Terms You Need to Know | Types of Sites | Content | Hosting | Promotion (Web Traffic) | Webmaster Resources

As important as content- if not more important- is your site's host. Where you host your site influences everything
from your site's availability to how quickly your content is delivered to how much you pay for bandwidth. Like
buying a house is an individual's most important decision, picking a host is one of an adult webmaster's most
critical investments. Since most people lack the financial, technological and physical requirements to operate
their own server farm, paid hosting is the webmaster's vehicle of choice. Below are a few items to keep in
mind when selecting a host:

Reliability
Nothing- not even bad content- will turn visitors away from your site faster than simply not being able to get
to it. By and large, most commercial servers maintain accessibility ratings higher than 99%. When you are
shopping for a web host, make a point of looking at the reliability statistics on your potential host's servers.
If they're not at least 99.4%, look elsewhere. While 0.6% downtime may not seem like a lot, it will inevitably
drive your customers away and increase the frustration of the ones who remain.

Reliability is also one reason not to try hosting your site from home: Most residential power and bandwidth
suppliers are unwilling to guarantee more than a 97% reliability rate.

Speed
Another common issue that quickly drives your site's visitors away is the speed with which they can view your
content. Many customers pay big dollars for high speed data connections such as 10Mbps cable or 5Bps DSL
lines. If your server is delivering your bandwidth intensive pictures and videos at a slower rate, members will
quickly notice and begin to look elsewhere. When shopping for a host, make a point to inquire about the type
of connection available to your server. Most server farms have at least one T1 connection, and many have a
T3 or above. If your potential host doesn't promise speeds of at least a T1, keep looking.

Note: Speed is one of the biggest arguments against trying to host your site from home. Even if you are able
to overcome the reliability issues described above, most residential connections cap their outgoing traffic
speeds in order to prevent just such an arrangement. Even if your home bandwidth download speed is advertised
as 10MBps or higher, the upload speed (the speed at which your server can send data to your members) is
probably capped at just a fraction of 1Mbps.

Storage Space
As an adult webmaster, you will be publishing multiple videos, high quality photos and other very large files
to your website. Regardless of what kind of server you are using, there is always some type of limit to how
much data you can store on your server (even if the limit is the size of your server's hard drive). By now you
should be somewhat familiar with what type of content you will be offering and it should be obvious that
a small hosting package is not appropriate for an adult webmaster. In fact, if your host offers anything less
than 100GB of storage, it is probably far too small. Hosts with at least 500GB (half a terrabyte) of storage
are ideal for adult webmasters, and 250GB should be considered a minimum requirement.

Bandwidth Usage
Bandwidth has long been the bane of adult webmasters across the world. In an effort to boost speed and share
costly connections with other customers, hosting companies often put a cap on the amount of bandwidth you
are allowed to use each month. If you exceed this limit, the host may stop delivering your content, effectively
taking your site down, if you exceed their quota. More likely, though, they will simply charge you a premium
for each kilobyte delivered over your bandwidth quota. Even if the charge for exceeding your quota seems very
low, it can add up quickly, especially for pay sites that provide high quality (and, thus, very large) files.

If your potential server does not offer at least 1000GB (one terrabyte) of bandwidth per month, you are very
likely going to end up paying far more than their advertised price. Some hosting companies offer large hosting
packages which include bandwidth. If such a package is within your means you should strongly consider going
this route. If such a package is not within your means, you should instead consider taking the Easy Way.

Uploads
Your potential host should allow you to upload files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Since FTP is the protocol
through which you will very likely be uploading your website's content, not being supplied with FTP access
can doom your site before it even gets off the ground. While most hosts offer FTP access as a standard
option, some may not. Be sure to look for FTP access when making a hosting decision.

Legalities
Imagine this scenario: After a long search, you finally find the perfect host. It is inexpensive, provides ample
bandwidth and enormous storage. You excitedly finish your site, upload it and sit back waiting for your
first subsciber to arrive. Instead, you receive an email advising you that your site has been deleted for violation
of the host's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

This scenario is more than a nightmare; it happens time and again every day around the world. Your site host
can wipe out all of your work and investment with just a few keystrokes, and you may have no legal resourse
aside from beginning your search all over again.

This problem can be avoided by simply reading your host's Terms of Service (ToS) before signing up.
Specifically, look for any verbiage relating to adult websites, adult content, pornography, nudity or obscenity.
If your host expressly prohibits such content, do not attempt to publish your site that that server. While
quite a few hosts do not allow content, many do. Both of the sites below are adult-webmaster friendly, and
many others provide only basic common-sense limitations (no child pornography, for example).

Comparison Shop
As with any other service in a free-market economy, hosting packages, speeds, bandwidth, reliability and
pricing can vary greatly from host to host. It is always a good idea to shop around and examine each host
in great depth before making a purchasing decision. As an example of how greatly hosting packages can
vary in price and other options, consider comparing these two adult-friendly hosts: Gate.com and 3iX.