Section 6.3. Publicizing Your Site

6.3. Publicizing Your Site

As with a vanilla site, if you build an adult site and no one comes, you won't be able to make any money off advertising on the site. Traffic is a basic requirement for monetization. Some of the mechanisms you can use to publicize a vanilla site work with adult sites, and in some cases you need to modify your approach.

6.3.1. Adult Directories

It's a good idea to list adult sites in Google and other search engines (as explained in Chapter 2). You should also list your site in the appropriate category of the ODP-Adult , located at http://dmoz.org/Adult/, or one of the specialized subcategories of the Adult category. Listing with the ODP will help your site gain status with Google and the other search engines of this world.

For more about working with the ODP, see Chapter 2.

Most adult traffic does not come through Google, but rather through specialized directory and review sites that categorize and evaluate adult content. Persian Kitty , http://www.persiankitty.com, is a leading adult directory categorized alphabetically and by content niche. The Persian Kitty site submission form can be found at http://www.persiankitty.com/links.html. JanesGuide , http://www.janesguide.com, is a categorized directory and review site with a great reputation for honest reviews in the adult industry.

You can find a great listing of alternative search engines and directories aimed at the adult industry that accept unpaid listings in the resource section at Adult Chamber , http://www.adultchamber.com/freelistings.php?maincat=8.

Read the FAQs carefully before submitting a site to an adult directory. Adult directory and review sites expect a reciprocal link. Often, the link must be placed before the site is submitted to the directory. The details for reciprocal link graphics and placement are spelled out precisely in webmaster FAQs.

6.3.2. Advertising Your Site

Advertising your site may be the easiest way to draw traffic, although, of course, it does cost something.

Link exchanges within the adult industry are way to exchange trafficby providing reciprocal site linkswithout money changing hands.

For adult-industry advertising resources, link exchanges, and related programs to drive traffic, visit:

• The Traffic Programs category at Adult Chamber, http://www.adultchamber.com/freelistings.php?maincat=7

• The lesson links within the Traffic Lounge at http://www.cozyacademy.com/classrooms/traffic/index.asp

• The Traffic and Marketing section of XBiz, http://xbiz.com/directory_showcases.php?id=6

A better bet than advertising within the adult world may be advertising for adult traffic using the mainstream search engines such as Google. Although Google will not accept adult-content sites into its AdSense content network, it will accept ads into the AdWords program that direct traffic to adult sites.

The AdWords program is explained in Part III.

The catch is that a certain amount of adult-content ads submitted to Google are rejected. For example, the ad shown in Figure 6-5 was rejected for supposedly promoting prostitution, but the ad shown in Figure 6-6 for the identical site was acceptable.

Figure 6-5. Ads submitted to Google can be rejected arbitrarily (like this one which was disapproved for supposedly promoting prostitution)

Figure 6-6. Some ads aimed at adult traffic are fine with Google

The moral: if you advertise for adult traffic through Google, be prepared to have some ads rejected. You should expect to replace rejected ads with alternativesthere's no real appeal from a Google decision of this sort.

6.3.3. Syndication

In Chapter 2 I explained how to use syndication to create syndication feeds using your web site content. Once you've created your feed, you can use it to drive traffic to your site. Syndication works especially well as a promotional tool for adult web sites because, generally, there's no mechanism within syndication readers to discriminate against adult content. Web users interested in adult content like syndication feeds because they see it as a way to uncover adult content on the Web without paying for it.

Two syndication aggregators that specialize in adult feeds are:

Hot Feeds

This specialty site, focused on syndication feeds created by sex blogs but also including niche adult-content categories, is located at http://www.hot-feeds.com; you can submit your feed at http://www.hot-feeds.com/submit.php.

Web Nymph

The adult section of Web Nymph, located at http://www.webnymph.com/?page=adult, provides links to hundreds of adult syndication feeds that your mainstream RSS aggregator may have "missed." You must register to submit a feed. After a time delay, you can use your Options page to submit your own feed.

6.3.4. Adult Press Releases

Unfortunately, you can't submit a press release covering adult topics to the mainstream press release services.

You'll find information in Chapter 2 about crafting an effective press release and submitting it to mainstream press services.

There's no completely acceptable alternative for the widespread coverage these mainstream wire services provide. But you can (and should) submit an initial press release describing your content to adult-industry press release services.

This process should be repeated every time you have something newsworthy to report, for example, a brand-spanking-new content area. Adult industry sites that accept press releases include:

• Adult Buzz (http://www.adultbuzz.com)

• XBiz (http://www.xbiz.com)

• YNOT.COM (http://www.ynot.com)