How Is Your Approach Towards Adult SEO?

[ConversionChamp]

I would like to know how SEOMoz community members approach adult SEO. How do you approach a project when you get one (if you do it that is).

If you dont do adult SEO, why do you not do it? Is it because it's much more difficult than normal SEO or do you not want to associate yourself with that industry?

[YoAdrian]

Adult SEO is in fact very different from what we call mainstream SEO. But it's not true that the only way to rank adult sites is through black hat techniques. Many of the methods used are similar to those used in mainstream, there's just fewer linking resources available for adult websites.

This video offers a summary of the primary differences between adult and mainstream SEO:

http://www.adultseotraining.com/training/81-adult-training-video/116-the-difference-between-adult-and-mainstream-seo

As Sarah mentioned, it's important to have a good network in adult, it's through them that you will be able to best negotiate links, marketing promotions and content partnerships.

Adarsh approached it the right way by targeting tubes. Another way you can expand on the exposure you get from them is to apply for content partner accounts. With partner accounts you can submit watermarked videos that also display a link along with a full description below each video. And with the thousands of adult tubes offering content partner accounts it is a great white hat method of building links.

I know I came to this blog post late, but if anyone wants to chat about adult SEO I'm always around, I've worked in this industry for over 12 years and run Adult SEO Training in addition to working with adult clients.

It's a challenging industry for sure, but the community is small and a lot of fun to work in.

[deejayem]

In relation to creating these videos and posting them on tube sites... How were your results? I have a new client with an adult site im performing seo for. I was thinking of having him create video and somehow shopping it around/posting to other adult sites with his watermarked logo in the video.

[SarahGoliger]

I can't find a link to this video right now, but I know last year Matt Cutts posted a Webmaster Central video responding to questions about how Google treated adult websites in its algorithms. Matt stated that they don't treat adult websites any differently at all in their algorithms.

He did admit that he thought doing good white-hat SEO for them is much harder than other verticals however because many websites and properties will not be thrilled to link to adult websites, and so linkbuilding and getting exposure can be harder if you don't have a good network, but that there was nothing algorithmically against you.

That sounds pretty reasonable to me - I can't think of why they would arbitrarily penalize such a large category on the web, other than it's hard to do whitehat work for them. It sounds like you have the right tactics down already though.

[ConversionChamp]

From what I have seen, adult industry is a different industry altogether. I have done SEO for adult site without involving black hat (Getting some paid review on adult blogs, asking site owners to create videos and share on tube sites with link back to their site and so on.) Thanks for your insights!!!

[RankSurge]

We don't do adult seo for the simple reason that we believe in order to get ranked, you have to engage in black hat tactics. Personally, I have no issues with companies that perform those services, but it's just a vertical we've decided to steer clear of.