Well it's been quite awhile since I did one of these but since I'm back with
www.guaranteeddesigns.com it seems fitting that I should do one again.
Paysite tip #117b revision F:
Nowadays with reality type tours being prevelant it's really the content more than anything that sells the site. All the fancy graphics and great text and to some extent the concept take a back seat to the content you portray on the tour. Most people get that at this point in the game.
That being a given, then when you are having problems with conversions not being where you want, then wouldn't it stand to reason that the first thing you change are your samples, not any design items? I'm getting people asking me what is wrong with their tour and should they change this graphic or that text... my answer is: "How many different sample photos have you tried from each scene?"
So before you go messing around with your tour, mess with your samples first. A majority of the time, it's the sample that gets a guy horny and inspires the credit card to come out.
A few rules on what works for samples:
1) Larger and crisper. See Duke's
http://www.facialabuse.com/tour3/index.html. It converts like mad.
2) A HOT face always sells! Even if your site is hardcore based, if the girl has a gorgeous face, you are best showing that. Guys always want to see the prettiest girls get it on.
3) In the absence of a hot face ass shots seem to be the next best thing, then just look for whatever picture captures the moment and gives you the most wood.
4) If it's a video site like most are now, make sure people know how the size of the largest cap relates to the video. If you have a big crisp cap and the videos are too, let them know that!
5) Go the extra mile... clean up the pictures if you have to like removing blemishes and stuff. Just don't make them look airbrushed. The picture samples are the most important sales tool you have.
6) When all else fails and you are testing different caps, be methodical. Try one set of caps for the tour one week, then another and so on til you hit on the largest.
7) Be sneaky smart! Link the caps to the join page or a sample page or whatever but have each one go to a sep version of the join page (or put in a tracking code) so you can track which caps people are wanting to see the most of. Knowledge is power!
A picture is worth a thousand signups... if done right. =]