Presented with basically the exact same content, I’m discovering that if displayed in a tube style format, surfers do not click through on ads & links. My affiliate sales (to other sites) has really dropped even though traffic has increased since I changed formats.
Even though I hate thought of it, I’m seriously thinking about going back to a more traditional style blog.
Anyone had a similar experience?
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
You mean what you got for guysonvideo? Wouldn’t call it tube style. But I see what you mean.
I’ve seen a few blogs using this format and I’ve never liked it. It looks messy and does not present the content in a good way. There is a reason why blogs have a certain design, blogs present content in structured and organized way that people are used to (by date and posts). These type of designs, the “tube” theme does it very poorly and breaks what people have come to expect from blogs.
You can’t see what post is the most recent one, you have no idea what comes first and surfers might be put off by the fact it doesnt not seem to be a blog.
I’ve had comments from surfers on sites submitted to bestmaleblogs that use these designs, each time the complaint is that its not a blog and should not be listed… They are blogs, but just dont look like it.
PS
Could you use a proper BestMaleBlog button, the form script doesnt do me much good in terms of SEO?
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
Yeah, maybe that’s the problem. It may be confusing people or making them uncomfortable. We all know how much people like change…
As for the button. I had asked you about that some time ago (before my layout change) and you said it was fine. It’s definitely no problem to change that though.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I think the other issue is that it requires a click to get to the blog post, so people may be lazy, not click and as a result not see as much…
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I’m quoting myself (is that bad?).
I just looked at my old blog (http://www.guysonvideo.com/blog/) and I think you said it was OK because I had both, the button and the rating script. Sorry about that Bjorn! I totally wasn’t trying to pull something funny 
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
[quote=Seth;49807]I’m quoting myself (is that bad?).
I just looked at my old blog (http://www.guysonvideo.com/blog/) and I think you said it was OK because I had both, the button and the rating script. Sorry about that Bjorn! I totally wasn’t trying to pull something funny ;)[/quote]
That’s probably why yes.
I might also be changing that script or how it works so those form boxes might not work in the future.
The more I think about it, the more it seems like a bad idea to use this type of “tube” style for a blog. I wonder if that wasnt designed for a different purpose. I’ve seen loads of those type of templates for wordpress which kind of is replicating how some new sites look.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
[QUOTE=gaydemon;49824]That’s probably why yes.
I might also be changing that script or how it works so those form boxes might not work in the future.
The more I think about it, the more it seems like a bad idea to use this type of “tube” style for a blog. I wonder if that wasnt designed for a different purpose. I’ve seen loads of those type of templates for wordpress which kind of is replicating how some new sites look.[/QUOTE]
I know tubes and make tons of sales off of them hit me up in PM if u want to know how to use tubes on your tour page.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
You totally missed the point. Its not a tube, but a template that has a layout like a tube site would. This is a blog he is talking about.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I wonder if this one thing is the most of it, as simple as it sounds. I personally found the site refreshing, exciting, and like it. But people ARE lazy, their attention span hardly exists, and tend to be creatures of habit, with some exceptions. Really it is all there and organized well, just that it requires people to figure it out (think) at first, which goes past the attention span time limit of a speck of a second. Unfortunate because there is excellent content on the site that I can’t imagine people wouldn’t love.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
tube traffic productivity is falling every week, while blogs keep ticking along nicely. I equate tubes to a new style TGP, whereas blogs are more like modern free sites.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I think you are absolutly right, also take into the account the huge costs of running a large tube site compared to a blog.
This is why I’ve change around how I treat blogs on GayDemon, now Blogs gets more priority than other sites as its more fresh, fun and better than AVS / Free sites.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
OK so I’ve officially switched back to more of a traditional type blog. Still working on some of the kinks…
So far so good. I’ve even heard from a few people saying they like it much better. People are staying longer too.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I gotta start submitting my blogs to GD - thanks for the reminder.
Re: Blog Style vs. Tube Style
I will always stick to the traditional blog layout. You know the saying - “If it aint broke, don’t fix it”. If you look at http://www.all-gay-porn.com/blog I use a lot of videos as well as images. In this case though they can choose whether they want to watch a video or not and from a few different niches. Without leaving the front page. Rawtop is right IMO. People are sometimes lazy and want to see things right from the page they arrived at. It’s working for me and sales are coming in as regularly as they can in this crappy economy.