It’s not magical, or even a secret for that matter. All that’s needed is a good eye and a keen sense to analyze. The key to getting good traffic is to monitor how your website actually does on the web. You could have the best looking website around, the best copies ever written, and the most navigable of all sites in terms of usability, but if you just dump it on the net and let it rot there for all you care, don’t expect much traffic to go your way.

So how do you monitor your website performance on the internet? There are many ways to go about it, many now due to the fact of the constant evolution of the web, but there are several reliable points that have proven consistent enough to be able to be rated as key factors in monitoring the performance of a website. These are:

Check how fast your server responds to requests for your site. When people want to go to your site, there are actually two factors that can be measured here: response time and download time. Here is a little disambiguation: response time is the length of time that the server that hosts your site takes to acknowledge a request to see the site; while download time is the actual time it takes for your website to fully appear, capable and all, on the monitor of the person who requested to see your site. Keeping in mind that people will only wait an average of 8 to 10 seconds for something to start appearing on their screen, it is absolutely vital that your server responds quickly to requests for your site, otherwise, say goodbye to all that good traffic.

Check how fast your website appears completely on screen. This is where download time plays an integral part. Notice how great looking sites where you can do a lot of interesting things often load quite slowly. This is because some files are bigger than most, and of course this will take more time to load. So learn to blend good loading time with your good-looking files and get it just right. Test the time it takes for your web site to load yourself, taking into account that not all people have the same download time, as their connection to the internet may be a throwback to the dark ages. Unless you are absolutely confident in your website’s ability to drive conversions, it may be wise not turn anybody away, and consider all the contingencies.

Check if all your links are good. Unless you find a way to cram all your website information into one page, which is neither good nor practical, you are bound to have links on your website. Links are like directions that people ask when going somewhere, if the directions go someplace wrong, or they don’t lead to where they are supposed to, it can get quite infuriating. Testing your individual links, whether they lead someplace else inside your website, or to another website altogether, is important to ensure that they are functioning properly. If your website has a link that goes someplace else that doesn’t seem to be there anymore, drop that link already, or if you have an important internal page that you plan get up and running again soon, make a friendly error message, rather than letting visitors search in vain for it.

So to make things simpler, let us zero in on how a specific website gets it going, in this instance, an adult billing solution website. Online businesses like adult billing solutions know the importance of keeping their clients on their page, primarily because it is so easy for clients to simply up and go to the next similar company on the net, especially with a multitude of them just waiting for clients. It’s important that if you run a website that earns by doing business with people online, you will definitely want them to stay online, and on YOUR website, for that matter.

Rather than dealing with all the factors that affect the way a website works, let us look at what has become the most bothersome of the issues that affect how a website works: web traffic. This traffic isn’t the type that converts, but rather, it does the opposite, it drives conversions away. This is the type of traffic that makes your website load ever-so-slowly. So slow, in fact, that the visitor simply moves onto another website, in the hopes that it loads faster.

Know the source of the problem. While it is true that knowing the problem will not always provide you with a ready solution, it is much better than just whistling in the dark. There are tools readily available online that will help you determine if the slow response time of your website is due to an internal or local problem, or if the entire web is experiencing a slowdown of some sort. Also, knowing why your website is experiencing a slow down also gives to something to write off under reasons for losses, rather than just speculations. Generate a report of website slow down as a point of comparison, taken either from a network status page or from a site monitoring service (if you have one), so as to check if the problem is becoming regular or consistent.

Learn the traceroute feature. By now you know that for your website to be able to operate online, you need a host for your site. As paradoxical as it may sound, the actual physical distance between the person who requested to see the site and the location of the host server plays a significant role in the length of time the site comes up to the monitor. The request takes a number of “hops” from server to server until it finally gets to the server that hosts your website. You can count the number of “hops” a request for your website makes using the traceroute feature found in the DOS utilities of your computer. Call up the dos prompt and type in the web address of the site to count the “hops” between your machine and the server, the more “hops” it takes, the longer it takes to load.

Learning to fix the problem. Now that you know the probably reasons for the slow loading of your website, it may be a good idea to figure out how to fix it. Explaining to potential customers the reason for your slow loading time is like asking the rain to stop, it’s pointless. Try as you might, people go onto the internet for two things, speed and convenience. Not getting either of the two is reason enough for customers to leave for another website.

Many webmasters may not know this, but getting consumer information is almost as important to an online adult business as making the actual sale itself. Why? Because the real reason why you put up your online business is to make money from paying customers, and these paying customers are, more often than not, people who know what they want. Thusly knowing what they want, they will unconsciously develop preferences when surfing and deciding where to buy what they want. These preferences are your sure fire tools to getting these people to do business with your adult content website.

It is therefore imperative that you get inside the heads of your potential online customers, to be able to sell to them better, and to be able to continue selling to them in the future. Some of the needed data, such as information about usage and site traffic, can be derived from log files automatically generated by web programs. Another group of information, however, is not so easily derived, and requires a more sensitive approach. This is because not too many people like being asked too many questions. In many cases, asking them too many questions is as good as driving them away. But these are questions you need to ask keep your customers. So how do you do this?

Be subtle. The key is in not being too obtrusive about your questions. Adult payment solutions positions question such that it does not appear to be a question at all, like saying “we are currently trying to make our site serve you better, could you help us?” This gives the impression that you value their opinion, and will get them to be more involved.

Spread it out. People stopped liking answering 25 questions or more straight on when they left college. So even if you do have 25 questions or more that need answering, spacing them out would be a good idea. Try posing just three or five questions at the most each time, and then let them go about their business with your website. Position the other questions elsewhere so they will not be bombarded even before they get what they came for.

Give options. Provide an option for the customer to answer the questions later on, or maybe receive them by email. This way you are showing that you have a consideration for their convenience and preference. No one likes being trapped and pushed to do something they do not really understand the relevance of, and the same applies to questionnaires.

Assure confidentiality. Some people would rather keep their opinions to themselves for a number of reasons, such as fear of being ridiculed by others. Assure your customers that all the information and suggestions they share will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and professionalism, and that every opinion or suggestion shared is valued.

Give thanks. Having received their suggestions, it is only polite that you thank them for sharing their thoughts with you. For all you know, you just got the suggestion of a top expert, normally garnered for high price, which you got absolutely free. Customizing a thank you message for all the suggestions given goes a long way to providing that personal touch similar to adult payment solutions provider..

Now that you know what an adult payment gateway does basically, here is a quick look at some things you should keep in mind when getting ready to sign up with payment gateway:

Application time. Many adult payment gateways claim that their application process is the fastest and most hassle-free of all, being able to grant you approval in 48 hours or less, so long as you have the proper documents ready. Make sure they can make good on their claim, and if the actual approval takes more time than they promised, ask them what’s the hop-up, if they say they need more time and can’t give a straight or satisfactory answer, move on.

Acquirer bank. All payment gateways are hooked with an acquirer bank, this is how they process payments, and adult payment gateways are no exception. It is in your best interest to know if the payment gateway you’re planning to sign up with is backed up by a stable and established acquirer bank, that way you know they will be able to secure payments made to you, come what may.

Fees, hidden and known. Remember that just like you, payment gateways also need to earn an income, and they do this by charging a fee for their service. Now all of this sounds well and good, that is, until the bill arrives. Know all fees you need to pay, and it’s not uncommon to hear about payment gateways that charge hidden fees. Know what you pay for, and you’ll have less to regret. It’s as simple as that.

Clearing service. Look up “common merchant account problems” and one of the things you will see there is the transaction clearing service. This has been an issue with many payment gateways, as for a payment gateway to work well with the adult merchant, they must have compatible systems. The merchant’s software must definitely be compatible with the clearing service, or no transaction can be made, and no transaction means no money.

Anti-fraud features. For as long as there is money changing hands, frauds have always been there to try to filch some of it. Make sure the adult payment gateway has security and privacy features designed to protect the customer’s payment and private information. The less that know about your sensitive information, the less likely you are to fall victim to fraud or theft.

Documentation. Depending on the requirements of the acquirer bank that the adult payment gateway is working with, you may be asked to provide them with various documents, mainly to verify your credit history, and check the ownership of the business you want them to provide payment processing to.

Good standing. Common sense will tell you not to do business with shady companies, especially ones over the internet, where identity verification is even harder to check than it is with brick-and-mortar businesses. A good reputation always precedes a good company, but a bad reputation goes even further. Fellow adult merchants will know the name of adult payment gateways you should do business with, and those that you should steer clear from.

Here are some tips that on what you can do on your landing page to help you garner more conversions:

Think of a great brand name. This is an indescribably important aspect of increasing the conversion rate of your website. Depending on whom you expect your target market to be, whether enthusiasts of the general category of the adult content website industry or just a particular niche, having a brand name that is easy to recall, catchy, or is really appropriate for your market is a very good start. If possible, think of a name that best describes what your site is all about, or maybe what benefits your site has over others. Conversely, if you’re feeling creative, pick a name that is just so imaginative and original that even though it’s not related to your online business, it’s still easy to remember.

Image is everything. Since the early days of marketing, subliminal messages brought across by using the right images has been one of the best selling tools any brand can ever utilize. Show images of something you think (or you know) people will definitely want to have or buy. Despite being the in the rather visually controversial industry of adult content, there are still images that can properly convey the nature of your business and still come across as adequately stimulating and tasteful.

Keep the info short and sweet. Of course you need to describe what your site is all about, in some cases you want to say more than what your pictures alone can. This, however, does not mean you can bore visitors of your website to death with a very lengthy description of your site. One of the byproducts of the highly convenient internet is a short attention span, so consumers will easily tire of long reading.

Bullet the Benefits. Of course your website has benefits, and of course you want people to know about it. The best way to do so is to put you benefits and features in bullet form. This way it’s easier to read and absorb. A lot of great websites do this, and they are able to inform people of their benefits and features better. Letting people know what they can get from you immediately ensure better chances at an actual conversion.

Give a tour. You’ve dangled your marketing hook, the fabulous pictures of your website, now reel your customers in with a well designed and well planned tour of your website. Make sure your tour includes even more enticing images or photographs or descriptions of what your website is about. A good point to remember, however, is to make sure that this tour is optional, as not everyone will want to be forced into looking through everything you have to offer. Bear in mind that all consumers like the idea of having an option, so be sure that the tour is optional.

Safety and security sells. Customers pay you for your websites’ services or products through credit card, paid through an adult payment gateway. Unfortunately, a good number of people have figured out that they can pilfer unwitting cardholders for some extra profit just by stealing their credit card information. A good way to increase conversions is to assure your customers that their credit card information is safe with the adult credit card processing business that handles payments to your website. Be sure to inform potential customers that your online adult payment solution uses an updated and thoroughly secure encryption system to protect their credit card information.

This is also a primary reason why there are so many credit card payment processors who have tailored their services to provide adult credit card processing. It’s a burgeoning industry that has carved and maintained its own niche on the internet, and one where a lot of enterprising webmasters are seeking to get a piece of the pie, and maybe even the lion’s share of the adult credit processing accounts.

Being as large as it is, however, means the adult industry has necessarily followed the letter of the law, as no moneymaking industry can operate freely for long if it is steeped in illegality. Most, if not all, the successful adult websites do follow the rules and legalities set by the law, primarily to keep from having to get penalized by the authorities and to maintain the legal status being enjoyed by their websites.

If you are planning on building and running an adult pay site, or if you already have a website, here are some tips on how to keep out of trouble while running and earning from it.

Provide a warning. The landing page of your adult content website should have a disclaimer where visitors immediately see it. Be sure that the warning “this site contains adult material and should not be viewed by anyone under 21 years of age” is clearly seen. You should also warn visitors that viewing adult content is prohibited by the law in some states. These warnings do not hurt your website, they show you are an educated, law-abiding webmaster doing legitimate business.

Use an Age Verification System. Assuming you did put a warning that you have adult content on your landing page, this will not guarantee that minors will not sneak a peek at your goods, quite the opposite, truth be told. The way to fix this (and ensure you don’t get busted for allowing minors into your site) is to use an age verification system. This is a system that asks for proof of legal age through a credit card checking system. This system, however, is limited by the fact that even 18 year old visitors with a credit card can still browse through the site, as they are already old enough to have a credit card.

Keep the obscenity to a minimum. Yes, you are running an adult website, that’s why your payment processor is called an adult credit card processing service, but that doesn’t mean you can let all the obscenity hang out for you to sell and for all to see. Certain niches of the adult industry are not as accepted as mainstream adult content. These include incest, rape, bestiality, and child pornography. You can also check with the companies that provide adult credit card merchant account services, they are quite particular about these things. They will not provide their adult credit card merchant account processing services to websites that feature illegal content.

Fake it. In case you’re wondering why some sites remain on the internet despite claims they feature child pornography, rape, and other content that could get them banned, you should know that there is a good chance they are faking it. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is very stringent about its guidelines on what content websites can show, and those who claim they got by these guidelines are definitely fibbing about it. You may be able to show illegal content for a while, but you will get discovered, and your IP will get banned if you do feature illegal content.

Include non-adult content. You really don’t need to fill every portion and viewable content of your website with adult material. You could always include something else for variety. This is to answer a particular test used to measure the obscenity level of a web site, called the Miller Test. This test evaluates the website to see if the entirety of the website lacks artistic, literary, scientific, or cultural merit. If it does, then it is deemed obscene, and thus illegal. Throwing in some items of human interest such as articles, maybe some non-adult related advertisements could just make your adult website meet some of the criteria needed to make it pass the Miller Test.

State the age of your models. Federal law 18 U.S.C. 2257 states that records documenting the legal age verification of each model depicted in a manner that is considered sexually explicit must be kept. This law ensures that all models that appear on websites with adult content are of legal age, which is 18 and above. This particular law covers all the models and their images that is shown on the website. In case you like to “borrow” images from other websites or sources, do not assume that the models that appear in the images are indeed of legal age, be sure to check for yourself. If you are unsure of their age, you would better off not using their image.

The clincher now lies in picking the right one, or at the very least knowing what their offers and services really mean, as some companies are not above embellishing the description of their offered services. Here are some lookout points you should consider when planning to join up with a web hosting company to service your adult website.

Are they 24/7?

Yes, they have sold you their services, and yes, they appear to be what they said they were, but is there someone there to answer any questions you might have about their service when they least expect it? No matter how mundane your concerns are, there should be someone from the web hosting company to answer them, you are, after all, a paying customer. Problems can and will arise when you least expect them, so having access to the web hosting company’s technicians is something you definitely need. Ideally, your website does your work even when you’re asleep, your adult merchant services provider accepts payments for you round the clock when it arrives, so why should your website do any less?

How do they handle their downtime?

Downtime is a dreaded phenomena that is as inescapable as the setting of the sun, so maybe you should think twice about signing up with a web hosting company that claims to have no downtime at all. A web host can only have no downtime if they perform no upgrades on their system, and that can’t be good for your website either. Rather than go for a web hosting company that promises no downtime, opt instead for one that guarantees its uptime. This will also mean that the web host company should offer a money-back guarantee, or at the very least a discount or rebate, in instances that their downtime causes you much stress. Understand this, which is why it is included in their description of benefits. Be sure to look for this when searching for an appropriate web hosting company.

How limited is Unlimited?

It seems just so enticing, that offer that says “unlimited bandwidth”, but we live in the real world, and in the real world, “unlimited” and “bandwidth” are words that just don’t go together, so do not be fooled into signing up with web hosts that claim such. It’s no secret that the web hosting companies pay for the bandwidth used by their clients themselves, so unless they are ridiculously rich, unlimited bandwidth is something not really feasible. Understand that at most, what they claim to be “unlimited bandwidth” is actually a few gigabytes in reality, with the notion you can’t use it all up at once, so you won’t know just how limited their “unlimited” is.

Is the domain name yours?

Make it a point to check if the web hosting company registers the domain name to you, in cases where the web host offers a package that includes a domain name. Should the domain name be registered to anyone else other than you, this will result in problems when you want to change web hosts, and the process to fix this is quite long, tedious, and costly. Suffice to say that you have to nip the problem at the bud and just make sure that the domain is registered to your name.

Here are some tips to help you find which adult billing solution may be best for your website.

1. Click around the net. There are a multitude of online adult payment solutionson the Internet today, and it won’t hurt you to read what they offer, what they don’t offer, how they can benefit your website, and what you stand to pay if you sign up with them. Make a checklist of all the features you like and see what adult payment gateways offer them, and compare the various ones you’ve short-listed.
2. Ask questions from the provider’s salespeople. You are a potential customer, and these adult merchant account services stand to earn a lot from you, just as you stand to earn a lot if you get a lot of customers from your adult content website, so you are entitle to know what you want to know from them. Once you have picked out and short-listed some adult merchant account providers you can potentially do business with, call them up, ask for a salesperson, and ask away. This way, you can immediately know if they know their business and to some extent, how they do business, as your conversation will immediately reveal their credibility and professionalism.
3. Check the Process. Here’s a simple test to see if the provider’s payment process would prove to be too complicated for your potential customers: try it out yourself. If it proves to be too tedious, too complicated, or too technical for you, there’s a good chance it may also prove to be the same for your customers. Remember: your customers are already giving you their business, and they are already shelling out their money, they will definitely not like it if they are already giving out their money, and you make it harder for them to pay by using a complicated payment procedure. Keep it short, sweet, and safe.
4. Shopping Cart compatibility. A great adult credit card merchant account processor is useless if their process is not compatible with your shopping cart system. With the sheer number of different adult merchant account services on the internet, there are sure to be a few with a system that goes perfectly with your shopping cart, be sure to look for these.

Less work, more Earning. Adult merchant account businesses have evolved in such a way that webmasters now have less bookkeeping, monitoring, and other menial tasks to do on them, as their system will now do that for the webmasters. The less time you need to spend dealing with the technicalities of your adult billing solution, the more time you have to devote to your business, or other things in your day, as webmasters too, need to have a life.

Think about your hosting well. It’s a common practice in business, cutting costs where you can to minimize your overhead, but then, some people seem to forget that there will always be some costs that will actually generate more expenses in the long run if you try to cut it. One such cost is hosting. The internet is chockfull of low cost hosting packages that are intentionally made to look attractive, so that more webmasters will opt for this package. However, if you are expecting larger traffic, which you should, you will find that low cost hosting comes with limited bandwidth, and buying additional bandwidth is more expensive than simply opting for hosting that comes with bigger bandwidth.

Who handles your payments? This is where better judgment comes in. There are the widely established merchant account providers with immensely popular branding, but the problem is, are they the payment processors that you need, more importantly, will they cater to you? Keep it sweet and simple: pick an offshore adult merchant account provider that caters to your industry. Even better, pick an internet adult merchant account provider that has options and features that you know will attract more paying customers, such as fast, secure, and easy to understand payment procedures.

Disenchanted customers. A common mistake for many webmasters is keeping their focus on winning more new customers, and not really ensuring that their existing customers stay with them. This is bad because a bad reputation spreads further and faster than a good one. This often results in charge backs, cancellation of subscription, and bad reviews. Having a customer support system will ensure that your existing customers stay with you, and new customers will definitely take this into consideration when they check out your site.

Bad navigation, bad links. Even if your adult pay site looks like the best thing there is on the Internet, if your customers can’t find their way around it, there’s really no way they will choose your adult pay site over other sites that may be less attractive, but at least they could navigate it easily. Make sure people will not have any trouble navigating through your website, it says a lot about you wanting their business. Another problem are bad links. Customers may want to check either an internal or external link you have, and then when they click the link they either find nothing, or are redirected to somewhere they really don’t want to be, another sure way to lose customers. What’s more is search engines are known to sometimes penalize web sites that have bad links, as these search engines also check the links you have.

These are just some of the more common problems that webmasters encounter while running their adult website, and there is a good chance that you may encounter some entirely new problem while running your own. Keep in mind that the reason why you put up an adult website in the first place is to provide a service from which you can earn a profit, and for you to earn a profit, you must have paying customers. To have paying customers, you have to make sure you attract them first, and then keep them coming back for more.

There are a lot of these pitfalls in the industry, but a lot of these annoyances can be avoided, it’s mostly just a matter of knowing what they are. Here are some of the most common problems in running an adult content pay site.

Did you really think it out? You may have your own reasons for putting up an adult pay site, like maybe you like the content, or you’re out to earn from an industry that generates a huge revenue annually. The question is, however, were you really able to plan the entire process of putting up your adult pay site? A flash of brilliance in your ideas isn’t really going to put money in your bank unless you know how to set it up, keep it running, and run the business well. Take time to plan what you want to do, how you want it to look, and to whom you’re selling it to.

Too much hands on. Giving your website ample attention and time is one thing, but devoting all of your waking hours on manual operation of your adult pay site is just not practical. Not only is it quite taxing, but it also robs you of time you could have spent doing other things that need to be done. Done properly, automation is not such a bad thing, after all, there is good reason why it was invented. A good example of the need or automation is in the matter of payment. A good adult website merchant account is the sure way to go to making your adult pay site earn well. A reputable adult merchant account provider knows the specific needs and quirks of handling a high risk adult merchant account.

Not enough marketing and advertising. Everyone is doing it, so why don’t you? People would agree that a lack of or not enough advertising would be an obvious mistake, but it is quite surprising to know just how many webmasters overlook this simple mistake. An important thing to know is also where to advertise, as placing your advertisement in the wrong venue can not only be useless, it’s also a waste of time and effort.

How is your traffic? It’s practice almost every webmaster does, and while the effectivity of this practice may vary from site to site, done properly, buying traffic can be quite beneficial to your adult pay site. An important thing to remember, though, is knowing what type of traffic to buy. This is most important if you have a particular niche in the adult industry that you want to sell the most. Make sure the traffic you buy is relevant to what you’re trying to sell, otherwise you’re wasting three important resources: time, money, and bandwidth.

Focusing or spreading A lot of webmasters now are seeing the profitability of selling a particular niche in the adult history, as this particular niche can have more potential customers than others. A popular mistake, however, is putting too much focus on a single particular niche and neglecting the others. Unless the niche you chose to focus on generates ridiculously large amounts of money for you, you should really consider some other avenues, such as affiliate sales, or even PPV programs. Having more than one particular niche allows you to rake in the income from a bigger spectrum of customers, and not hurt so much when the seasonal low income period steps in.

A visual and visceral treat. Yes, you are running an adult content site, and would necessarily mean you earn from content of a rather sensual nature, but that doesn’t mean you can be as sleazy or as crass as you can get. Your customers are still people and as would like to be treated as such, and they could very well be driven away by a site that sells them content that is about as appealing as day old meat hanging from meat hooks. Invest some time and effort into making your website look professional, having a little taste never hurt any business. An eye-catching suggestion is including a banner or logo of your chosen adult merchant account provider. Having the logo of a reputable adult retail merchant account will also help in telling potential customers that your website is indeed legitimate and you do proper business.