exchanges and stuff like that. It will take a while but it will start to grow.

Ive thought about just writing a quick handstyle next to my pieaces that says aerosolicons.com.

handstyle- stylized writing (what most people that arent writers call a "tag")

piece- short for masterpiece

**Knight13** · 04-10-2010, 06:22 PM

I do not think that would really be a good idea to do.

**theicon** · 04-10-2010, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight13

I do not think that would really be a good idea to do.

thats why I was only thinking about it.

**Techseabreeze** · 03:58 AM

At first glance without signing in you have a very nice home page. The second and most important thing will be the networking. I aready know how tough that can be spending hours promoting your site and at times feeling it is useless but really you are moving along and staying focused. My sites depend on hours of work and people signing up and never hearing from them again like yours. Yet my sponsors allow 30 day cookies so if someone even steps onto the page if they buy from me or wait 29 days later I get credit for the sale. That has become very helpful in helping pay the bills. My Forum is small and I have some of the best tools to build with, but Adobe CS4 is tough and takes time to get things organized like you want. HTML is not too bad but then the CSS helps orginize your page looks. Just filling in blank targets takes time. Don't waste time advertising paying hard cash, just do what you are doing (networking) you got me there. I will look over you site more tomorrow. Technicianseabreeze
Oh I forgot to ask is that a UTLX Rail Car? I spent ten years repainting a fleet of about 500 cars. Most was poor work but many I hated to mess up good work!

**theicon** · 04-11-2010, 03:49 PM

lmao. see people! our vandalism helps the economy. we give people jobs!

but thanks alot for the comments.

**UltraVista** · 04-12-2010, 06:48 AM

the layout looks a bit weird in my Google chrome browser

**vincent_aa** · 04-23-2010, 05:24 AM

I don't like the colour scheme of the site, is it the style graffiti artists will like?

The fonts could be more bigger, and I think it would be better if you have an about page.