Wouldn’t it be cool if you could know a little something more about your surfers than just statistics?

I’m not knocking stats. Stats are very important. They tell us so much. They tell us how many visitors come to our sites. They tell us what page they came from. They inform us of the nationality of our surfers. Statistics tell what times of the day our pages receive the most traffic. Stats notify us which banners are clicked and what images are most viewed. Site statistics are a vital part of the whole marketing process. Notwithstanding, site statistics and server logs can’t tell us everything.

"What matters is the surfer. They buy the memberships. They buy the services. Theirs are the opinions that actually count."

I also don’t have a problem with the opinions of other adult webmasters. At Cozy Campus we have a whole forum dedicated to site critiques. Adult webmasters are always asking their peers to give an opinion on a new page or graphic or program. That kind of help is priceless to an adult webmaster. I’ve grown as a webmaster because of analysis by my porn comrades. I’ve even learned good stuff by reading the criticisms of other’s sites. Designers critique designs. Gallery builders critique galleries. SEO aficionados critique META tags. The wealth of wisdom one receives from other adult webmasters is staggering.

The thing is, good stats and great advice don’t pay money. Your surfers are the ones who do that. Without them, you’re nothing. It doesn’t matter if you have the best design and are marketing the best program. It doesn’t matter if all the other webmasters think your site sucks. What matters is the surfer. They buy the memberships. They buy the services. Theirs are the opinions that actually count.

When you want to know what your surfers think, there’s no better way to find out than a good old-fashioned survey.

No matter how fabulous your adult site is, there’s always room for improvement. Times change, tastes change and sometimes we lose touch with our viewing audience. In cyberspace, it’s pretty easy to disconnect from the humans behind the charge cards. So much of our time is spent building, submitting and marketing. We often put so much value in peer review that we forget about what the customers think. With a simple online survey, you can finally get answers from the people who really matter.

Say you want to add a new category to your adult page. Or perhaps, you’d like to implement a different payment system. Maybe you know you need a change but haven’t a clue what needs changing. A surfer survey can give you the answers you need directly from the source.

As an example, let’s say you are ready to redesign your softcore paysite. You are naturally wary of changing things around because you don’t want to fix what isn’t broken. You have a few ideas of the changes you’d like to make but you’re not sure your members will accept those changes. Instead of surprising members with a new layout, why not find out beforehand? Why not give your members a questionnaire that centers on your possible layout alterations?

You might ask your members questions like these:

1. Would you like a new section devoted to babes in bikinis? Yes or no?

2. If we added full-length biographies of our models, would you read them? Yes or no?

3. If we added some hardcore content to the member's area, would you look at it? Yes or no?

You could also ask questions that require a more detailed response. You could ask for suggestions on how to improve the member’s area from a member’s perspective. You could ask which model is the member’s favorite. You could ask if the logon process is easy. You could find out if there are sections that your members don’t like. You can ask them how often they’d like to see content updates. You can ask your surfers and site members just about anything you want as long as you do it right.

The truth is, it’s pretty hard these days to gain and keep the surfer’s trust. You don’t want to scare anyone off. That’s why a lot of marketers use the carrot method to get the answers they need. They bribe their subjects. A good, safe way to conduct a surfer survey is by offering a freebie to those who partake and complete. You might offer a t-shirt or a CD. You could give those who take your survey special access to a full-length video or image set. Maybe you could gift survey takers with a free week of site membership. Whatever you choose, make sure you give away something you can afford to give away. You don’t have to offer schwag to get your surfers opinion but it helps.

You want answers that will help you make decisions but you don’t want your survey to be a buzz killer. Keep the questions simple and don’t ask too many. Make the survey format so it’s easy to navigate. If you post questions that require the taker to choose from a selection of answers, do it with a drop-down box or radio buttons. If you want involved reader feedback, supply them with a comment box on your survey form. Let your audience know that their information is safe and their answers are private.

An online survey is basically a form. Most forms are written in CGI. If you’re going to implement a GCI form on your site, then you need to make sure that your web hosting account is CGI enabled. Fortunately, most paid hosts include CGI capabilities in even the smallest of packages. If you can’t use a CGI form or you don’t want to, you can also use JavaScript to make a survey form.

Some good places to find cut-and-paste CGI/JavaScript forms are:

Matt's Script Archive
http://www.scriptarchive.com

The CGI Resource
http://www.cgi-resources.com

JavaScript Source
http://javascript.internet.com

EarthWeb Developer
http://webdeveloper.earthweb.com/webjs/

To summarize, if you want to know what your surfers think about your site, ask them. A good way to get surfer opinions is with an online survey. You’ll get more surfers to participate in your survey if you offer them a little goodie as a reward. You don’t want to make your survey too long or too complicated. You’ll need either a CGI or JavaScript form for your survey.

Opinions are like assholes. Everyone’s got one. The only opinions that count -as far as your bank balance is concerned- are those of your surfers. Their answers and opinions are as valuable to your success as any fancy design or new-fangled web widget. Take the time. Take a survey.