Backpage Replacement Websites

Finally, the daily SMS & WhatsApp spam has slowed down from all the sites saying they are the backpage replacement. On social media and forums, it still continues with many sites promoting that they are the new Backpage or someone asking about site XYZ (which looks like Backpage)

I am not sure why everyone is so fixated on finding or being the new backpage. It was a crap website!  It was easy to use and it was the top of google but it was full of fake profiles, fake photos and scams not to mention all the truly heinous things that occurred which have put the owners in jail

Do we want a New Backpage?  

In my opinion, what we need is some quality sites focusing on safe and secure solutions.  I would love some friendly, fast customer service too if that’s not too much to ask?

The Internet is full of dodgy and poorly designed escort sites; we need more good stuff!   It takes perseverance and money to build a great site but I have faith that in the coming months some excellent sites will emerge and some of the fab sites already online will become more prominent

One of the things we have seen a lot of in the wake of the BP closure is a lot of free template sites using social media as their main source of promotion.  The backpage classifieds template is probably one of the most used templates of all time lol

Many sites are trying to emulate the million dollar success of Backpage with a free template housed on $4 a month web hosting.   Good luck with that….

Unless a new directory or classified website has an experienced SEO they will never get enough web traffic to make it worth paying for, so what’s the point? 

So back to Backpage, yes it had a global monopoly but that is about all that was good about it.  It was a simple classified website with zero customer care & it showed up top of google in almost every city in the world.

I remember when Backpage started; they harvested ad content from other sites & would email you a link to the free ad they created.  It was annoying & I remember continually emailing them to stop doing this but nobody ever replied. Their annoying strategy worked & backpage started doing well with google rankings but it wasn’t until one of them got arrested in 2016 that backpage became a well known brand

Backpage’s lack of customer service was also very annoying.   Last year I had someone hack my BP account & use all my credit to post ads for a girl in Melbourne.  On a different occasion, my credit just disappeared… Goodbye hard-earned dollars. There was nobody to contact to try to get the problem resolved and it was the same with all the stolen photos on BP which was a regular occurrence

Rather than all these sub-par Backpage copies what we need is safe, secure, solutions created by an experienced team.  Businesses who have done their due diligence and spent money & time on things like lawyers and website security so problematic situations do not arise for their advertisers

Properly planned and tested solutions, not easily hacked free templates run by goodness knows who in goodness knows which jurisdiction.  We need business transparency too as we need to trust our details aren’t going to be sold off or shared to the highest bidder or government.

In countries where the stakes are high, we can’t just follow like sheep & use whichever site is currently popular.  If the site isn’t secure & your details are stolen, the site being ‘popular’ isn’t going to help you stay out of trouble with law enforcement.  Nor is ‘I don’t know about computers’ a very good legal defence

Even if you are based in a country where law enforcement doesn’t particularly care about SW; the security of personal and credit card details is important.  A few years back I paid for an ad and they used my Credit Card to make fraudulent purchases to a total of £1300. The most annoying part wasn’t that they stole money, it was that my card was blocked when I reported it and I was on tour.  The inconvenience was worse than losing the money

The days for my own sites I focus on SEO but if I pay for ads I prefer to use only sites I know & trust and prefer bank transfer.  I also prefer to use sites where transactions are in my country, Australia, where things are lovely & legal

I am lucky, I can sit in Australia working away, writing my blog with zero fear that LE (Law enforcement) could knock on my door.  For me an unsafe website is annoying, fraudulent CC transactions are annoying but for USA based sexworkers there is so much more at risk

I will probably get slaughtered on social media (again) for my opinion but I was an analyst programmer long before I was an escort so I have a bit of a clue about the topics I am covering in this blog

USA ladies & gents currently lack advertising options so I understand why everyone is using & promoting new sites without giving much thought to what they are using but if it’s not secure, you may want to give it a miss for safety reasons

If you are in a country where Sexwork is not legal I would recommend using a VPN when accessing advertising sites – I use PrivateInternetAccess when travelling & it works on my android phone, laptop & ipad.

My Top 4 Tips for checking New Escort Directories

Who owns the site

Check the Whois info using whois.com –  I personally like to see company info here rather than hidden details or a private registration by someone like domains by proxy (they hide the real info for the owner for an annual fee). Whois also shows you the date the domain was registered & how old it is

Where is the site hosted

US based is problematic – you can check the hosting info in the whois or use https://check-host.net

Does the site have SSL

If you use google chrome the word secure or a lock will show in the address bar of your browser.  If the site is not secure it can a problem as the information you are sharing with a site can be compromised.  If using a site without SSL make sure you are using your VPN

Social Media presence

In today’s day & age all reputable sites have Twitter – look at their feeds, do they seem helpful and knowledgeable?   I have multiple twitter accounts including @AAsarahs2cents and @Asiaescorttours (AsiaEscortTours.com) & @Agencyatlantic (Agency Atlantic Digital) 

Of course, there is plenty of other things you can check but those are really the basics

USA Escorts, take a look at Missy Mariposa, she is doing great stuff.  I follow her on twitter (@ingodwetryst), she makes sense, talks about the laws surrounding USA sites and has tech knowledge so I trust her advertising solutions will be safe & secure for the USA.  I think Missy is the type of person to have done due diligence *Missy is not somebody that I know personally tho I have followed her on twitter for quite a while 

I got some nasty comments & some stroppy DM’s when I posted my first blog about new directories.  

I got into trouble for saying sites were thrown up to capitalize on the closure of back page. If a site URL/domain was registered soon after BP was seized then sure, maybe it’s a coincidence…

The word capitalize means to seize an opportunity so if you did create a site on the day Backpage disappeared, you capitalized, it’s not a bad thing.  Many of the new sites coming out now and in the coming months would probably have never been created if backpage didn’t disappear so capitalizing on the closure of back page is most definitely a good thing!

So Goodbye Backpage; Hello New ethical and Innovative sites :)

Disclaimer: 

My blogs are my personal opinion and some researched facts.  My blogs are always written for an International Audience. Agency Atlantic is a global agency and for the past 20 years I have used escort directories worldwide, not just in the country I currently reside in.  

I have years of experience as an International Escort and I toured the USA for many years.  Advertising was difficult prior to Backpage, Eros has a monopoly and they are a pain in the butt to deal with and have become worse.  Without back page and with the SESTA/FOSTA/CLOUD legislation and now it’s just a sh*tshow. I really feel for all USA based escorts :(

I read a lot of Tech blogs, SEO blogs & escort blogs – At the moment my own blogs are coupling these topics I enjoy & in which I have many years experience  – SW almost 20 years – IT/Tech nearing 30 years – SEO 7 years

I hope you have found this blog helpful, until next time