opinion

Finding Content for Your Mainstream Site

It?s easy to get content for adult sites in today?s burgeoning market. Want some Asian-Lesbian-Fetish photo sets? No problem! Looking for a little Anal-Midget-Tranny content? No problem! But when you?re looking for quality non-adult content, to use for adding some substance to your site, it can be difficult to find something unique among the hordes of overused, overdone, and sometimes useless content. There comes a time in every webmaster?s ?Web life? that calls for a little something more.

Here?s a list of free and affordable resources that will help you add some fresh articles to your website:

Electronic Content (www.electroniccontent.com) ? Did you know you could apply for a license to use syndicated content from such mega sources as salon.com, Ascribe Newswire, Talk City and more? This content is available for lease by article, series or regular use contract. Even though the content is syndicated, it is exclusive for use by licensees only. This is an excellent program for webmasters that are looking for quality content for their sites.


HUMOR

No matter what your site?s theme, humor can usually play a small part in the content that you choose to display, on a daily or weekly basis. There are many different types of humorous programs available on the ?Net. Anything, from daily cartoons, to daily jokes, and weekly gag tips, can be found. A lot of the cartoon and joke humor can be added to your site for free, and some of these resources even have affiliate programs that pay you per unique sign up, to their daily mailings or services.

Cartoon Link (www.cartoonlink.net) ? This cartoon service offers three different daily cartoons for use on your site, in conjunction with their affiliate program. The program pays $2 per cartoon print sold. The free cartoon content is your ?banner advertising,? and is yours to use (on approval, this is mainstream of course), just for advertising their products.

Not in My Backyard (www.notinmybackyard.com) ? This entertaining comic strip is updated daily. The only restrictions on use are that you do not archive the strips and promise to only use the html code provided, and that you provide a link-back to the site to give credit to the artist.

Jokes Galore (www.jokesgalore.com) ? Add a theme-based joke-of-the-day program to your site in minutes. This is a very easy to use program that allows you to choose jokes from categories such as political, blonde, sex, media, redneck, ?your mamma? jokes, and more.


ENTERTAINMENT

People love to be entertained. Whether with music, sports scores, movies or television ? people love to keep up on what?s hot in entertainment. Adding a daily or weekly entertainment news clip, ticker, photo section or movie review, can add lots of ?bookmarkability? to your site.

Rolling Stone (www.rollingstone.com) ? Yeah baby! You can add content from the Internationally Infamous Rolling Stone magazine to your site. Get news, reviews, music photos, concert dates and more, all with just one sign up.

Mojam ? (www.mojam.com) ? Add a free concert search tool, local or regional concert listings, or a group/genre specific concert listing to your site. You do need to sign up to use this account and have your site ?approved? by Mojam, but the free content is definitely worth the trouble.

TV-Now (www.tv-now.com) ? Add news headlines, celebrity news, and entertainment articles to your site with this resource. Just a little line of JavaScript code puts all the latest news and happenings right into the format of your site.


PHOTOGRAPHS & GRAPHICS

If you aren?t a top-notch photographer, or you don?t have access to a database filled with thousands of copyright-free images and graphics, then these resources are for you. The images, cartoons and graphics found on these sites can give your site that extra look and feel you?ve been looking for. Make sure to read all terms and conditions thoroughly, before using any of these free OR membership services, to make sure they can be used on your site.

Free Stock Photos (www.freestockphotos.com) ? Find free photos of nature, wildlife, scenery, cities, historical places, government/public photos and much more. All they ask is that you provide a link below the photo, giving credit to their website.

Animation Factory (www.animfactory.net) ? For a small yearly cost, you can get in on this database filled with thousands of graphical, cartoon and animated .GIF and .JPG images for use on your site. There are lots of tools to help you add life to your site via animated Java menus, theme-based ?toons and much more.


GAMES & FUN STUFF

Adding a game, puzzle or other ?addictive? forms of content, can be a great way to keep your surfers coming back, again and again. Just look at the phenomenal success over at pogo.com! Not a game programmer or Java whiz? No worries! Just try one of these cut-n-paste programs for super fun on your site in just a few clicks!

Free Web Games (www.free-web-games.com) ? Add dozens of fun shockwave games to your site. You can even choose the size you want to add the games neatly within your site?s design.

A Free Zone (www.afreezone.com/GamesPage.html) ? You can choose all 75+ games at once, or choose only the games you want, with this easy to use cut-n-paste script format. Games like Blackjack, Solitaire, Xball and more!


USING THESE RESOURCES WISELY

Hopefully the resources listed above will give you a jump-start on adding some unique and original content to your site. You will find that the more exclusive the content is, the more restrictions, licensing agreements and cost-per-use will be involved. Always read the terms and conditions of a content provider program before implementing it on your site. There are a lot of restrictions involved in mainstream programs that you?ll be unfamiliar with, if you?re coming from a purely adult webmaster background.

Using these content resources conservatively and wisely is also recommended. We?ve all seen sites that start out as a theme-based portal, but soon turn into a hodgepodge page, overrun with too many options, badly arranged features and super-long-loading graphics, scripts and images. Don?t let your site turn into something that is so hard to use that it?s not worth the time.

Organize your content by theme, such as links leading to games, sports, shopping, theme-based articles and other resources. It will make navigation easier for your visitors, and will also make it easier for you to make changes and conduct administrative updates to the site. In the long run, a simple smooth design will work better for everyone involved.


TRY NEW THINGS

The most important thing to consider when looking for original or creative content is keeping your eye open for NEW ideas and features. Sometimes that one little poll, interactive function or program, will be the one to keep your surfers coming back and making YOU money, time and time again.

Try something out for a set period of time, and monitor your traffic and sales, or click-thru results. If it works ? then stick with it and find more options that will satisfy the interests of those surfers. If it doesn?t ? then move on to something new, making sure to take note of what bombed with your source of traffic, so you won?t make a more costly mistake within the same theme in the future.

KEEP IT FRESH

I?ve mostly focused on daily, weekly or otherwise regularly updated content. Your visitors may come to your site for one reason, but may continue returning to see what else is new or what else has changed. Adding a JavaScript that notes the date and time that the page was updated, can be a good way to keep your traffic returning on a regular basis.

Interactive resources, such as opt-in newsletters, e-mail reminders or subtle pop-up windows within your site, can be great attention getters. You want your traffic to remember your site and have it stick out in their minds, among the huge sea of competing sites that are out there on the ?Net.

Take a look at your site from the surfer?s point of view. Ask yourself questions including, ?Would I bookmark this site?? or, ?Why would I come back?? or, ?How would this site be useful to me?? Be as critical as possible and even ask friends to go through the site and give you their honest opinions. Don?t sugar-coat it ? this is your bottom line, and of course the paycheck we?re talking about here!

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