Editor's note: This is the third in a 12-part, "hands-on" series about the wonderful world of adult-Website building. The resulting site will have been built by real people who have no Web-building experience and no inside experience in the adult industry. Their names have been changed to protect their real identities and their mainstream business interests
Although Xatia and Inspector Gadget had intended to begin working on their Website by finding and procuring content, they quickly became discouraged because, although the selection is vast, they couldn't locate exactly what they wanted to use.
"This is going to take more than a little bit of study," Inspector Gadget says. "With all the stuff that's out there - all the ready-made content, free content and sponsor sites - how can anyone decide which way to go?"
In addition, the couple worried about sponsors' reliability. At the suggestion of a friend, they visited various Webmaster resource sites and chat boards, where they found some heated discussions indicating not all sponsors are trustworthy nor, apparently, financially solvent.
There are some unscrupulous types in the adult Internet industry who "shave" hits or behave in other dishonest ways when it comes to paying affiliates. There are just as many, however - and probably more - who play by the rules and give their affiliates ample reasons to continue financial relationships with them.
There are a number of ways new adult Webmasters can determine which sponsors may work well for them. One is simply to sign up with several sponsors, place their banners on Web pages and give the project several months to indicate which banners generate the most income. Another way, as Xatia and Inspector Gadget discovered, is to haunt Webmaster chat boards and watch the conversations. Still another method for finding sponsors that perform well for your site is to talk with a reputable hosting outfit. In many cases, hosts are not only infrastructure providers, but they can be veritable founts of information about many other things, as well.
Eric Constantino, owner of BTP Hosting (www.btphosting.com), says helping his firm's hosting clients locate content and sponsors is "all part of the package." The complete package from any host, he said, should include more than just server space and a modest amount of bandwidth.
"You need to look at a lot of factors before you decide to sign with a host," Constantino advises. "How big is the company? How stable are they, and how stable are their facilities? Can they give you a reasonable amount of disk space, reasonable bandwidth and a reasonable number of e-mail addresses for a reasonable price? Are there any hidden charges?
"In addition - especially if you're new to the industry - you'll probably want to be sure you get somebody who knows the industry," he says.
Of paramount importance, Constantino stresses, is that any host a new adult Webmaster considers should have a straightforward, easy-to-understand privacy statement and terms of service "up front, right where you can find it easily and read it thoroughly. It's important that you get copies of both statements, so you know what (the hosting company) will and will not do with your name and e-mail address, and so you know who's obligated to provide or pay for what and when."
Constantino's comments persuaded Xatia and Inspector Gadget to curtail their content search until they had selected a suitable Website host.
"At least we have enough of our own original content to get started with," Xatia observes. "Since it's so confusing to find the content we want, we'll take any help we can get!"
Initially, the couple had assumed they could run their small site on one of the computers in their office. The office's internal network is connected to the Internet via a digital subscriber line.
They quickly changed their minds when they began adding up all the costs and headaches that can be associated with in-house hosting:
Even modestly popular adult Internet sites consume enough bandwidth to require at least a T1 connection to the Internet. As they grow, they need to be able to migrate to T3s, OC3s and larger or multiple lines quickly and without interruption of service. Besides the issue of geographical proximity to available large-line nodes (which most often are located in large, metropolitan areas), the cost factor is prohibitive: T1s and up can cost $2,000 or more per month, and often local telephone companies charge extremely high rates to install them.
If the formidable installation of a high-bandwidth line isn't enough to dissuade beginners who hope to host their sites in-house, this might: The phone line is just the tip of the equipment iceberg. In-house hosting also requires industrial-strength routers that generally cost about $1,000 each. That's in addition to the minimum $15,000 it will cost for a "bullet-proof," high-end server designed to meet the needs of a high-traffic site.
In addition to equipment, adult Websites require a good deal of software for security and e-commerce. Installation of these things requires a substantial investment of time, money and expertise.
Selecting a hosting provider is no simple task, either, as Inspector Gadget and Xatia discovered. Their local DSL provider, for example, gave them free Web space for a personal site, but would not allow that space to be used for a commercial site - especially one featuring adult materials. Generally, when seeking a host it's best to be up-front with the company about the nature of the site under discussion. Many hosts will not accept adult sites because of the stigma they bring with them or because the potential bandwidth usage may be extremely large.
There are a number of companies that specialize in hosting adult sites. One good place to begin a search is Hosts4Porn (www.hosts4porn.com), which maintains a resource center including a list of hosts and many excellent articles about issues facing new Webmasters.
Several hosting levels exist, and one should fit almost any budget. For the very cost-conscious who want to test the waters before diving in, free hosting is a viable option. The drawbacks to this type of arrangement are that tech support is limited, in most cases the site will be a "subdomain" of another site, and often the host will plaster at least one banner on every one of the Website's pages.
Virtual hosting is the most popular form of hosting. At this level, which can be inexpensive depending upon the amount of traffic a site receives, many different Websites reside on the same server and each site uses its own domain name. Because many sites share the same server, though, security risks are inherent in the model.
For Webmasters developing several sites or one very large site, dedicated hosting is an attractive option. Though more expensive than virtual hosting, a dedicated plan is exactly what its name implies: One server is dedicated to one Webmaster and his or her sites. No one else is hosted on that machine, increasing security and allowing the "owner" to run special software. Of course, there is a drawback here, as well - and it can be a huge one for newbies: The Webmaster must have a considerable amount of technical knowledge and skill, because he or she usually is responsible for maintaining everything residing on the server.
The fourth hosting model, co-location, generally is best attempted by those experienced not only in technical matters relating to software, but also in hardware maintenance. When using a co-location plan, the Webmaster provides the hosting company with the server, which is attached to the host's network. Because the Webmaster owns the machine and actually only is buying the connection from the host, if anything on the server breaks, the Webmaster must fix it himself or herself - that means purchasing the parts and installing them or paying someone else to do it. On the positive side, because the Webmaster owns the machine, he or she can select any hardware and software he or she likes - which leads to another whole set of questions.
Next: Servers and operating systems.
Previously: What kind of site do you want to create?
