My Brutally Honest Site Reviews by Dave - Part 1

[Dave]

I don't visit PAL very often these days because I'm busy doing other things outside of poker but I get PM'ed for poker site reviews all the time.

Instead of answering one on one.... here we go.

You asked for it and this will help a lot of newbies and well ..... pretty much everyone else.

Dominic has obviously put a huge amount of time and effort into his website.

Poker School / Poker Lessons / Free Poker Training Videos

As soon as I land there at Tag Poker what do I see?

"Tagpoker is an online poker school were you can learn all that you need to know to become a winner in online poker."

Really?

You... who I don't even know can teach me to be a winning poker better than....

A quick Google search of poker sites brings up

pokerstars

partypoker

full tilt's online poker school

Badger's site

I can buy poker books on Amazon written by Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth... hell I can read them at my local Barnes and Noble... or Chapters here in Canada... or even for free at my local library.

But you and your website are going to teach me how to become a winning poker player?

Do you see how ridiculous this sounds to your average guy or gall who watches the poker shows on TV and decides to check out this poker thing by searching online? Or even to poker savy people - I bought Doyles Super System in paperback for $6.99 back in my highschool days.

You are offering me nothing.... in fact your advice maybe totally wrong and cost me my lifes saving, my marriage and my sanity.

Yor can't compete with stars, party, full tilt, Badger, Doyle, Daniel or Phil to teach me how to win at poker.

Maybe you really can....maybe you're a fucking poker genious but I have no idea who you are so I click the back botton and check out one of the thousands of other poker sites.

There are literally thousands of poker websites who say they will teach me how to win at poker loaded with affiliate offers and banners.

Do you think even 18 year old kids are that stupid?

They are not... and 95% of them will click the back button 10 seconds after landing on your site.

You need to offer me something new that I can't find anywhere else if you want my attention.

Web surfers have ZERO attention span... click...click...click

That's all I have time for right now.

I'll be back tommorow with Part 2 of Dave's Brutally Honest Site Reviews

Don't worry.... eventually I'll let you know how to turn it all around and become profitable.

And no I'm not selling anything... just giving back to the community.

Sort of a New Years resolution thing.

In the mean time discus, rant and rave.

Dave

[leporello]

i lolled

[Ridge]

This is a lot like the very first review I got from Dave, Randy R and Kaus, along with some great advice. What I have realized over the last year is that maybe I know about poker and gaming, I knew jack shit about Marketing and if anyone thinks we are in the "poker" business then think again. We are Internet Marketers. As such we have to start learning about marketing. We have all seen to many commercials honestly, me included

Calls to action
Landing pages
Page Layout
Readability
Scanability
Delivery

I am not a great internet marketer, but I'm getting there. All of you are learning just like me, probably unconsciously as I was doing. There are millions of resources out there to learn the basics of marketing (much like learning the basics of poker) and then we can progress from there. As in poker, practice and testing theory will make you better.

I currently have almost 40 active websites. 10-15 of these are just testing sites for Keywords, CTA's, SEO tests, etc. I find new stuff out everyday just by adjusting things here and there.

Anyway, back to the OP. I love the points made and everyone should listen (including me) We can never stop learning and never stop re-doing ideas. One of my oldest sites is about to get a total re-design because of what I have learned from my test sites.

[Brokerstar]

Hi Dave

I appriciate you taking the time to look at my site really I do.

Getting people to stay on my site isn't an issue, I had 4500 hits in the last month and the average time on the site was over 7 minutes with the average page visits of 4.

Maybe the intro could do with being more specific on the game type that I mainly focus on (HUSNG's) and results of mine and my students should be more apparent or even a link to them on a hall of fame type page?

As I say keeping people on my site doesn't seem to be an issue as much as then getting them to join a room.


Broker

[Newjabber]

This is a great post ... for several reasons.
I play alot of heads up poker and it was very interesting to watch one of the videos and see how you approach a heads up match.
Our styles are very different.
Maybe we can do a heads up challenge that could be interesting, but ill pm you about that.
I have wanted to do some more videos for a long time, and now i want to get going again.

Back to the post.

I assume that broker asked you to review hes site!

"Tagpoker is an online poker school were you can learn all that you need to know to become a winner in online poker."

Really?

You... who I don't even know can teach me to be a winning poker better than....

A quick Google search of poker sites brings up

pokerstars

partypoker

full tilt's online poker school

Badger's site

I can buy poker books on Amazon written by Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth... hell I can read them at my local Barnes and Noble... or Chapters here in Canada... or even for free at my local library.

I dont know if broker stats anywhere that he can teach it better, but its very likely that hes good and can do some solid coatching for new players.
The alternatives you mention like the full tilt school, books etc. are also good ways of learning.
The thing is thats its not about only learning it one place, and learn one way of poker. There are many different playing styles.
When you study poker you shouldent rely 100% on a tactic learned from one person, but get all the different knowledge you can lay hands on and then come to a conclusion yourself about what kind of approach to the game that suits you.

Do you see how ridiculous this sounds to your average guy or gall who watches the poker shows on TV and decides to check out this poker thing by searching online? Or even to poker savy people - I bought Doyles Super System in paperback for $6.99 back in my highschool days.

It dosent sound ridiculous at all to me, but it might to you.

You need to offer me something new that I can't find anywhere else if you want my attention.

You feel that way, but not all visitors are looking for something mindblowing new. Solid good advise is something that will satisfy alot of visitors IMO

I basicly disagree with everything you say i guess lol.

On a final note.
Broker you should get a better quality recording software.
Apart from that its a solid site, and i like it alot.

[Unknown Webmaster]

@Dave (and everybody else)
If you have the time, I would appreciate your take on this "rewrite" I did of some of the front page.

@Brokerstar
I hope you don't mind me trying to rewrite your text - I think Dave brought up some really good points, and wanted to have a crack at it to see if I understood his point correctly.

What is the bounce rate of the front page?

Original

Tagpoker is an online poker school were you can learn all that you need to know to become a winner in online poker.

We'll show you how to beat low stakes cash games as well as sit and go's, why bonuses and rake back make such a huge difference to your overall win rate and much more.

We deliver our poker lessons through a comprehensive series of free poker videos as well as strategy articles found on our poker tactics page. The games have gotten much harder in the last couple of years but by learning all that this poker school has to offer, our members are on the fast track to crushing the games.

My take on it
Tagpoker is an online poker school that let you look over the shoulder of winning poker players while they play.

You will improve your game and win money faster than if you read a book, watched poker pros on tv or even played yourself. By letting you watch everything from the teachers point of view while he explain why he is playing the way he is, you will learn exactly what you should do when you are playing yourself.

If this is your first visit to the site, you can see a list of some of our most popular training videos and guides below.

Proper introduction to online poker

Guide to earning 500$/month (we all have to start somewhere).

Earn money even when you loose, by using rakeback and bonuses the right way.

Why you should listen to me
Frankly, because I win money by playing in the same small stakes games you play in, so I can show you what works right now - Something that I found it difficult to learn from books or even "poker pros", since their advice just didn't fit the games I played in.

Read more about who the heck I am.

How learning from the "pros" caused me to loose money...
When I started playing poker, I wanted to learn from poker pros I had seen on tv and play in the high stakes cash games online.

Unfortunately the brilliant plays I learned from the professionals were horrible mistakes that caused me to loose money when I used them myself, because they simply don't work when you aren't at the final table of a 5000$ buy in tournament with 3 tv cameras pointed at you.

Don't get me wrong, you need to learn those things at some point, but first you need to learn how to crush the small and mid stakes games, which is what this site is all about.

Where to start
[Insert text that tell people to go to the best stuff on the site]

[Ridge]

I like it Unknown, it reminds me of Badger's intro on his site, which obv does well. He gives some history and credentials and that is what will build trust and loyal traffic. The niche Broker is trying to break into is a very under developed niche in our business and I only know of 1-2 real affiliates even trying. One of them is "Trikkur" on here. I knew Jon when he didn't even have a real site, but he had a great following.

[Brokerstar]

@Dave (and everybody else)
If you have the time, I would appreciate your take on this "rewrite" I did of some of the front page.

@Brokerstar
I hope you don't mind me trying to rewrite your text - I think Dave brought up some really good points, and wanted to have a crack at it to see if I understood his point correctly.

What is the bounce rate of the front page?

Original



My take on it
Tagpoker is an online poker school that let you look over the shoulder of winning poker players while they play.

You will improve your game and win money faster than if you read a book, watched poker pros on tv or even played yourself. By letting you watch everything from the teachers point of view while he explain why he is playing the way he is, you will learn exactly what you should do when you are playing yourself.

If this is your first visit to the site, you can see a list of some of our most popular training videos and guides below.

Proper introduction to online poker

Guide to earning 500$/month (we all have to start somewhere).

Earn money even when you loose, by using rakeback and bonuses the right way.

Why you should listen to me
Frankly, because I win money by playing in the same small stakes games you play in, so I can show you what works right now - Something that I found it difficult to learn from books or even "poker pros", since their advice just didn't fit the games I played in.

Read more about who the heck I am.

How learning from the "pros" caused me to loose money...
When I started playing poker, I wanted to learn from poker pros I had seen on tv and play in the high stakes cash games online.

Unfortunately the brilliant plays I learned from the professionals were horrible mistakes that caused me to loose money when I used them myself, because they simply don't work when you aren't at the final table of a 5000$ buy in tournament with 3 tv cameras pointed at you.

Don't get me wrong, you need to learn those things at some point, but first you need to learn how to crush the small and mid stakes games, which is what this site is all about.

Where to start
[Insert text that tell people to go to the best stuff on the site]

Just Wow!

I think I'm actually pretty bad at writting all of a sudden (not that I ever claimed to be great).

So much of this will actually be on my page in the next coupe of days, I really, really like it. Thankyou all so far for taking some time out for me, I really do appriciate it.

My bounce rate is 38% so that could probably be improved upon to be honest.

Thanks again

Broker

[leporello]

Some great replies in this thread. i was originally lolling at the name of the thread. I should really submit some sites for a brutally honest review.

Top stuff guys.

[Dave]

Hi Guys ... Dave here

Sorry I took so long to reply, but I have a zillion things going on and the death of my father to deal with in the last few weeks.

This was exactly the response I was expected from my post.

Someone like Ridge who has been there, done that, and is moving forward in this game because he listens and learns from people who know what they are talking about ..... and wants to help others.

This is a lot like the very first review I got from Dave, Randy R and Kaus, along with some great advice. What I have realized over the last year is that maybe I know about poker and gaming, I knew jack shit about Marketing and if anyone thinks we are in the "poker" business then think again. We are Internet Marketers. As such we have to start learning about marketing. We have all seen to many commercials honestly, me included

Calls to action
Landing pages
Page Layout
Readability
Scanability
Delivery

I am not a great internet marketer, but I'm getting there. All of you are learning just like me, probably unconsciously as I was doing. There are millions of resources out there to learn the basics of marketing (much like learning the basics of poker) and then we can progress from there. As in poker, practice and testing theory will make you better.

I currently have almost 40 active websites. 10-15 of these are just testing sites for Keywords, CTA's, SEO tests, etc. I find new stuff out everyday just by adjusting things here and there.

Anyway, back to the OP. I love the points made and everyone should listen (including me) We can never stop learning and never stop re-doing ideas. One of my oldest sites is about to get a total re-design because of what I have learned from my test sites.

Quote from Newjabber

I dont know if broker stats anywhere that he can teach it better, but its very likely that hes good and can do some solid coatching for new players.
The alternatives you mention like the full tilt school, books etc. are also good ways of learning.
The thing is thats its not about only learning it one place, and learn one way of poker. There are many different playing styles.
When you study poker you shouldent rely 100% on a tactic learned from one person, but get all the different knowledge you can lay hands on and then come to a conclusion yourself about what kind of approach to the game that suits you.

I agree with you 100% Newjabber as far as learning how to win at poker online goes, BUT as Ridge pointed out... if you want to make money as an online poker affiliate you have to start thinking like an online marketer.

You must get into the mind of your current, and future website visitors.

Constantly ask yourself.

How did they find my site? Where did they come from?

Will ANY of these visitors make me some money, now or eventually?

Should I target different online poker traffic keywords that are more profitable?

How can I improve my results... traffic and conversions?

I see amazingly helpful and informative websites everyday in every niche under the sun, but if your marketing sucks you won't make much money with your sites.

Here is a perfect example I came across the other day because I'm in the teeth whitening CPA niche.

Check out Kandee Johnson's YouTube videos:

She is #1 on YouTube for "teeth whitening" with 383,912 views just for this one video.

In case you don't know about the teeth whitening niche .... free trial offers pay $40 plus per free trial sign up!

Yep here is my affilate link.... Kim Kardashian is so smoking hot!!

Idol White - Teeth Whitening

Kandee has 190,578 channel subscribers YouTube - kandeejohnson's Channel

She loves to go on YouTube and talk about make up, shoes and girl stuff .... she's a doll and has 1000's of loyal followers.... but she knows shit about marketing and making money from her efforts.

This young lady is leaving so much money on the table..... it's ridiculous.





Brokerstar here is my advice to you for starters.

VIDEO

Make a video of yourself playing online poker on your computer.

Add some friends in the background ..... talk about how your poker stategies are unique.... show me some fun!

Show me how I can be like you!

Playing online poker.... making some money.... hanging out with the babes!

Prove to me you are the real deal.

And I will trust your advice.

Upload this video to YouTube and embed it on your homepage.

At least when I land on your homepage I will be entertained .. and maybe learn something I DIDN'T SEE ALREADY ON A HUNDRED OTHER POKER SITE!

I know you say getting people to your site and staying isn't the problem .... but it is.

Either.... everyone who visits your site already has a player account at the majors.

In this case offer them affiliate links to the smaller obscure poker sites where your unique poker stategies will be very effective.... I'm sure you can honestly recommend a few.

Or you should reevaluate your whole business plan if your goal is to make some serious money.

I think you can.... you're obviously a smart guy who is producing real value for your website visitors.

This is a numbers game after all ... I'm sure you've heard that before.

And it's true.... to the unth degree.

More later,

Dave