Surfers are a lot like porn models. We’d all be lost without them.

"There's more to knowing the mindset of your surfer than understanding their perversions."

Unless you’re a content producer, there’s not much you can do about appealing to the psyche of adult models. But as an adult webmaster, there’s plenty that can be done when you want to understand the mind of your surfer.

When you begin to sell adult entertainment over the web, the first thing you need to figure out is whom do you want for your audience?

Are you selling teen content? Did you know that a great portion of those looking for teen content are men over 30? How about that cool dialer you think will make you rich? Did you know that many Europeans pay for porn with dialers because credit cards are uncommon in their respective countries? What about your Hentai galleries? Are you aware that hundreds of thousands of Asian men love Hentai? Is your site available in the Japanese language or any Asian language for that matter?

Familiarize yourself with the mindsets of your potential surfers before you begin to sell. If you’re going for the BDSM crowd, you should at least have the jargon committed to memory. If you’re after the gay market you better know that it’s as complex and niche-filled as the straight market. If you sell stuff that you know nothing about, you will fail.

Let’s say you did your homework. You visited the online communities and sites geared toward your favored patrons. You’ve studied paysite tour text and high-listed galleries that involve your niche. You’ve asked other webmasters -who deal in your kink- to give you pointers or links to click on. Let’s imagine you followed that advice and those links. Lets suppose you’ve read all the relative tutorials that reside on sites like Cozy Academy. Let’s say you know how your audience thinks. You know what they want to hear and see. You know how to make them want to pay for more.

Lucky you. This is where most failed webmasters meet their doom. Now go back to step one. There’s more to knowing the mindset of your surfer than understanding their perversions. In fact, your surfer has three minds.

One is the mind of the webhead, looking for porn they like.

You have to know things such as the kinds of keyword phrases they’d use to find your page through a search engine. You have to know kinds of content they want and make sure you supply that content on your site. Will your surfers like if it you use degrading text to describe the models? Familiarize yourself with the phraseology that works for your crowd. What is the average income level for your designated target? What sex are your visitors? What’s their median age? Education level? What colors do they want to see? How do they pay for porn on the web? Know these webheads. Search for statistical data on them. Find out where they meet online like chat rooms and Yahoo Groups. Study them as you would any other prey. Don’t spam. Just track.

The second mind is the mind of a customer.

If they’re on your page, you’re doing something right. Once they’re on your webpage, you want that customer to stay on your site as long as possible. If they click a link on your page, make sure it leads to a place that can make you some money or give you some traffic. Never give up. Keep your foot in the door. Keep your ad banners and links positioned so that they never leave the eye of the surfer. Use text to explain the advantages of membership. Let them know your paysite or your sponsor is reliable and serves much better porn. If you’re selling a sponsor, don’t afraid to use their free content as an advertising tool for that sponsor. If you designed a tour appealing enough to make surfers click all the way through to your join page, don’t give up. When they try to leave, pop them an exit console, it might be the extra push that wins them over.

The third mind is the mind of a buyer.

You can’t just make them pay, you have to give them a reason to buy. You have to talk up every feature of your website or sponsor. Those extra Flash games might be the deal closer. Let them know exactly what they can get for their money and show them examples. Explain your prices as if they were unheard of values. Don’t give a buyer time to feel remorse. Add a little urgency to your advertising. Display your sample images and clips near text and buttons that read “Join Here” or “Click Now”. If a surfer has questions, you better have a FAQ or Help page and you better fill it with real instructions and information. Show your buyer that you offer a safe and private purchasing experience. Make the buyer feel that they’d lose out if they didn’t take you up on your offer. Adults buy adult entertainment every moment of the day. Treat your surfers like buyers. Make the process easy, fast and satisfying once they pay.

You have to know all three minds of your surfers. If you get them on your site because it appeals, you’ve breached the first mind. If you keep them there with well-placed ads and suitable imagery, you’ve cracked the second mind of the customer. If you got them to pay, you have conquered the final mind of the buyer.

Now go forth my Froggers, and do it some more.