Page 19 - index

A user reads an article, sees a reference, spots Well, they might want to highlight an important
an ad, and decides to do a search. Obviously aspect of the site’s overall mission or objective
because they don’t have the precise URL, they
- such as a countdown for a petition, a deadline
will get a search results page of sites that refer
for a funding drive, the oncoming release of
to what they’re looking for, and they might click
one of those hoping there they’ll fnd a direct the latest Star Wars movie or a contest or vote
link. And often there will be, so they click it. on whether or not this splash page should still
be here.
And land on the splash page (which is often
referred to as “the landing page” - how about
A splash page can also serve a function such
that?).
as funneling people to appropriate sections or
Users apparently don’t like them, designers versions of the site; this could be the language,
don’t like them, the accountant thinks they’re a
a time-zone, or even a sexual orientation.
waste and probably loss of money and the SEO
guy thinks they’re a waste of valuable search
Ok, when properly thought out, there may be
engine bait realty.
a purpose to them after all.
Many people think they are especially
necessary on adult sites, that the warning However, it should be properly formulated,
about the sexual nature of the destination is a made in such a way that the limbo bar of entry
legal requirement.
is raised rather than lowered. Instead of being
about why your surfer or new arrival should not
That’s a big raspberry, a nada, there is no law
requiring this further gating of your content. be there or even enter, it should be about what
There are legal requirements to which adult they will fnd, without being overtly general.
sites must adhere, hoops through which we
Transexual foot fetish is not “adult material”, it
must jump, but a warning/splash page is not
is transexual foot fetish (and not offensive per
one of them.
se). Because your content isn’t NOT for people
A good designer and writer can get together who fnd it offensive but rather FOR people who
and make a very interesting, creative and
are attracted to it.
educational or informative page which can
feature a little content, textual and graphical
The model for the splash/warning page is
information, and give both viewers and search
built on negatives, and on generalizing about
engines a sense of what they are about to
embark upon. the usually very specifc material within. That is
a mold that should be be broken.
And usually there’s just the Enter link, and
in the case of Adult sites an Exit, which could
The primary reason is at least some content,
also lead to another site as an affliate link
useful to search engines, is present (and you
or something that might bring a smile to the
accountant but not the SEO guy. After all, of aren’t offending fans of trans foot fetish).
the two links on what is essentially your index Explaining or describing it objectively would
of your site, the top-most branch on your at least make you stand out from the crowd.
tree, arguably the most important one of your
The page itself would be useful. And you
pages, you give equal importance to a link to
wouldn’t be mimicking the literally hundreds
another site leading away from you? Probably
of no relevance to the keyword that may have of thousands of other index pages on the web
been used to fnally fnd you? with “adult content” or “material”.

One wonders how many adult website index
So, fnally, in the end, there really isn’t a
pages link to Disney? A survey should be
good argument against the gradual but certain
conducted...
extinction of the splash page.
So alhtough they are in decreasing use, why
do so many sites still employ a splash page?

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