World Wide Instant MessengerInstant messaging is one of the more popular ways surfers communicate with one another while online. Dating sites especially have made good use of instant messaging technologies. But did you know that there are software suites available that will let you offer instant messaging on your Web site? Back from his previous absence is J. Edwards to talk about how you can use the instant messaging craze to improve your online product.

Part of being successful on the World Wide Web is keeping up with the current trends and determining which of those you can integrate into your adult sites. One of the most popular features offered on the Internet today is instant messaging. If you have kids, you might have noticed their love affair with AOL’s version of this communication feature. You yourself may have used something similar, like ICQ, MSN Instant Messenger, or Yahoo Pager. Offering your own service like this – branded with your logo and URL – might be just the ticket to more traffic and added attractiveness and functionality for your adult sites.

What kind of site is using this tool already? You guessed it! Dating sites. Match.com and Datecam.com are prime examples. Dating sites have been extremely profitable on the Internet, and they offer a potpourri of niches. Instant messaging’s addictive appeal is the perfect companion for these sites – offering lonely (and horny) hearts the opportunity to hook up. In an article appearing on CNET news, Samantha Lazear, senior product manager of Yahoo Personals, said: “We’ve seen a rise in IM usage (for personals) over time…the excitement of IM is that you can get that real-time connection along with anonymity.” However, even if you don’t run a dating site, instant messaging is a fun and easy service to offer your site visitors.

PAID IM SOLUTIONS

There are many low-priced and even free pieces of software available for you to choose from to create your communications hub. World Wide Instant Messenger (worldwidecreations.com) claims to be a “breakthrough in instant messaging for the masses.” It features a form designer that allows you to customize the client application with your logo, color, etc. It boasts over 500 parameters that you can change, and claims to be the most customizable instant messenger application available on the Internet.

Like World Wide Instant Messenger, Visual Messenger (mintersoft.com) also allows you to program its parameters to match your own look and feel. With simple edits of a template file you can change images, logos, colors, fonts and even develop your own custom features. For the programmers reading this, Visual Messenger is clean and easily installed. It is a front-end application that runs entirely on the server and does not require any client-side software or applets. Even better, the Visual Messenger client is based on HTML and JavaScript, so users are able to chat and send files behind firewalls or proxies.

Along the lines of the before mentioned applications, check out Sycro’s Instant Messenger (sycros-scripts.hypermart.net) and Free Instant Messenger, available at Hotscripts.com. This free ICQ-style instant messenger uses PHP and MySQL with all variables easily configurable including colors and text in different languages.

FEELING POOR? TRY THESE!

If you’re not good at installing Perl or PHP or you just don’t have the budget to buy an instant messaging application suite, there are a couple of free remotely-hosted services available. However, you should always exercise caution when using remotely-hosted services. Often you have no way of knowing how secure their servers are, if their company will last, or if they allow adult sites.

JMessenger (jmessenger.com) was once completely free but now only offers a limited service free. Added features will cost you a monthly fee. Not a bad service, it is used extensively by smaller e-commerce companies. You cannot customize it. Although terms of service doesn’t expressly say that adult sites aren’t acceptable, it does give the old “objectionable material as judged by JMessenger” stipulation. So use at your own risk.

Like JMessenger, NeoMessenger (neomessenger.com) offers several service tiers starting with free. Another similarity is that the free version is ad based, you can’t customize it, and it, too, gives the old “objectionable material as judged by NeoMessenger” line. As a matter of opinion, if your sites are acceptable to these free services, you can do very little marketing with them. My advice is to use one of the applications first mentioned to get the full benefit of instant messaging.

With a little creativity, a customized instant messaging system has the potential to be a much better marketing tool than even message boards and chat rooms. The ability is one of AOL’s biggest selling points. With the potential to connect with other like-minded people at your site, it could be one of your biggest selling points too.

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J. Edwards is a senior writer for The ADULTWEBMASTER Magazine.