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  • Escorts Beware Mobile Affects Website Ranking

    It was a long time coming but always expected, finally last week Google announced that it will be indexing the mobile version of a website first and not the desktop version as it has done in the past. In a nutshell this means that when Google decides the ranking position of an escorts website in the search results as a priority it will evaluate the content on the sites mobile web pages first.

    Great news for escorts SEO consultants who have been consistent in encouraging their clients to be proactive in ensuring that their website has a mobile friendly version which is content rich but seriously bad news for SEO’s who have neglected to establish a semi symmetrical mobile portal for their clients escort business.

    Google’s sending out a call to action message and its backing it up 100% with its own actions, the big G is serious about mobile and it clearly see’s mobile search as the future. What Google is saying is desktop search is not dead but mobile is the direction the market is heading in or shall we say the direction big G is gently prodding and steering the market into, hey did somebody mention “Pixel phone” excuse me!

    For all the escorts with websites who are doing their own SEO and for those who outsource the adult promotion work to a digital marketing agency; priority 1# make sure that the mobile version of the website is not just packed with pretty pictures, ensure that the mobile site contain a significant portion of the same text content that is on the desktop site. Content quality and density is a significant factor that will be reflected in Google’s search rankings.

  • Brand Marketing Before SEO

    Using only SEO to establish market position for a new brand is no longer an effective strategy. This is self evident when we analyse the results of historical and current adult marketing campaigns. Now the best practice is to first grow the brand on multiple channels and then bring the SEO element into the marketing mix at a later date to improve and consolidate the brands SERP’s position i.e. it’s Google ranking.

    To a degree the new direction taken by the main search engines with regard to how they interpret positive signals has not only changed the “how to” of internet marketing but also the economies of the industry. SERP’s results that are driven by the level and quality of consumer engagement with the brand means that many of the traditional marketing disciplines not previously associated with internet marketing are now heavily involved with the brands online campaign.

    For adult and escorts websites faced with the fact that SEO on its own is no longer enough to gain valuable traffic which can be monetised inevitably leads to the reality that an increased budget will be required for their marketing campaign. For any business higher costs of sales is not good news, unfortunately there is no work around unless the website employs a black hat approach and takes the risks of getting their domain penalised “banned” by Google for the sake of being on page one in the search results for a short period of time.

    Multi channel brand marketing
    Unlike main stream brands adult and especially escorts businesses are severely restricted by the limited number of platforms that will accept NSFW content therefore the marketers running the campaign have to be extra creative when planning the outreach strategy while not forgetting that the objective of the operation is to yield brand engagement and not link equity.

    When we think of how we can encourage consumers to engage with the brand obviously the first thing that comes to mind is social networks and yes these platforms are great for generating an interest in a product or service but, don’t rule out offline marketing channels. When a potential prospect is mentally stimulated by a brand offline and that person takes the decisive decision to go online and visit the brands website this traffic activity is recorded by Google as a positive signal. The intrinsic value of the traffic is greatly increased if the visitor is logged into his/her Google account at the same time and the account has a large search foot print for content within the brands niche.

    In a nutshell, SEO was once the key to brand popularity but now in 2015 there has been a 360 degree turnaround. A brand that is sending out the right signals opens the door for SEO to come in and work its magic.

  • Understanding Search Behaviour

    Do we really know what’s going on in the mind of the person who searches online to hire an escort “most adult industry SEO’s think they know what keywords customers use” but, are they just guessing?

    Unfortunately due to the utmost discretion required in the relationship between the agency and the client when, a booking is taken over the phone it’s generally not advisable to quiz the caller as to what keywords he used in his Google search to find the agency. Such questions could lead to the caller becoming nervous and hanging up the phone.

    Go back a couple years and we could rely on the websites analytics account but not now because a significant percentage of organic traffic will not show the actual keywords used by the visitor instead Google will hide this valuable data behind the “keyword not provided” rule which, is a major headache.

    In view of this whole dynamic of a lack of real hard data for the escorts market when, creating an SEO strategy more thinking outside of the box is required.

    Regional vernacular
    Analyse the dominant dialects of the typical customers if, they generally inherit the accent of the region where the agency is based then examine how sentences are constructed using that dialect. Remember nobody writes a search query in perfect English.

    Location keywords
    Don’t get fooled into only focusing on location keywords i.e. “your city/town name + escorts” the, reality is that the majority of searches made by customers do not contain a location in the search query. This is because customers have realised that Google’s technology recognises the current geographical location of the person making the search and then returns results that are relevant to that location. Example if a customer in London makes a search for an escort with a specific type of physique Google will not return results for ladies with the specified physique who work in Manchester, all of the websites listed in the search results will be of women in London.

    Order of words
    The order in which people type keywords into a search query more times than none will differ from how they would construct the same combination of words if they spoke them out aloud. Example a searcher looking for escorts who are available 24 hours a day in London would probably enter the query “escorts London 24 hours” instead of “London escorts available 24 hours”, to rank for this keyword phrase the SEO only needs to optimise for the keywords “escorts 24 hours” because Google will identify that the searcher is in London therefore it will only deliver result for escorts in London who provide a 24 hour service.

    These are just a few methods that can be used to identify which keywords customers are using. The whole practice as with most SEO techniques is not an exact science the, trick is to always think outside of the box.

     

  • Why SEO’s Get a Bad Name

    Bad copywriting, spam link building, terrible on page optimisation and a nonexistent customer care policy. These are just a few of the reported problems that have been be encountered by customers who have been unlucky when choosing an SEO service.

    Generally the SEO firm had good intentions when they started the contract however, somewhere along the line something went wrong and there was a break down in communications between the customer and the service provider. Nine times out of ten the root cause of the problem will be that the firm in their eagerness to be awarded the contract agreed to provide the SEO package at a price which was too low.

    Under cutting on price to beat the competition and not accounting for enough contingency funds to service fluctuations in operational costs is a common catalyst of many deals which turn sour for both the client and company, unfortunately this situation is becoming more common for many escort agencies.

    Drivers Affecting Price
    Google updates over the past couple years have set a new precedence which affects how an SEO firm carries out its work. In a nutshell the updates have removed many of the operational short cuts which enabled a website to climb up the search rankings faster while sailing very close to the edge of falling foul of Googles SEO guidelines. These changes mean that marketing agencies now have to incur more specialist labour costs to achieve the same results.

  • Bad website design stops SEO from working

    Many owners of agency websites which continuously fail to achieve a high Google ranking are not always aware the cause of their problems is poor design of the sites content management system (CMS).

    Below is a list of the most common design problems that will prevent a website from making it to page one in Google for its target keywords.

    Duplicate meta tags
    This means that the CMS is using the same meta tag content for all (or most) of the web pages within the website. Such a design flaw within a content management system can cause search engines not to index a high percentage of the websites pages because it thinks the web pages are duplicates.

    Remember when the Google bot crawls your website the first thing it reads on each web page is the meta tags therefore, it is advisable that each individual web page has unique meta content this, informs the bots that each web page has original content.

    Deleted web pages not removed from database
    When a web page is deleted from inside the admin control panel the content management system removes the page from the public interface (front end of the site) and the admin control panel. However the CMS software does not delete the web page from the database that stores the sites records therefore, unbeknown to the site owner the web page is still accessible on the internet.

    Problems occur if the site owner creates a new web page using the same content that was used in the deleted web page. In this instance a duplicate content issue has been created which will incur a Google penalty and lower the sites ranking position.

    No automatic 301 redirect for deactivated profiles
    Many agencies lose a lot of traffic and potential sales conversions due to this simple error in there website.

    If an escort is no longer available the agency will deactivate her profile. However because Google has already indexed the site a description and link to the escorts profile will still show up in search results. If a potential customer visits her profile via Google he will arrive at a 404 error page. Nine times out of ten the visitor will wrongly think that the agency’s site is offline and click his back button to return to Google.

    Websites which advertise multiple escorts should always install software that automatically redirects inward traffic to deactivated profiles to the sites home page or a specific landing page that has been assigned to receive the traffic.

  • Page Rank is Dead

    Page rank no longer has an influence on a websites Google ranking, to prove my point just do a few different searches for a specific race or type of escort in a specific city location then, analyse the listings of different sites in the search results pages one, two and three.

    What you will see is a mixed combination within the ranking order; some escort websites that have a page rank one, zero or n/a will be ranked higher than sites with a rank of two, three or four.

    This is because Google has evolved into a much more intelligent search tool than, what it was ten years ago when page rank was one of the main contributory factors that decided how high a site would be ranked in the SERP’s.

    Now the big G decides a sites ranking by evaluating many components including the quality and relevance of the on page content in relation to the search query, quality of the websites that are linking to the site and the sites domain authority.

    Best practice
    Don’t worry about your page rank its old news; just concentrate on developing interesting original content and earning genuine links. Eventually Google will see that your site is worthy to be awarded a higher ranking position for keywords that are relevant to your location and offered services.

    Page rank and escort directories
    If you are promoting an escort agency don’t be fooled by page rank when booking premium ads with directories. Remember if the directory has a high page rank this, does not necessarily mean it will be listed on page one of the search results for the keywords that are most important to the agency’s marketing strategy.

  • Don’t lose traffic through deactivated profiles

    When an escort leaves an agency the website administrator has to remove the escorts profile from the site. This is the norm however; if it’s not done properly it can also lead to one of the most common SEO mistakes which can damage the agency’s Google ranking.

    Let me explain
    http://www.your-domain.co.uk/susan.html is the url of an escort on your website however she has now left. But because her profile page has been live on the site for quite a few months and Google has already listed a link to her profile in its main index if, you deactivate her profile Google will still be sending traffic to her profile address until it removes the link from its main index which, can take up to six weeks. When visitors clicks the link to her profile in Google’s search results they will arrive at your website and be greeted by a 404 error page that will say something like the error message below:

    Not Found
    The requested URL /susan.html was not found on this server.
    Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

    Five out of ten visitors when confronted with the above error message will click the back button in there browser to return to Google’s search results where they will then click on the link to another agency who no doubt are your competition. Within a matter of seconds you’ve just lost a booking and a potential regular customer for the future!

    SEO Solutions
    There are two methods to stop this happening

    Method 1 (the easy way)
    Ask your developer to add a procedure to the CMS code that, will automatically redirect traffic from the deactivated profiles to your home page. It is very important that you tell your developer that the code used must be a 301 permanent redirect, by doing this Google will transfer any link juice from the deactivated url to your home page or wherever you decide to redirect the traffic to.

    Method 2 (html coding skills required)
    Each time you deactivate a profile manually edit the sites .htaccess file and 301 redirect the deactivated url to your home page.

  • Your Brand is Only as Good as Your Reputation

    The escorting business is no different than any other service sector industry and brand reputation is of the up most importance. When a potential customer visits an agency’s site the model he/she views online and makes a booking to see must be the same person he meets at the appointment!

    As with any company in the service sector industry, repeat business will on average make up 20-35% of the revenue generated by the business. Without repeat business most agencies will not fear very well.

    On a few occasions when we have provided an SEO service for a new client within a couple of months we could clearly see that the level of targeted traffic to there website had increased exponentially and subsequently the quantity of bookings had increased ten fold. But following consultation with the client we discovered that the level of repeat business was nonexistent. When we checked sites reviews that had been posted in Google and the main escort directories we found a disproportionate quantity of dissatisfied customers where posting negative reviews. The main reason for the negative reviews was that the person in the photograph on the website was not the person who arrived for the booking!

    As a rule of thumb it’s very important that agency owners never forget that they are in the service sector industry and infringement of the UK statutory trade descriptions act may not put them before a judge in a civil court however, it will eventually have a negative affect on the profit and loss of their business.

  • Identifying Consumer Segments

    When developing a new marketing strategy for an escort agency one of the first things you should do as the person contracted to implement the campaign is to have a good look at their website and decide exactly which target consumer segment will the offered services be most appealing to?

    Look at the quality of the photos used in the models profiles, look at the wording used in the biographies. Now look at the list of consumer segments (see below) which, group of potential target consumers do you think will possibly be receptive to your clients service offer based on the profile photos combined with the on page copy.

    Target consumer segments
    Males aged between18-65 yr with annual income of:
    £8,000 to £15,000
    £15,000 to £25,000
    £25,000 to £35,000
    £35,000 to £45,000
    £45,000 to £65,000
    £65,000 to £85,000
    £85,000 to £100,000
    More than £100,000

    When you have decided which target consumer groups are most likely to be receptive compare your results with the target market your client has instructed you to go after.

    Example:
    If your client has told you to develop and implement a strategy that targets consumers who earn more than £85,000 per annum but, your analysis indicates that the content on the website will not convert sales in this consumer market segment then, you should advise your client that a courses of action similar to the one listed below is required:

    a) Increase the quality of the images and models on the website.
    b) Rewrite the website copy on all main web pages and escorts profiles the objective is to make the content more up market.
    c) Ensure that there is no ambiguity concerning the authenticity of any individual models profile photos.
    d) Address the issues concerning service price. The offered price dictates which consumers can afford to purchase the service also which, consumers will be put off if the price is too cheap. Price is a crucial element of a marketing policy for an escort agency.
    e) The overall design of the website if you feel that the design lacks enough visual quality to attract the target consumer then you should advise the client to consider a redesign.

  • Marketing Basics

    Running an escort business requires a lot of continuous marketing & promotion, as soon as you cut back on the budget there is a high probability that client bookings will start to decrease.

    Most successful escort agencies have fully embraced the power of the internet as one of their main advertising media however; there is a tendency amongst some businesses to decrease the money that they spend on promoting their business during seasonally quiet periods.

    This practice of trimming the marketing budget during the quiet season is not necessarily detrimental to the overall effectiveness of their online strategy provided that, the money they have saved is redeployed and used on upgrading the online shop window i.e. the company website or other elements within the business organisation. Owners should always remember that they are running a real business that is competing in a competitive market which is continuously evolving.

    Prerequisites for an effective marketing strategy
    The items listed below are the basic things an agency should do to maintain a continuous flow of new business.
    1. Every month publish classified ads in at least three popular local newspapers or magazines.
    2. Employ a competent SEO company who can promote the website in Google.
    3. It is imperative that a “small” agency spends at least £700 every month on premium advertisements in the popular escort directories that have a good ranking in Google.
    4. Be active on social media, it’s free and filled with potential new customers.

    There are many more things that can be done to develop a powerful marketing strategy for an escort business however the items listed above are the most basic processes which should be implemented.