Link Directory Site Jet Donkey

[jmalmin]

Website Name: Jet Donkey
Website Genre: Social Bookmarking Site / Link Directory
Website url: http://jetdonkey.com

I have had this site for a few years now. I have had a few different scripts running on it with little or no success. In the last year I have had a link directory script that seems to get traffic from India and other places over seas. This helps keep the lights on and is growing in popularity. I have tried but have had limited success getting traffic in the US.


Review focus:
Please help me understand what would help get traffic here in US.


Thanks in advance

John

[r937]

your dropdown menus contain numerous instances of repetition instances of repetition of repetition

also, the two on the right, when they open on hover, cause a horizontal scrollbar, and get cut off -- but i can't scroll over to see everything because as soon as i move the mouse down to the horizontal scrollbar, the menu closes and the horizontal scrollbar disappearrs

you've done nothing at all on the site to explain what it's for, how to use it, who you are, or even what "social bookmarking" means

you apparently don't screen the submissions, either, because someone posted a "Download the Three Stooges" entry (which would clearly be illegal) and then says "I found a fantastic website to download this movie" but doesn't actually provide a link

it "seems to get traffic from India and other places over seas" probably because those people still think, mistakenly, that link directories have seo benefit

[jmalmin]

Thank you r937.

Great points all. I just added that menu, I will take a look at it. Also I have moderators and do some screening when I have time. The link you point out is one of my users attempt to get noticed among the masses. He is an affiliate of movie lush I believe.
It demonstrates the kind of users/traffic I get at the very least. My take away is that I should look at what US users are doing on other sites more closely. Apparently JetDonkey.com is where you go to post your affiliate links if your outside the country. :-). Again, I appreciate your help.

[bzforum]

Wow another Social Bookmarking site based on the Hotaru CMS ,

1) Clean Design , Simple and Easy to navigate ,

2) I liked the concept of you putting the Widget which shows some images looks great on too Text based sites.

3) I recommend placing some Google Ads under the Widget or above it (Text Links)

[jmalmin]

Thank you bzforum. I tried Pligg and found Hotaru CMS could handle the traffic better for me. I had a shared server at the time. So I settled on hotaru and moved to dedicated server.

[JungleJap]

Hi there,

My little thought about your site. AS r937 pointed out, it is a good idea to define what your site is all about and explain it to the people who visit the site. Let's say you make it clear what the aim of the site and what type of audiences you are targeting etc. Then you can say loudly in somewhere noticeable on your site, somewhere like in the header area as a tagline?

Also it's a good idea to create an "About Us" page to further elaborate the aim of the site. I think people are more interested in sites with clearly defined target.

Anyway, it's good to see an example of Hotaru powered site as I'm developing one myself.

[jmalmin]

Thank you Jungle Jap. All good points. I am still understanding the traffic I get currently and what that means to Jet Donkey going forward. Right now my 'About Us' would have a big question mark on it.:-).

John

[logic_earth]

Here is what I see, just spam. That is all it will boil down to. Not useful for anyone but spammers to spread links. The tip off of course is "dofollow backlink", you have right up there. That just killed it entirely, just another useless site for spam. And you know the sad thing, The Googles [intentional] won't give it any lovin, since they are killing directories.

[kurti]

still its nice website.. congrats

[JungleJap]

With reference to spam submissions, Hotaru CMS has some anti spam functions and plug-ins you can use. I recommend using some of these if you haven't already.

Having said that I think there are some security holes in this CMS that allow spammers to register and post articles bypassing these. I'm investigating this now and will let you know when I found solutions.

[giokr]

The quality of your content is good but you should avoid spam, the design is simple but clear and nice. You need an better and bigger and more attractive logo, I think it is important. I think that you should take very seriously to add some introduction text on the home page of your blog. Furthermore you can add follow at twitter, like facebook buttons and maybe other social network buttoms like google plus, its a good idea. Also, you should consider the option of a static menu in the top area of your page instead of your current menu. With static menu I mean that all menu and submenus will be open and visible, it is common in directory sites.At last, you can work at SEO of your website trying to receive more organic traffic from google. And I wish you to keep posting and continue the nice job and improve further this page.

[connor4312]

Well, my first impression is that you found a website template online and plugged your own stuff into it. The base is nice, but it's very disjointed. Mainly, on the header:

• Center the nav links vertically
• Shrink your search bar and move it between the nav links and the RSS button
• Remove the text "Dofollow Backlinks", and make it subtle under the donkey logo.
• Then, move the donkey up onto the heading bars.

Something like:
15MQP.png
That should tighten up the design and make it much nicer.

Moving on:

• Add margin under secondary navigation bar "Business, entertainment..."
• The secondary navigation's dropdown is not attractive at all. Redo it, start from scratch.
• And center its text vertically
• The "Vote" things could be more attractive. May the text a darkish grey, combine the number and "Vote," and round some corners
• Whoa, mucho social senor! http://puu.sh/15MUe Don't bother with this.
• Needs a footer
• YSlow doesn't like your site too much: http://puu.sh/15N1b

Adding on to what others said, I would implement some sort of algorithm for spam/illegal content checking. Overall, though, good job.

[marksmit]

Header section search box is looking very odd. Please add stylish font in "dofollow backlinks".