The best performing niche sites. professional or "personal amateur"?

[I Will Make It]

Hi all!
The question is pretty much in the title, but let me elaborate a little..

By "professional" I think of sites that gives the user a feeling that the site have been made by web-designers behind some kind of company - even though it's really a one-man-show on a hobby basis.

By "personal amateur" I think of sites where there's no question who runs and owns it... The user will get the feeling that this really is a one-man-show.

Don't know why, but my head keeps telling me I should develop sites where the users will believe this is a one-man-show, and not a site run by a company. Maybe it has something to do with my own experiences as a regular internet surfer;

- a site made by one person gives me the feeling that this has been made for me as a user, and that it is "free".

- a site obviously made by a company gives me the feeling that someone wants to use me to earn themselves some money.

What do you guys think? When will users feel more comfortable? - And then most likely visit the site again / stay longer / read more --> click more ;)

Thank you for your patience regarding my not so great english.

[drshields]

This post is not directly related to AdSense, so it will probably get moved.

It really depends on what your niche is. What you are asking is more about the psychological experience of web navigation than anything else. I personally stray away from creating the "Welcome 2 My Homepage" sites, because #1 they tend to lack credibility, and #2 I'm a pretty talented designer, and would just feel ashamed if I didn't put it to good use.

Here are some specific examples:
- A site about the history of stamp collections: personal look.
- A site about choosing a college: professional look.
- A site about how to choose choose an ISP: professional look
- A site about gift ideas for your spouse: personal look

...You get the idea. Every niche requires some consideration.

[Hubbard]

There are sites that try to look like a one man show but are run by big companies with lots of money behind them. You can tell from the html code and the polish that these so called hobbyist fanboy sites are shallow attempts to appeal to the enthusiast demographic. I can name quite a few of those sites. I stopped visiting them for being so phoney.

[I Will Make It]

lol - "Welcome 2 My Homepage"

True, I don't believe this would be the way to fill up your adsense account every month.

I'm sorry I didn't express myself clearly enough. (again - sigh) - problems with turning my lame a¤# english into good sentences..

1.
I want to get the most out of my adsense ads.

2.
I'm also a professional web designer / programmer. I wouldn't have made the headlines in <blink><h1>Welcome 2 My Homepage</h1></blink> even though I wanted my users to know that this site was made on a hobby basis :)
- There are several ways to let your users know that the page has been made by one person and not a company, without having to say so in the "about section".

3.
What I wanted to know (in order to make the most out of my ads) is:
Will users pay more attention to a site made by one persons interest to the subject, or do people want professional looks / designs / and phrases like "please email US" "let US know" "WE have what you're looking for" etc. etc..?

When will the info become more "trustworthy" to the users - makeing people come back, and then gives my adsense account a nicer look at the end of each month.

* WW should have an automated translation script available, so we could write our posts in our own language ;)
- Still not satsified with my darn english language, but I'll give up after this one!

[I Will Make It]

thank you Hubbard!
Exactly my point of view too.

But do you think it goes the other way around?
Should one man shows look like a one man show, or would users think of the info as more quality info if they thought this was made by a company?

[annej]

I think 'personal amateur' isn't quite the right description. You can still make it seem personal but like it is a site of a person who is tops in the field, someone who is an expert on the topic whether it is car racing or or decorating a home. If is a hobby site you want to sound like your information is the most up to date and in depth.

The site needs to look professional in the sense that it is well designed and usable. But the tone can be more personal. Make each person feel like they are being greeted as another person who is enthusiastic about your topic just as you are.

[I Will Make It]

annej:

Thank you, your answer describes my question very well ;) Exactly what I was looking for..

I needed to know as I'm (together with a friend of mine, who speaks english very well) launching a site on a .com domain, in english language. And I don't really know how people outside my country think of sites that are made personally.. People in my own country seem to pay more attention to sites made by companies. They want it as professional as it can get.. I don't know why, but I guess it's because the whole internet trend where I live is far behind from the rest of the world... a company's word is more trustworthy than words from a single person.. or something like that.

[annej]

There is a place for both kinds of sites and I wouldn't say one or the other is better for adsense. There are so many variables with adsense it would be hard to know.

[caran1]

A lot depends on the target audience. I agree that Asian countries like "professional websites". Adding lots of flash, animation could slow down your website, and could lower your CTR and Adsense earnings. I personally keep my websites as simple as possible, because large file sizes are inconvenient if your visitor is paying per MB of download to his ISP

[Hubbard]

Regarding one man show sites vs big money sites, I believe if you want a successful site it should not spend too much time on polish and more time on showing genuine enthusiasm for the site subject.

Then there are the middle of the run sites that are not too polished, don't have intrusive ads, are enthusiastic but also done by a large team with money and programmers behind them

[edited by: martinibuster at 8:32 am (utc) on May 31, 2006]
[edit reason] Removed specifics [/edit]

[crick]

People want good information, it does not matter in the least where they get it from.