Dirk Hooper

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The Long Whip of the Internet
Beginning Search Engine Optimization for Professional Dominatrix

By Dirk Hooper

In 2004, Editor Chris Anderson, wrote an article for Wired magazine called “The Long Tail.”  The basic premise of “The Long Tail” describes a statistical curve that can be summarized by looking at how Amazon.com sells books, versus brick and mortar establishments like your local book store.  You local book store has a finite amount of space to sell books, so they stock the store with the 20% of the most popular  titles from Stephen King and Stephen Koontz, and that leaves very little space for the little guy.  Meanwhile, Amazon.com has no limit on shelf space so they can offer obscure titles that sell fewer copies individually, but comprise 80% of the tail.  In this example, Amazon.com succeeds famously by catering to massive clusters of smaller consumers.

The internet allows the small guy to compete against the big guy, by specializing and finding a niche audience.  What this means to a Professional Dominatrix is that you will succeed by defining what makes you different from the rest of the pack and then marketing yourself directly to the clients that desperately seek that difference.  Instead of a Long Tail, I’m proposing that Professional Dominatrix use The Long Whip to realize that difference and excel like never before.  What follows are three basic tips to indentify your place on The Long Whip.

The place to start your search engine optimization effort is to consider the phrases that potential clients will put into a search engine to find you.  It’s important to get into the mind of your clients (you’re familiar with that… right?) because what is obvious to you, may not be obvious to those who are doing the search.  Most people would reflexively say that the phrase “Professional Dominatrix” would be the first place to start, but that’s a good example of a phrase that everyone in the business is competing over.  It’s the short end of the whip, and you want to find something further down the list.

So how can you get away from the phrases that everyone is fighting over and find your niche?  It’s time for some homework.  Start thinking about what makes you unique.  You must have an online persona that separates you from the crowd.  If you try to be everything to everyone then you are wasting a good opportunity to specialize.  Is there something about your personality, or your look, or your style that stands out?  Hopefully your name is creative.  Use that to your advantage.  Grab a piece of paper and write down the things that make you unique.

The next thing you should look at is your location.  Most Dommes work out of a limited area, or several specific areas.  Your location is an important part of search engine optimization.  Write down the city you work in, use variations or abbreviations as well.  Parts of town can be used to further specify your target area.  For example, if you live in New York City, you might also use NYC, the Big Apple, Wall Street, SoHo, Brooklyn, etc.  In fact, the more specific you are the better.

Finally, take assessment of what services you provide.  Is there something you specialize in that other Professional Dominatrix might not?  Do you have a level of experience that new Dommes lack?  Are you member of the local BDSM community, or maybe even a leader?  Have you received any awards or accolades?  Write down anything you can think of that is an advantage you have over other Professional Dominatrix.

What you should have at this point is a list of thoughts and phrases that describe the attributes that make you unique.  By combining aspects of your personality, your location and your advantages, you can create a short phrase or two that you can use to optimize your website, or social networking profile.  For example, if you listed “gorgeous” from the first list, “Brooklyn” for your location and you specialize in humiliation, then your phrase might be “Gorgeous Brooklyn Humiliatrix”.  The advantage over other Professional Dominatrix located in New York is that they are all fighting over “New York Mistress” while you have separated yourself from the pack.

Put your phrase on your website in the title bar.  Use the phrase throughout the site.  Get clients or other websites to link to you using that phrase.  Make sure that phrase is on your social networking sites, on your photo or video sites and anywhere else you are on the internet and link that back to your website.  That phrase will become synonymous with you, and that’s where the power lies.  Whether people are familiar with you, or they are just searching for a “gorgeous Brooklyn dominatrix” then it will point to you.  The search engines will find you first when that phrase comes up, and that’s search engine optimization.

There’s a lot more you can do on your site, and certainly elsewhere, but that’s the basics of The Long Whip of the Dominatrix.  Search engine optimization starts with that simple process.  Do your homework and the clients will find you with greater numbers than ever before.

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Dirk Hooper does Professional Dominatrix Photography through Sight Key Studios and also offers consultation and search engine optimization for Professional Dominatrix through FemDom Design.