One of the most popular adult sites, PornHub, reported that it had 42 billion visits in 2019, which is an average of 115 million per day! Pornhub claimed that it generated $1.2 billion in revenue in 2019.

With a wide audience searching for adult content and fierce competition in the sector, it can be challenging to rank your adult site. Adult Link building is key to any organic success, boosting your adult website's authority by creating backlinks from authoritative adult sites. Bravr has been building adult links for 4+ years, building relationships and trust with a vast network of adult webmasters.

Link building for Adult SEO requires a different approach than for non-adult niches. Therefore, it is wise for adult businesses and website owners to work with an agency that has expertise in Adult SEO. Below are some tips and insights on how to do link building for Adult SEO.

The reality is that there is a huge disparity between the availability and cost of backlinks for different industries. For example, a lifestyle or parenting blog is relatively low cost, and it is easy to negotiate favourable rates for backlinks based on high quality content and repeat business. However, a backlink from an adult site can cost three times more or even higher, depending on the site authority. Moreover, adult sites are less likely to negotiate or compromise on their rates; in fact, being too pushy can ruin a potential relationship.

Adult publishers often make the mistake of comparing link building costs with non-adult sites. The adult industry is very different and highly competitive, similar to gambling and crypto.

Many adult clients waste time and money by hiring SEO agencies that lack experience in Adult SEO. These agencies use common metrics like DA, DR, AS, which are not suitable for evaluating an adult prospect site. A better approach is to use metrics that are specific to the adult niche and its audience.

Many mainstream websites openly advertise the fact that they want people to write for them or contact them. Some even offer free backlinks and simply provide the SEO agency with a username and password so that they can log on and upload the content themselves. Adult links, however, are far more challenging.

For an SEO agency to create a relationship with a potential adult webmaster, they need to be smart and deploy a range of different tactics because the standard processes that are tried and tested by SEO specialists across other industries simply won’t work.

This is an area that many adult publishers struggle with; they engage an agency based on their cross-industry success, but the lack of niche experience in Adult SEO means that their normally skilled, reputable agency quickly becomes an industry novice.

At Bravr, we have extensive experience developing partnerships with adult sites with high authority, and we have established relationships with Adult Webmasters..

Although the world of adult link building is different to most link building processes, networking is still a valuable tool. Like all industries, many webmasters know each other, so if you develop a trusted working relationship with one, it may naturally lead to other introductions and opportunities.

Over a period of time, an experienced Adult SEO link building agency will build a carefully curated network of contacts within the adult webmaster community. Bravr’s specialists take the time to build a rapport with our clients via online communities such as Discord, ICQ, Forums, Telegram, Skype, Whatsapp, Homing pigeons (jk) and Reddit.

It may not come as a surprise that, when it comes to payment, the adult industry does things a little differently. To secure good adult backlinks, you will need to be prepared and willing to utilise anonymous payment methods; in fact, one of Bravr’s adult backlink experts was, in his early days in the industry, evicted from an online room for mentioning the “p” word (PayPal).

Crypto or Paxum are not just accepted, but often expected.

The adult world is a members-only club and to operate effectively, you (or your SEO link builder) need to earn your membership.

In a time when we are used to having everything traced, tracked and audited, the idea that we need to pay for adult backlinks anonymously and in advance can seem more than a little daunting. Knowing that adult backlinks are at least three times as expensive as a standard link and that crypto can’t be refunded only adds to the high-octane nature of dealing with the adult industry. This poses a risk for inexperienced clients attempting to build links in-house.

Adult, more than any other vertical, relies on trust: you wouldn’t pay someone thousands of pounds in crypto for a link that they haven’t published yet if you didn’t trust them. It is possible to avoid being scammed by relying on the network of webmasters and industry contacts, but there is still risk involved. As Bravr is a trusted name within the industry, where possible, we try to get some work published before handing over any money so that we can verify that the person we are working with is the owner. This isn’t always possible, however, so the rest of the time we need to rely on common sense and industry knowledge in order to get the best results for our clients.

Part of the art of backlinking, in any sector, is knowing what a good backlink looks like. To do this, we use specific sets of data to help us to determine the authority of a site, and its potential to improve a client’s authority in the eyes of a search engine.

When we first started working in Adult SEO, we soon discovered that the standard ranking algorithm and metric scores that we used for regular websites didn’t paint an accurate picture for adult link building, so we had to adopt different approaches to identify quality links. There is a risk that agencies that lack experience in adult SEO will utilise inaccurate data which can lead to wasted time and resources.

Finding a high-quality content writer is a challenge in itself, but finding one who understands SEO and who is willing to write adult content is like finding the holy grail. An expert in adult SEO will need to be able to direct their content writer to ensure that the brief is met.

One tactic that we have found successful is to provide the writer with a comprehensive brief which includes headings and subheadings, target keywords and any other key elements that the content should include. By providing this framework and checking content before it goes live, we are much more likely to get adult content that is compelling while doing what we need it to do.

Not all links are the same. While a standard backlink involves placing a link to a specific page within a purposely written piece of content, a hardlink is placed directly onto a static part of the page i.e. the top, side, or footer. In some cases, the hard link can be seen on every page of the website; this high visibility means that hardlinks usually cost more than a standard content-based link, but they can yield better results.

Hardlinks are not permanent, but they will remain in place for an agreed period of time, at which point the host website will remove or change them, unless they are renewed. Usually, a hard link will need to be renewed annually. 

When it comes to backlinking, it is never a good idea to assume that a site has high or low ratings. Before you invest time and resources into a deal, check that the site is indexing, otherwise you risk buying a link that is worthless. Reviewing indexing doesn’t just apply to backlinks where you provide the content, it is also good practice when purchasing a link that is to be inserted into an existing page on the site. By looking at the page scores of existing pages, it is possible to get a good insight into what can be expected from new content. 

Another useful strategy that we use is to see how accessible the page containing the link is from the homepage; ideally, we want to see as few clicks as possible.

Makeshift solutions for tracking links, such as spreadsheets, may seem like they do the job at the time but they are simply not fit for purpose, and eventually you will inevitably lose track of activities and results. Often, an over reliance of Excel or Google sheets stems from a fear of the unknown; it feels easier to muddle through a Frankenstein’s monster of a google sheet than it is to learn a new CRM system. However, a small amount of time invested in getting to know a CRM system will save a huge amount of time in the long run and, when it comes to link building, time is everything.

CRM systems such as BuzzStream or Pitchbox allow you to streamline your day and plan effectively via capabilities such as:

• Informing you of any previous communications with a particular site, saving you trawling through a vast spreadsheet searching for a specific url;
• Monitoring completed link builds and notifying you if any links are dropped or deleted;
• Allowing you to create a stock of emails and schedule, monitor and where appropriate, follow up on contact enquiries;
• Allowing all team members to work from a single database in real time;
• Allowing the creation of custom fields so that you can record relevant information for each website, e.g. payment information.

The intuitive and customisable nature of CRMs makes it infinitely easier for streamlined, impactful Adult link building and, with a small time investment it is possible to optimise activities and save time in the longer term.