How to make good looking cake pops? I've tried to make cake pops a few times but they never came out as beautiful and tidy as the pictures I found on the web. I would love to try more and more to nail the goal but I think I must know some rules or what-to-do's to make progress. So please anyone who has the experience share the important points here, I really appreciate it. Please note that for me, the taste is as important as the look.

The following questions are what I'd like to know:


Does it matter what kind of cake you use, greasy or sponge or something else?
What about the icing? Here the question is, do I have to add less sugar in my cake batter to make it less sweeter so that I can use any kind of icing without worries? 
Does it make a big difference what kind of  lollipop stick? 


I tried googling the subject "how to make cake pops" and read a few search results but most of them used special brands for different uses (e.g. candy melts) which are not available in my country. 

Here is an example of some amazing cake pops:
There are two ways to get the shape. One way is to bake them spherical, the other to crumble the cake and to roll the crumples with icing.

To bake them spherical, you need a mold that goes into the oven, or an appliance for the task.

 

Your basic cake recipes are what you want here, nothing fancy. White cake, yellow cake or chocolate cake, there's no reason to make it more complicated, considering that your presentation is going to be novel anyway.

A simple buttercream frosting would be fine for rolling the balls (if that's the way you choose to go), but you would want more of candy shell on the outside. Sure, Wilton brand candy melts are an option, but you might find almond bark easier to find. That comes in chocolate and white, and will set more like the candy melts, less soft and melty than real chocolate would be. White bark could be colored how ever you want (use gel coloring, not liquid). Here's an article you might find helpful about better choices than real chocolate for this kind of shell: Love from the Oven

The sweetness of your cake and icing is totally up to you. One thing to consider instead of reducing the sugar would be to possibly add a bitter element, like lemon zest.

The best thing you can use for the sticks, if you can find them. would be the plain paper ones: