Well, I have been tampering with InDepthInfo’s format again. I really liked the “new” look, but the fact was that the number of page views went down on every folio where I installed it. Also the ad revenue fell off. I consoled myself, thinking that at least the better look might get me more links, from those who did visit the site. Alas, it was a false hope.

Honestly, I could not figure out why there was a fall-off in traffic. But a quirk of fate stepped in to clue me in to a possibilty. I found a photograph for my how to make eggnog webpages. It was fairly large. When I put it on the site, it immediately dropped several positions on the search engines. I was flabbergasted. I have always been told that images are good. When I create a page on squidoo it fairly screams for some kind of image.

I removed the image, and POW, the folio pages were back up to normal. I put on my thinking cap, made sure the gears interfaced with the gears in my brain, turned the crank, and started the wheels turning. The only real difference between the two situations was that the photo forced a lot of the text below the fold. I am thinking that it might make a difference how much of the text, not just content, appears where the average browser will see it without scrolling.

So I have created a new template. I am still not happy with how it looks but it does force a considerable amount of text above the fold. I am trying it out on the Days of the Week folio. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Weekdays, the New, New Look