Gay webmasters please step inside; I have a question about my new gay dating site
 

I was hoping to get honest review of my new gay dating site. Since I am straight I may be off when creating the site design, I need help....Can I get some input....no pun intended lol

GayDatingConnections

Is it a good design? Are the guys gay/hot enough? Its mainstream so that?s why no nudes.
I used a rainbow on index and whyjoin pages. Is this a good idea or is it not cool? I really have no idea. Please be honest.

Can I get some constructive positive and/or negative feedback if any?

Would you join if you were a regular gay surfer?

Also if anyone knows any good gay webmasters I pay 15% referral on all joins your webmasters sign up.

If anyone has some kick ass gay content they think will help the site design let me know.

The quick search looks way to small

First of all, do a search on "dating sites" or "personal sites" on any of the gay webmaster boards. You will notice that most webmasters say it is very hard to create a succesful gay dating site. I believe there are two main reasons:

1. Gay men easily hook up in bars and other places.
2. There are some big free gay dating sites available.

You'll have a hard time finding affiliates, cause there is more money to be made in selling memberships and vod.

As for your site, some of the models are really hot (but that's a matter of taste of course). I like the site design - I am not that keen on rainbow flags myself, but the small pictures are very subtile.

Your country/state code (right after the city) doesn't seem to work correctly. In my case, it reads Amsterdam, 07 and I guess that should be Amsterdam, NL.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the site design, but just the fact that surfers need to pull their CC before trying out the site, will make it hard for you to be succesful. It's better to provide a free service and then sell VIP memberships with extra features or upsell other stuff.

My advice, ask your question at a gay webmaster board :winkwink:

while the gays are here i always wanted to know if the term "fudge packer" is insulting or ?? i wouldnt be offended if someone called me clam smasher, but that's just me. is it insulting or just a name

Good information. Thank you.

homo goes over great as well.

Don't forget butt pirate. :2 cents:


.

or fudge pot

Clam smasher would be the most insulting :winkwink:

Its a nice design, looks a bit like outpersonals though.
I would remove the tranny and bi-curious stuff. I do a lot of business in gay personals as well as other dating websites and its what I specialize in. First, you need to understand the real gay community. Extensive research has shown that gay men are not interested in hetro men or even bi-curious men. The research Ive seen shows only 2% of gay men are interested in bedding a hetro or bi-curious guy. Your colors are fine, and through the study of color psychology on gay dating websites Ive had the best success with whites and blues. Suggest you give the color, Robin Egg Blue a go as extensive research into this color shows how well it converts.
Get rid of the fake photos, fact is most gay men look nothing like that and research has shown it to be a turn off in real gay dating websites. What those photos will do is attract free signups from time wasters and hetro men.
Despite what many people think, less then 1% of gay men cruise a gay bar. And only 2% of gay men sleep around.
Gay men are REAL people with real lives and real feelings. They are seeking relationships and friendship.
Get some realistic photos of real men of all ages and shapes and you will start to attract the real gays that will convert.
Have a look here at the best converting lesbian dating website around, http://planetsappho.com. Notice the rotating photos on the front, girls laughing on a beach, holding hands, girls in the park, etc.
Gay men like cooking, fashion, home renovation.
Get some photos of two guys cooking a happy meal together, guys holding hands, guys strolling in the park, guys paying a game of monopoly, things like that. Because this is what gay couples do. Photos of gay couples smiling, happy and living life is what works. They DONT prance around with their shirt up. Also, suggest you target a specific country only. You will get less free signups, but better conversions and much higher rebills. Best of luck.

Lovely menu. I like the flag as well.
I also have a gay community site and although what dazzling says sounds very reasonable, many of my members do look good and many are in bars every weekend.

should have charged him for that :thumbsup

Luckily, some people still want to help out other unlike the most here

um good luck to you ping you could construct your kick ass design for your gay site

good luck!!!!!

Looks good - I agree that a few more realistic guys would be better.

Guys looking for dates are not all going to be male models and are realistic about the guys they can hook up with.....

They will not all be under 30 either :).

Smokey - Not keen on the term 'fudge packer'....

Thanks for the info! Great tips.

I pulled real members from the dating data base I am leasing, so they are real members. I do understand what you guys are saying about more couples and real looking members and I appreciate the tips!

How about bloody tampon smasher? That is more in line with fudge packer.

As for the site, I actually like it but would take off the rainbow flag. Too obvious and makes everyone realize you are straight.

And good luck. Its brutal.

Oh yeah, if it hasn't already been said...

Try to have something for couples featured. Many gay men in long-term committed relationships like to play together. Whether a third or another couple.

And include what they are looking for. Hookup, partner, fuck buddy, friends only, etc.

Your geo script is messed up, on main page it says I'm in Florida then when i click a profile it says I'm in California. I agree with the one dudes post about letting members join for free then upsell to vip.

What about those under 45?

They like the complete opposite.

For them feature a grey goose bottle, go go boys, mirrors with dollars bills and group sex.

Sort of joking.

The 2% random sex can't be right. 2% can't have as much sex as they want and may say they don't want it, but would happily have it.

God knows how many pretend virgins I've fucked ... or guys that say they don't sleep around yet everyone I know has fucked them.

Then again, the wholesome psychology will probably work on them because that is how they see themselves.

Maybe I am just a whore. I like to make happy meals with my partner of 3 1/2 years and play monopoly but every few months we like to remind ourselves we aren't dead yet.

We are 31 and 21 ... maybe that has something to do with it.

Check out the changes I made
GAYDATINGCONNECTIONS
Better?

I agree with you guys on this 100%. Right now I only ave a option for pay first $1 24 hour trial. I will try and change to the free model in the future. Thanks for the tips.

Also I will fix the geo ip and test here. anyone else having the geo ip problem changing from tour to join page?

So the rainbow is out. Everyone agree its trying to hard? I liked the color and its gay, but if its a red flag that its a straight guy owning a gay site....what should I replace it with?

I really like the photo of the couple!

I see two different locations (on the index and the join page) as well. Not that far from eachother as CA and FL, but still.

I agree with epitome that the 2% (of gay men sleeping around) is too low. Just looking at myself and my gay friends, I know the number can't be right. A lot of gay men aren't even in a relationship and when they do, a big part of that are open relationships.

What photo do you like the best for index (landing page)

http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa5.jpg

http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa4.jpg

http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa3.jpg

http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa2.jpg

http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa1.jpg

Now this is what GFY used to be like, some amazing information exchanged in this post. Thanks guys!

Im gonna go with this for the index (landing page)
http://www.gaydatingconnections.com/.../bigPicsa6.jpg

I like the photo you have now of the 2 guys in bed, its a really good photo and says a lot of being gay, being in love, closeness, etc. Get rid of all the other photos below that. If you can put a rotating photo even better. Also, get rid of the trannie selection for sure, it actually makes a lot of people angry on dating websites if its there. Ask yourself your target market? Is it for hookup or relationships? There 2 very different things and you cant target both. The hookup market is going the way of Grindr, and this article shows why....http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/rede...pe-grindr.html

My advice is to keep it very clean and nice, all about relationships, friendship and community. Reduce it down to United States only and on the right column add some gay resources in pop up windows. Make your website a relationship community, not a cruise bar. Put a slogan on top in big letters, something like, He`s Handsome, He`s Single and he`s Available. Something smaller about the community for men to fall in love, make friends and be happy.

I wish I could remember where I saw it, but someone had like 250 gay dating images for sale on a stock photo site. Google around and you may be able to find it. Was all good mainstream images.

On my phone (sick) and can't look too hard but queerstock.com seems to have good images.

Was also thinking... every gay guy knows you to to Manhunt or adam4adam to hookup. So maybe say something like 'sure you know where to go for instant gratification but we are all about meaningful relationships.'

Maybe that will help to set you apart. You will never be able to compete with those two beasts of sites but you aren't trying to.

Maybe let the surfer know that you are doing things differently and those looking for different will maybe be more apt to give it a shot? Maybe worth a shot with some A/B testing.

:1orglaugh HAHAHA it's that the guy from million dollar listing? in the back?

If thats true then either 95% of my home towns men are gay or someone is importing sluts...

I like that big pic on the index BTW.

A simple phrase that a big site in the UK uses and pushes everywhere is - "The RELATIONSHIP Site" - Seems to work for them.

I bought mine at istock

I like those ideas. I am going to try that.

Tired of all the Hook Up sites? We find you a meaningful relationship!

Am I missing something?

That looks like nearly a $1 a pic at the lowest rate......

Here are the sort of photos I feel you should be using, its the sort of stuff that turned my free to paid ratio on one website from 70-1 to 12-1....
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...ulled-wine.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...ey-embrace.php

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...od-morning.php


http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...gay-couple.php

Gay couples in love and happy, doing the sort of stuff they do everyday. And when other gays ask, "Where did you meet?" They will say on your website and be happy to say that if you have a nice clean, happy place.

Another thing, ban everything from the Philippines, I have found that almost every single profile posted from this country is running a scam. They actually have whole families that sit behind computers there 12 hours a day setting up hundreds of profiles running scams.

Check out the final version. GAY DATING CONNECTIONS Its doing great :) Send the traffic everyone. Thanks for all the tips!!

I really like the way you got the featured member on the home page, it helps make the profiles look more real. Any figures on free to paid conversions?

Don't fake the funk.

Good luck with the new site Jesse, if you are interested it featuring something similar LMK:pimp

I am going to make it Free CC join. Age verification process. Right now its $1-1 day trial. Doing well, but the free model will convert way better.

Thanks for the good luck. Ill need it , the industry is tough these days!

With the age verification system, what commission do you earn on that?

I wouldn't encourage serious gay relationships...

I have changed it to a FREE 3 day trial with CC verification.