Fansites Suck
While browsing
BeatleLinks one day, something occurred to me: fansites suck. Although there have always been a rotating handful of quality sites, the vast majority of Beatles fansites are complete and total shit. I'd like to prevent future fansites from being shit, so I'm going to do you all a solid and give some helpful hints on how to not have a crappy site. Not that anyone's going to listen.
I: GETTING STARTED
A) HOSTING
I'm going to take a giant leap of faith here and make the assumption that you actually want people to visit your site, so let's start there. Finding a good host is important. You want something reliable, something that won't annoy potential visitors, and something you can work with. What are your options?
1) Purchase A Domain
This is by far the best route to take. You won't annoy visitors with advertisements, you'll have more space to work with, and you'll have the convenience of a quick and snappy URL of your own choosing to whore around at forums.
2) Get Hosted On An Individual's Domain
This is becoming far less common, but it still does exist. If some random person owns a domain, she or he will sometimes offer hosting free of charge. A limited amount of space and a subdomain would be yours. Not as good as having your own domain, but it would be ad-free. Ad-free is important.
3) Get Free Hosting
Only do this if you really can't afford to purchase a domain and don't know anyone willing to host your site. Ads are annoying, no one likes them, and these free hosts are getting more and more obnoxious with popups. I would avoid it at all costs. Spyware is evil.
B) SITE THEME
It's important to take some time considering what kind of fansite you want to have. Once you make that decision, it'll be easier to come up with content to fit within that theme. There are a few basic site types:
1) News/Reference
Something like
this or
this would fall under the News/Reference category. Not particularly interesting or creative, but useful to their purpose. If you decide to go in this direction, I strongly advise you to provide a unique service that other sites don't offer. Although this applies to all types of fansites, it is vital to this one because it is the most common theme in the fansite community. If you aren't giving visitors something that they couldn't get at fifteen other sites, you really won't get many repeat visitors.
2) Personal
Most fansites made by one person (usually female) in their teens fall under this category. This type can be identified by the owner creating content out of their opinions and personal experiences. You'll find a lot of image-heavy pages dedicated to Ringo's nose and things of that nature, and negative comments about The Beatles are not allowed.
3) Humor/Satire
A great example of this theme is
this site. These sites tend to poke fun at The Beatles without being blatant hate sites.
4) Well-Rounded/Awesome
A very rare theme. My site falls under this category. It provides a pleasant combination of all the site themes in one. These sites provide a variety of content that appeals to a wide range of fans. One of the best examples is a site that no longer exists, called Restless Wind. Since most Beatles fans are either insane, boring, or lacking a sense of humor, most webdesigners don't attempt a site with this theme. Lame.
C) NAMING YOUR SITE
Picking a name for your site isn't exactly the most important thing you need to think about, but you should take a couple things into consideration.
1) Choose Something Unique.
Browse through the sites listed at BeatleLinks, and you'll see that naming your site "Beatlemania," "Across The Universe," or "Strawberry Fields" is a bad idea. Multiple sites are already using that name. Try to come up with something that hasn't already been used to death.
2) Choose Something Simple.
Since I assume you're going to want to promote your site, it will be easier for both you and visitors if you use a simple, somewhat short name.
II: BUILDING YOUR SITE
A) CONTENT
The content you choose to publish on your site is
the most important part of your site. Content is the reason people make repeat visits, it's the reason other sites link to you, and it's the reason people share your site with others. Think about the following as you're coming up with content ideas:
1) Don't Steal Ideas From Other People
If you're not creative enough to come up with ideas on your own, then you probably shouldn't have a fansite.
2) Put Your Personality Into Your Content
The easiest way to come up with ideas is to use your own opinions and perspective as a guide. If you have a preference for something, or strongly dislike something else, share that on your site. You don't have to give out your address, just tell people your thoughts on The Beatles.
3) Proofread Your Work
A typo here or there isn't a big deal, but if you've got the writing skills of a four-year-old, people aren't going to want to read what you have to say. Take the time to look over and edit your pages -- even after you've published them -- so people don't think you're retarded and start to feel sorry for you.
4) Have A Sense Of Humor
The Beatles had a sense of humor about themselves, so I don't know why fans think they can't laugh at them as well. People ultimately go to fansites to be entertained, so entertain them. We all know they had good music and were good-looking and blah blah blah. That's why we're fans. If you can make your visitors laugh while regurgitating the same crap that everyone says, then you're doing things right.
5) Check Your Facts
As big a fan as you think you are, odds say that out of ten people that visit your site, at least two of them know more. If they find incorrect information on your site, they will tell you -- and make you feel like an ass in the process. So before you go rambling on about this or that, at least make sure your facts are straight and you're spelling everyone's name right. If you're misspelling McCartney...why do you have a site at all?
B) LAYOUT/LOOK
Although this isn't nearly as important as your content, it is an important aspect of your site. It doesn't matter how pretty your site is if there's nothing there to hold the visitor's interest. Keep in mind these points:
1) Triple-Check All Your Coding
Make sure everything on your site looks the way it should. Ensure everything is legible, there aren't any broken links, etc.
2) Make Your Navigation Simple
A visitor should not have to spend more than two seconds on their first visit trying to figure out how to navigate your site. It should be straightforward and easy. Pages should link back to home so they don't have to hit their back button at all. Frustration and irritation are not things someone should be experiencing as they view your site.
3) Don't Use Obnoxious Backgrounds Or Fonts
A person shouldn't have to worry about going crosseyed or blind while reading your site. Use basic fonts, and use either plain backgrounds or something that contrasts the font color well. Don't use neon colors at all. If your site hurts a visitor's eyes, they won't take the time to look at all your content.
4) Don't Use Superbig or Supersmall Fonts
Supersmall is hard to read for a lot of people, and superbig is just obnoxious. Unless your site caters to the visually impaired, there is no need to set your entire site at 15pt. That's ridiculous.
5) Cut Down On Graphics
Even those of us lucky enough to not still be stuck with dial-up don't like having to look at five hundred animated gifs on your homepage. Stuffing your site with a bunch of pointless graphics is annoying. Unless your site caters to people with ADD, keep the graphics at a minimum.
III: MAINTAINING YOUR SITE
A) UPDATING
If you want people to continue visiting your site, you need to update it. Here are some rules to follow:
1) Update Regularly
I would say once a month is about the minimum. Anything less and people will assume that you've gone off and gotten a life. No one likes that in a webmaster.
2) Show The Site's Update Status
Visitors want to know when you've last updated. Designate a spot on your main page where you can list all recent updates and the date the site was last updated.
3) Let People Know About Breaks
If you know you won't be able to update for long periods of time, mention it on the main page of your site. Try to give a general idea of when you'll begin updating again.
B) VISITORS
As I've said, I'm assuming you want people to see your site, and you want them to continue coming to your site. Here are some things to consider:
1) Provide Contact Information On Your Site
People like to contact webmasters. Give them the option to email you. If you don't want to share your main email, create one specifically for site-related email. Not everyone likes to post in guestbooks or on comment forms.
2) Reply To Emails
When a visitor actually takes the time to email you and express their interest in your site, reply to them! In a timely fashion! Because that's just courteous.
C) PROMOTION
If you want people to know that your site exists, you have to become a self-promotion whore. Here's how:
1) BeatleLinks
Submit your site to BeatleLinks as soon as it's up and running. Also consider joining their link exchange program. It's guaranteed to add at least a few extra hits to your site each month.
2) Forums
Many fan forums have a section where you can plug your site. Just make sure you plug your site in a way that doesn't fall under their spamming category, or else you'll be more likely to get flamed than build a following.
3) Link Exchanges
Contact the webmasters at other sites, letting them know about your site. Ask to do a link exchange with them. Just make sure you reciprocate if they agree to add your site. I've had so many people contact me for a "link exchange" where I would discover at a later date that although I added their site, they didn't feel the need to add mine. Losers.
4) Apply For Awards
A lot of fansites have awards programs. It's an easy way to get your site notice. Just don't apply for mine unless your site is good. I don't give my award out to shitty sites.
IV: MORE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
A) MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE
There are some things that many new webmasters make that you shouldn't.
1) Direct Linking
Don't do it. To direct link is to steal bandwidth from another webmaster. And that's bad. If you're putting an image on your site, and the URL of the image is that of another site (for example, < img=http://cryforashadow.com/photo.jpg >), then you're direct linking. It's not a good idea. Webmasters know when you're doing it, and will hunt you down if you do. So don't. Simple. Use photobucket if your site host doesn't provide enough space to host images.
2) Don't Steal From Other Sites
I mentioned this earlier with content, but it goes for everything. Don't steal graphics, content, photos, anything. Be original or don't create a site.
3) Don't Worry About Hits
Your site will not get a lot of hits at first. That's almost guaranteed. You need to give it time. Lots and lots of time. You need to keep adding original stuff, promoting your site, taking part in the community, and suddenly you'll find your hit count has tripled. Yes, you want people to visit the site. But you really created it because you're a Beatles fan. Don't let the lack of initial response get to you; just work harder and soon enough people will appreciate all that effort and brilliance.
B) THESE ARE NOT FANSITES
There are certain things I do not consider a fansite, though they may call themselves as such. I know they're full of shit, whatever they call themselves.
1) Photo Sites
It's not a fansite if all you do is post a bunch of photos. That's a photo site. Big, huge, wide, gaping difference.
2) LiveJournal Communities
That's not a fansite. It's a multiple-author journal.
3) Forums
NOT. A. FANSITE. It's a forum. Just a forum. Not a fansite. Stop calling yourselves fansites, because you are not. I know this because I own a fansite, and the fansite has a Beatles forum. Does that mean I run two separate fansites? No. It's a forum
for the fansite. Just because you post newsbytes and photos doesn't mean you have a fansite.
C) YOUR SITE WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS MINE
My site rules. Srsly bitches.
1) I'm Only Half Serious.
My site is awesome. Especially since all the sites that were better than mine have been abandoned or deleted. But I'm pretty sure most of you could do a much better job if you put as much time and thought and research into your site as I do into mine.
2) Have This Attitude
If you think your site kicks everyone else in the ass, good for you. People might start to believe it.
3) I've Been Doing This For Almost Ten Years
I know my shit. I know what's good and what's crap. If you choose to ignore my wisdom, fine. But I'm right and you should know it. And listen to me. Otherwise your site's going to be dead in about six months.
4) The Reason My Site Is Popular
The number one reason people tell me they like my site is because they think it's funny. I have a sense of humor. I make fun of things, I talk trash, I have a laugh over all aspects of The Beatles and their long and lustrous careers. If you get nothing else from this entire bullshit section, at least go away having learned that
people want to be entertained by fansites. No kidding. Chill out, learn to take a joke, learn to tell a joke, then start your stupid web page.
