The 3 Rules to maximizing profits from banner ads!
Placing those ads on your site are designed to do just one thing, make you and
the advertiser money. No it’s not rocket science but there is a science to doing
it right.
There are 3 simple rules to follow and you will convert those ads into the
revenue you intended them to be when you decided to place them in the first
place.
Don’t sell Viagra to pregnant women! – Basically what this means is that each
page on your site probably offers something different than all the other pages
on your site, otherwise you would have terrible redundancy on your site and
that would be bad, but that’s for another discussion. Let’s say you have a
site offers travel services, and this particular page is about a certain
destination that you offer. Then your ads should fit the page, an offer such
as “Home Loans”, or “Grocery Coupons” would be what is know as “Shotgun
Marketing”, which basically means that you are just firing an ad at there and
praying that someone who sees it will be interested. This click and buy ratio
will prove to be VERY disappointing. A proper ad such as “discount air
tickets”, or “Travel Insurance” will produce a much higher, click and buy
ratio, this is what is referred to as “Target Marketing”. Remember, the
internet is a spontaneous buying medium, so when the visitor is on that
particular page, this is when the interest in this particular subject is at
it’s peak! They are already thinking travel, you are offering them the “Up
sell”, meaning you not changing the visitors train of thought, your offer is
just blending in.
Put the steak in the middle, and leave the salad on the side! – Where do you
place you banners? On the side? At the bottom of the page? Somewhere between
the “I’m offering this for free” and “Look at my fancy graphics” area of the
page? Obviously the most profitable place to set the banner is on the top of
the page, and is highly recommended if that space is available! Most of the
time website owners have reserved that spot for they’re own offers and the
like. The second best place on a page is just before your start the page
content. An animated 468 x 60 banner should be centered and placed just before
you begin your page content. Remember these banners are what pay you money to
keep your site going, and if all goes right, some change in your pocket. Move
other items on your site to the side and make room for those banners. Banners
placed inside the test of the page content (not at the end) would be the third
option.
I don’t read the fine print, do you?- What size banners do you use? DO NOT
waste your time placing small banners on your site (unless they are for banner
exchange partners)! Small banners are a waste of space, first of all, how much
information can the seller fit into such a small area? How noticeable will it
be to your site visitor? If you’re trying to sell something, then SELL IT! Ad
size should be 468 x 60 or larger, and centered on the page, this ad WILL NOT
be missed by the roving eye of your potential buyer. Although they may have
not elected to click on it, odds are they certainly did not miss it, because
it was big enough to at least catch they’re eye.
Finding the right advertiser, who pays the right commission, and who is offering
the right product for a particular page on your site, will require a bit more
work than the standard “snatch and add” type of banner farming, but the rewards
will be much greater and prove to be well worth it in the long run. Remember
this, “anything worth having, is worth working for, and money is worth having”
About the Author
Derek Arnold is the President of BullMarketer.com, a webmaster resource site
offering many tools for webmasters, marketers, and designers. Also has over 18
years of experience in the marketing and advertising fields. Homepage:
http://www.bullmarketer.com © 2004 |
