What do you think about my first ever website?

[Juan Roman]

Hi guys,

I recently developed a website InternationalSoccerTeams (dot) com, and I would really appreciate any input from seasoned webmasters like you. It mostly deals with international football as the name would suggest

Having worked (and still working) as a content writer and content editor in the gambling industry for some five years, I decided to start my own project a couple of months ago, as I don't mind putting the extra hours doing something I love.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

[sweetbet]

It's very professional and quite impressive I must say.

[Miles_FTA]

Agree with SweetBet looks great specially for your first . I'm sure there is more to come from you

[Juan Roman]

Thanks a lot guys, much appreciated

[baldidiot]

Here's a link for those too lazy to type it in: http://www.internationalsoccerteams.com/



Looks really good though. Few minor points - you may want to make the logo a bit bigger (or change the layout of it) as it seems a bit small.

Also it may be worth geotargetting your ads - from the UK I see banners for pinacle and bookmaker.eu, both of which aren't legal in the UK. You'll also find a UK facing book would convert better anyway.

[Mattbar]

I echo baldidiots thoughts (which is rare because he is an idiot). Make the logo more prominent and your headers too. I like the breaking news banner a lot

[Juan Roman]

You definitely have a point there. I realise that the logo does not look big enough, but I am not sure how to make it more prominent since my WP theme allows maximum logo size of 190 x 60 and this is the logo I got from a designer.

I've tried sorting that out using Geo Ads Switcher plugin, but it does not appear to be working despite the fact it is installed properly. I should probably contact the developer's support.

The reason why I included BookMaker is because almost 90% of my traffic is currently coming from the US, but obviously getting the ads geotargetted should sort that out.

[DaftDog]

When I clicked on "Team News" on your navigation bar I also get the following new window that opens up: http://www.888casino.com/exclusive-m...lette-1500.htm.

The page loads from the following link: http://sender.megapopads.com/transpo...=&res=1415x857.

I'm not sure if you did that on purpose but it is highly frowned upon by the affiliate community and may also get you banned from the GPWA.

[Juan Roman]

Hi DaftDog,

I had no idea that was happening, sorry about that.

I did recently struck up a deal with an ad agency and inserted their code into the website, but was unable to see how their ads look like, probably due to my location.

Do you think this could have something to do with what you are seeing?

[DaftDog]

I would remove all that ad agency code and deal directly with bookies aff program rather. That will save yourself a lot of frustration down the road.

I see you are also using Google Adsense? That is definitely a waste of real estate as you will never earn from them what you can from just one lucky bookie referral player.

[Casino Strategy]

Great site, congrats!
Two quick notes:
1) The text of 'About' or 'Contact' is unreadable for me when you're on the page, tiny thing, but for short attention span people like me it helps a lot.
2) If you decide to use banners on the site (you said you have a deal with an ad agency), double-check if most adblock-type softwares ban it or not. Having a banner blocked by a couple of these can really decrease the traffic (I'm not a fan banners in general, but if you are, beware of adblock).
But again, great site!

[Juan Roman]

@DaftDog

I didn't even realise they were promoting bookies on my website, but, obviously, I should have been better informed before giving them space on my site. You are right about Google Adsense, I had a similar opinion, and your input has definitely helped make the decision to remove them altogether.

@Casino Strategy

Thanks for your comments. I will probably remove all these banners from ad agencies and replace them with bookmaker banners as I don't want to put off the visitors from returning by trying to over-monetize the site. The only problem is that I have received a payment up front from an ad agency for the entire month and I need to see if they will take the money back.

[Juan Roman]

Thanks for the advice guys, I will almost certainly remove both the agency code and Google Adsense altogether. I don't want to risk putting off visitors from returning by attempting to over-monetize the site.

I did get a small payment from the ad agency up front for one-month period, but will offer them a full refund and try to make things right.

[wonderpunter]

I like the look.. but get rid of those 301's... they are great for pron or pirate sites.. but to most they are an annoyance.. and forcing someone into a bookie page is only really successful when you have millions of visitors as the % that actually sign up is low

[Juan Roman]

They have now been removed. In hindsight, it was never going to be a good idea, but thanks for helping me realise that before it was too late.

[Juan Roman]

Thanks a lot for all your comments, they have been very helpful.

Do you maybe have a contact of someone who could help me sort out the logo issue and geotarget the ads? The site uses Sahifa WP theme.

[RyanWeb]

Site looks very nice, clean and easy to nav. I really don't have any input to make it better lol.. Good job!

[BenjaminMarketing]

Navigation is simple. (Important).. Clean user friendly, and functional.

[Doolally]

I agree - good work! The site is nice looking and functional. Keep it up to date and I see no reason people wouldn't regularly return.

I'd also have the logo a little bigger, with the banner to the right of it a little smaller.

I'd also remove the "Archives" list from the right hand side of your pages. You have the categories section anyway so all older news items are still discoverable. I always feel an archives list with dates attached makes thing blog-like and a bit amateur.

[Juan Roman]

I agree - good work! The site is nice looking and functional. Keep it up to date and I see no reason people wouldn't regularly return.

I'd also have the logo a little bigger, with the banner to the right of it a little smaller.

I'd also remove the "Archives" list from the right hand side of your pages. You have the categories section anyway so all older news items are still discoverable. I always feel an archives list with dates attached makes thing blog-like and a bit amateur.

Thanks for the kind words. Making the logo a bit bigger definitely make sense, and thanks for the Archives tip. It had completely slipped my mind, but I have now removed the list from sidebar.