In my last article I discussed several methods of managing your traffic. This article will focus on obtaining traffic for your site.
For reference, I've created a resources page that lists many of the links I have in this article. If you remember my previous articles, I created a Free site under a folder of my domain. The site included a warning page, a full page ad, an index, and two gallery pages, Gallery 1 and Gallery 2. I have also linked the site to my HUB page via a link at the bottom of the hub. I have also placed a Full Page ad between the HUB and the Warning page of the site. I tied everything together with exit consoles, and links.
Traffic Sources
There are several good sources of traffic for a free site. These include Search Engines, Top Lists, Link Lists, and Thumbnail Gallery Posts (TGPs). In this article I will explore TGPs and how to best utilize them.
TGPs
TGP's are the primary source of traffic for most Webmasters. They have several reasons for being so popular. They are easy to work with, they cost nothing, and they can generate an abundance of traffic. There are some downsides to TGPs as well. Much of the traffic won't convert into sales, they are tedious and time consuming to submit to, some of the rules can be confusing, and if you are paying for bandwidth, they can generate an huge bandwidth bill at the end of the month. Even with all of the negatives, TGP's can be very profitable, if you know how to work them.
Some Background
Thumbnail Gallery Posts are sites that present a large list of links to thumbnail galleries. Webmesters submit their free thumbnail gallery sites to the TGP in hopes that they will recieve a good amount of traffic from the TGP. All TGP's have a set of rules that you must follow to be listed on the TGP, and your submission will usually remain on the site for a short period of time. By repeatedly submitting your galleries to the TGP, you can maintain a steady flow of traffic to your site.
TGPs' emerged as an extension to the popular Pic Post pages of old. The concept was to create a centralized location where surfers could go and get their free porn. This benefitted the TGP owner as they had unlimited content to provide to their surfers. It benefitted the thumbnail gallery Webmaster since they could advertise galleries for free.
Today there are hundreds of TGPs in operation, each with its own set of rules on what it will accept. There are niche TGPs that cater to specific fetishes, as well as generic TGPs that will accept almost any type of content.
Making Sense of it All
One of the problems facing new Webmasters is finding a way to get thier galleries up on TGP's and still follow the rules. Many TGPs having conflicting sets of rules making it difficult to submit a single page to different TGPs. The first step in getting started is to do some research.
All TGPs have some sort of rules. The ones that I've found to be most significant are:
* Do they allow pics on HTML pages?
* Do they allow Exit consoles?
* Do they allow galleries on Free Hosts?
I like to have all of my thumbnails open to bigger images on HTML pages. Many TGPs restrict this. I also like to have exit consoles on my gallery pages. This too is often restricted by TGPs. Many new Webmasters use free hosting. Some TGPs will not accept galleries on Free hosts.
I've researched several TGPs and created a spreadsheet listing the TGP along with its rules. You can view it here. It lists the TGP along with the URL to the submit page, the reciprocal link, and the rules. I've grouped together TGPs with similar rules, and placed the most Webmaster friendly ones at the top of the list. I plan on submitting to sites that have the most Webmaster friendly rules, as they fit in with my galleries.
This is of course not a complete listing of TGP's, rather just some of the ones I've found doing some research. If you would like a good listing of TGP sites, than you could try Traffic Listings on Xbiz, or The Traffic Matrix.
Putting TGPs to Work
So now that I have an idea of what TGPs I want to submit to, it's time to get dowm to business. One of the things I find most new Webmasters don't understand is that you can submit the same gallery to many different TGPs. You do this by creating multiple copies of your original gallery, and submit the copies. This is exactly how I am going to handle my submissions.
Using the table above I have created a submission template for use on all of my free gallery sites. This template lists 20 gallery pages, and has a table containing the reciprical links for each TGP that will go on each gallery page. I have also placed a link to the TGPs submission page as well. I will use this template for creating gallery page copies, as well as for submitting to each TGP.
Starting with one of my current galleries, redamber1.htm, I am going to make 20 copies of this page, naming them gallery_1.html, gallery_2.html, to gallery_20.html. Using this template page, I will copy the TGP table for each page onto the appropriate gallery page. When done, I will have 20 identical gallery pages, with the exception of the differnt TGP recips. Since I took the time up front to organize the TGPs by their rules, it was easy to create the submission template. I can now use this template for any other galleries I build. Since I took the time up front to organize the TGPs by their rules, it was easy to create the submission template. I can now use this template for any other galleries I build.
A Few Notes
I've opted to keep the number of reciprical links to 3 for each page, this will allow me to add some other links later. Also I choose to only use TGPs with the rules I am comfortable with. You may wish to use TGPs with different rules. In any case it is beneficial for you to go to each TGP and learn their rules. If you have a question about your gallery following their rules, just write a friendly note to the webmaster and ask.
Submitting your gallery to a TGP doesn't mean you will be accepted. Keep notes of when you submit your gallery to each TGP, and go back later and verify that it has been listed. Some TGPs will email you if your site is accepted or rejected, other will just leave you guessing.
Once your galleries have been listed, keep an eye on your referring stats. See who is sending you the most traffic, and who is sending you nothing. Submitting to TGPs is time consuming, so it is in your best interest to submit first to those TGPs that return the best traffic.
Hopefully, I have given you some ideas on how to get TGP traffic rolling into your free sites. Be careful if you are paying for bandwidth, as some TGPs might send you more than you can afford. In my next article I'll discuss the IN's and OUT's of Link Lists...
