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So the editor has been on my case hinting that I don't spend enough time talking about subjects that are really important to adult webmasters ... subjects like site design. Oh wait ... I'm the editor ... so that means that ...

Oh to hell with what it means ... it's Thursday ... it's been yet another crazy week ... my head hurts and getting into weird arguments with myself is just going to make it hurt even more. So let's skill the weirdness and talk about site design ... at least for a while ... because that's sure to keep the editor happy.

So what do your site designs look like? Are you one of those people who always use a black background because you think that's what adult sites should always have? You're selling adult related products and that means that you always have to use black backgrounds with lots of red text or embellishments?

If that's the way you think and that's what you use in all your adult sites then you're really stuck in a rut because there's just so much that you can do with black backgrounds and lots of red bits isn't there? It also shows that you lack imagination and your view of the world is so limited.

But then you're not alone ... there are lots of people who think the way you do. I came across plenty of them during the time I worked in the adult industry out in the real world. Their view was that if you didn't fit their pre-conceived ideas of what an adult worker should look like then you couldn't possibly fit into the industry and you couldn't possibly be making any money.

Fortunately for bigger girls like me in the adult industry the paying customers didn't have such a narrow view of the world and many of us who didn't fit the image made a lot more than those who did.

In many ways it's the same with adult website design. If you're thinking that the only adult sites that actually set the right mood and encourage people to buy what you're selling are those sites that fit a certain image then you're leaving money ... a lot of money ... on the table.

Sure there are certain things that a website needs to do to encourage people to make a purchase but the color of the background is definitely not one of them and nor is the font.

Back when I first started building adult websites the font of choice for everyone was Comic Sans and it was hard to find an adult site that didn't use that font. It was quite some time before I started using a different font but when I did my sales didn't fade away to nothing ... if anything they actually increased.

So don't lock yourself into using just one font either simply because you think that's what people will expect you to use. When it comes to thinking about what fonts to use there are really only three criteria to consider.

The first point to consider is whether or not the font you want to use is installed on everyone's computer. There are undoubtedly some wonderful fonts out there that can really help set a theme for your site but not all of them are to be found on everyone's computer. You could easily waste your time working with a fancy font for the text on your site only to find that most people are seeing the text in their browsers in Times New Roman because the font you used is not installed on their computers.

The next point to consider is whether or not the font is easy to read. You want your words to stand out and let's face it ... some fonts may be fancy but they fail miserably when it comes to reading them. It's hard enough to get surfers to read the text on your website at the best of times so the last thing you want to do is use a font that requires the surfer to stop and decipher each word.

The third point to consider is whether or not the font you want to use looks professional. Yes, just how 'professional' a font might appear is important ... even in an adult site. Basically what you need to do is convince the surfer that your sponsor's site is going to entertain them and not rip them off and there's a subliminal trust message in the type of font that you use.

Now I'm not saying that you need to make the text on your site look as though it's just been lifted from a legal document but at the same time it shouldn't look amateurish and that's something that fonts like Comic Sans scream at you these days.

So if you want to enhance your sales get out of the rut of using black backgrounds ... that's so yesterday when it comes to adult site designs ... and start using fonts that enhance your sites' ability to sell to the people who visit them.