Great text links - but do they really stand out?

It's a great time to be an adult webmaster - but it's also not the easiest time to make sales. There's a lot of free porn about and a lot of competition (even in the more obscure niches these days). That means we've all got to work extra hard to get our money-making ads and links under the surfer's nose, from the second they walk into our sites. Unless you know how to make your ads stand out, then it's likely you'll get a dreadful CTR (click through ratio) on your traffic - even the supposedly 'golden' search engine variety. Getting your TEXT links to blast your message out there at the surfers is one sure-fire way to increase your clickthroughs, and your profits.

The dreaded BLACK - the kiss of death!

I've reviewed a lot of 'problem' sites and pages, where the surfers were coming in to the site OK, but for some reason just weren't going on to the sponsors. Most of the time, the sponsors are tried and tested ones that would be effective with the right traffic, but there's just something breaking down on the gallery, site or webpage. One thing that I always look out for are text links that are either hard to read, or that are fading into obscurity for one reason or another.

Black text links are something that I can't advise against strongly enough. While black IS a bold color, and is very readable on lighter backgrounds, it never looks attractive or SCREAMS for attention when it's used as a text link. Perhaps it's because we're conditioned to read black text rather than click on it when it comes to the internet, but for the purpose of selling - puh-lease - use a BOLD red, green, or another vibrant, more alive color.

Are the background colors or images killing YOUR ads?

First of all, let's talk about GRAY as a background color. When the web was first invented, I recall that the only color you could have your background was this default gray color. It was awful! It was a warm, murky color, and it made everything kinda hard to read. So whenever I see gray used as a table background color, with a text link on top, it's always something that I want to change.

But it's not JUST the dreaded gray that you have to look out for. When you're making those sexy half-page ads, text links, and banner / text link combos, make sure that you're picking some highly contrasting colors - red on black, bright green on black, red on yellow - simple colors that really stand out. This might not sound important but even the tiniest details like this can make the difference between the surfers looking at your ads or just skimming to the content. Watch out too for background images that are making your text hard to read. If you're stuck, and can't decide, get someone else to check the page out for you. Often a fresh pair of eyes can spot a multitude of sins!

Positioning - always an important game.

When you're designing an adult page, even if it's going to be used with 100% search engine traffic, imagine that the world's WORST ever porn surfer is going to be paying you a visit. What do I mean by that? Imagine that you've got this surfer from a link list, and that this is the millionth free content page that he's seen. Imagine that there's just no way in HELL he's going to pay for something, and that he's going to skim over just about everything on the page, in his quest for the free pics. From there, ask yourself, "where can I put my ads so that this surfer CAN'T miss them?" You're going to have to put something pretty substantial in this guy's way if you're going to get his attention.

Aligning text links and banners to the center of the page can work, but what about if we start moving them to the sides of the pages? Using tables, you can easily have some thumbs on one side, and then a LARGE bold text ad on the other side. There's just no way your surfers can skim past something like that - they've got to take some of it in...

Arial BLACK - an adult webmaster's best friend.

Of all the fonts out there I've worked with, there are few that are as BOLD and as 'loud' as the font arial black. You don't really need to use bold on this font as it's naturally a fat, robust, eye-grabbing font that's just impossible not to look at! Taken up to a decent size of 5, 6, or even the gigantic *7*, this baby can be a very important tool in getting people to notice what it is you're saying. The really good news is that this is also a very common font - most users will have this already installed on their computers - so you don't have to worry about them not being able to see this beast-of-a-font. Whether you use it as a LARGE heading, to drag your viewers in to the finer points of what's so great about your sponsors, or whether you hammer out the entire ad in it, it's up to you. All I'll say is that, if you've got something you want the surfers to read, try this font!

Good luck writing text links that are going to be seen, and remember that you could be the best copy-writer in the world but if no-one notices your ads, it's all wasted.

TOM ^"^

ICQ 12616560
Email tom@tomsnewbiebooster.com

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