Thoughts on this design?

[Tom Higgs]

Hi, I'd just like to know what your thoughts are about our design and if you'd change anything.

Just some background info: Magical Button is a website based on a button, which when clicked redirects you to a random website from a list. The websites from that list are from people who pay MB to have their website on the button ($1/month).

What would your changes be, if any? Thanks in advance.

[Jaycbrf4]

are you joking?

[Tom Higgs]

are you joking?

What? I thought this section was for advice on improving a website design?

[Blackhawk095]

What? I thought this section was for advice on improving a website design?

NOTE:

This part of the forum is also for reviewing/improving the idea of a website.

REVIEW:

I don't feel comfortable clicking that button. Truthfully, this idea seems dangerous for it's users. It's like playing website roulette. Spam or pornographic websites could easily sign up and be added to the list of links. Those types of websites could carry viruses or other dangerous/compromising scripts.

If you want this project to go anywhere, you need to search for quality websites to add to your page. Do this by personally finding websites that would interest your users, and making an offer to the owner.

You also need to create legal statements ensuring the safety of your users. They need to feel secure/safe when using your website.

[Blackhawk095]

I just noticed that you do have terms of use. You should post that information in the main page, so your users immediately know pressing the button won't jeopardize their computer.

[Tom Higgs]

NOTE:

This part of the forum is also for reviewing/improving the idea of a website.

REVIEW:

I don't feel comfortable clicking that button. Truthfully, this idea seems dangerous for it's users. It's like playing website roulette. Spam or pornographic websites could easily sign up and be added to the list of links. Those types of websites could carry viruses or other dangerous/compromising scripts.

If you want this project to go anywhere, you need to search for quality websites to add to your page. Do this by personally finding websites that would interest your users, and making an offer to the owner.

You also need to create legal statements ensuring the safety of your users. They need to feel secure/safe when using your website.

Thanks for the reply.

However before ordering a slot I do mention the following for the advertisers:

Your website will have to follow a few simple guidelines; it can include anything but the following:
- Adult Content
- Promotion of illegal activity
- Advertisement of malicious data

But as you stated I will have to add terms of use on the homepage which I'll be working on. Thank you.

[TheGAME1264]

I don't have a lot to add to what Blackhawk said, but I will add this...the comfort works two ways. There's the user level of comfort and there's the advertiser level of comfort. i'm only giving you $1 a month, but I have no idea how many times my site is going to be clicked on. I have no idea how you ensure random rotation. I have no idea who you are, or if I'm guaranteed any number of page views. In other words, there would need to be some clearly defined terms for the advertiser...who you are, what they get, what sort of recourse they have if they don't get it.

If you couldn't guarantee me a minimum of 100 page views per slot, it wouldn't be worth it for me. At 100, I might give it a shot. As an alternative, if you want someone to review the traffic from the advertiser's end, I'd be willing to give you an unbiased review on here (albeit one I suspect would be pretty short) in exchange for one of the slots for a month. In other words, if your button really works, put a dollar of your own (which you're not really risking anyway) where your mouth is. As one of the mods and the guy who has the most comment likes received on here, it's a safe bet that I've been around long enough to tell it like it is...I just did here, didn't I?

[TheGAME1264]

What? I thought this section was for advice on improving a website design?

Dude's got a point, Jay. He wasn't offering generic crappy one-liner advice. He's (on the surface) asking for help. There's nothing wrong with a snappy answer to a stupid piece of say SEO advice...but dude came on here on the up and up.

[Tom Higgs]

I don't have a lot to add to what Blackhawk said, but I will add this...the comfort works two ways. There's the user level of comfort and there's the advertiser level of comfort. i'm only giving you $1 a month, but I have no idea how many times my site is going to be clicked on. I have no idea how you ensure random rotation. I have no idea who you are, or if I'm guaranteed any number of page views. In other words, there would need to be some clearly defined terms for the advertiser...who you are, what they get, what sort of recourse they have if they don't get it.

If you couldn't guarantee me a minimum of 100 page views per slot, it wouldn't be worth it for me. At 100, I might give it a shot. As an alternative, if you want someone to review the traffic from the advertiser's end, I'd be willing to give you an unbiased review on here (albeit one I suspect would be pretty short) in exchange for one of the slots for a month. In other words, if your button really works, put a dollar of your own (which you're not really risking anyway) where your mouth is. As one of the mods and the guy who has the most comment likes received on here, it's a safe bet that I've been around long enough to tell it like it is...I just did here, didn't I?

Never thought of it that way. I think I'll be adding much more information for the user and for the advertiser right there on the homepage. As an advertiser I probably wouldn't feel comfortable either, same goes for being a user. Thanks for clarifying that. I'll be sure to include how the button works, guaranteed number of page views, etc. for the advertisers.

As for the review, I'll get back to you on that one in the near future if I'd like one.

Thanks you all for the help.

[TheGAME1264]

The other thing that I thought of that you may wish to consider from an advertiser point of view is the somewhat obvious comparison to StumbleUpon. It basically works in a similar fashion, but without the toolbar and without user submissions. The reason I personally would see that as a problem is the "StumbleUpon Effect" that I've seen over the years...several thousand transient visitors. They all are "hi, I want to see something new, wow, this is wicked awesome, and I'll leave in about 17 seconds"...might as well not have the traffic at all for all the good it does. That's something you'll have to solve, and quite frankly I don't have a clue how you do that.