TEMPE, Ariz. - It is widely known to the Internet community that adult websites accumulate large amounts of traffic. At the same time, many in the industry also feel it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new ways to acquire traffic. The panelists on Saturday’s "Traffic School" seminar at the Phoenix Forum shared their traffic tips and also let the audience know how to maintain and build those important affiliate relationships. The panel comprised SilverCash Albert of SilverCash, Ronald Holiday of 12clicksCash, Lisa Turner of Badpuppy, Mary Gillis of Maleflixxx, Mark Hurson of P2PPads, and Craig Tant, who served as moderator.
While bandwidth is cheaper than it previously was, traffic relationships have changed a lot in the recent years. Most on the panel agreed that webmasters should be promoting their businesses through free search-engine submissions and optimization. Webmasters should be submitting their websites to various search engines on a monthly basis. This will make people aware of a website’s existence. Also, take advantage of viral-marketing sites such as PornoTube and XTube, as webmasters likely will see and instant increase in site traffic.
Another site the panel suggested was LimeWire, which is a file-sharing network primarily used to exchange audio and video files. Like most file-sharing networks, it is decentralized—which means the files are not shared on a central server, but are exchanged directly between users based on the peer-to-peer principle.
Since the industry has changed so much since the mid- to late ’90s, companies still have to search for alternative methods in order to acquire new traffic. While free advertising remains a superior way in gaining more traffic, it by no means is the only method.
"It’s not always about online advertising, we always go to live events in town, such as the local clubs and bars, as well as community events. While the return is not quite as high, it is worth the effort," said Turner.
Attracting and retaining rewarding affiliate relationships is the first and foremost important step to making your program successful for the long term, panelists said. Every affiliate needs tools, information, incentives, and attention to help turn traffic into income, and the affiliate owner needs to track and understand the successes and failures of their programs.
Turner went on to say that just taking the time out of her busy schedule to have lengthy one-on-one conversations with potential clients can lead to a great and profitable relationships. She cited for an example a time when she was talking to an affiliate in Las Vegas, and it tuned out the webmaster had 150 TGPs. "The person standing next to you at one of these shows can possibly be your next great affiliate. So, reach out to these people at our shows and get to know the people in your industry."
Hurson mentioned it is important to keep affiliates happy, as well. "I’ll send them a turkey for the holidays and you’d be surprised [how] happy that’ll make your affiliates."
Besides shows such as the Phoenix Forum, there are many adult industry shows throughout the year at which webmasters can take advantage of networking opportunities. A great non-adult show that’s causing waves in the adult community is ad:tech, which is produced several times throughout the year. Ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference dedicated to connecting all sides of today’s marketing landscape. The next ad:tech show takes place April 24-26 in San Francisco.
