Banners - Common Questions Answered

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by Daniel Williams

This article discusses what types of banners are right for your site, and deals with issues you may want to consider before you sign up for any service.

I believe the Internet is still in its infancy. An interesting fact is that more people on earth watch TVs Baywatch than use the Internet (1 billion), and that can be hard to swallow.

The reality of the Internet is that no matter how great your site is, you still have to promote it. Long gone are the days when building a brilliant resource intense site meant instant traffic. Why? Because people have so many choices, and it's often difficult to filter the time wasters from what you may consider 'valuable information'.

One client of ours is mystified as to why their brand new site is only getting 100 or so hits a month. They understand the need for promotion, and spending dollars to promote the site, but like so many others they have been over exposed to various media claiming 'reach millions of people around the world with a low cost, low maintenance Web site.' Low cost and low maintenance is hardly the case, and the same goes for reaching millions of people, who in the medias eyes are just dying to see your brand new Web site. Not.

Web Site promotion comes in three major forms. First, free online promotion. Search engine registration, new sites guides, and other free links pages (I hope to compile a list of such places in the near future - keep your eye out!). Second, print media. Yes, definitely a biggie. And thirdly, banner ad promotion.

There are many issues that must be dealt with when considering banner advertising. What will it cost per impression? Is there a click thru charge? Am I reaching the right audience? What click thru ratio can I expect? What sites can I advertise on? Which sites should I advertise on? It goes on, and on. Through this article I hope to clear up a few of points.

What will it cost per impression?

This varies some what and it's good to get an idea of what you'll get for your ad dollar. Generally you'll be paying NZ$0.05 per impression (approx US$0.03). You may also be able to pay a flat rate per month with a guaranteed number of impressions to expect. Pay any more than this and you're getting a sour deal. Generally, NZ$100 will buy you 2000 ad impressions.

Is there a click thru charge?

You may be subject to a click thru charge. If there is an option to pay by click throughs, don't take it. Click thru charges are generally overpriced, up to 10 times what you pay per impression. However, if raising awareness is not your objective, then this option may be ideal for you.

Am I reaching the right audience?

This is where it gets tricky. Are you appealing to people in your country, or are you looking to go global. When choosing a site to advertise on, check where their traffic originates from. You may find that 50% of the people seeing your ad are from the US, and that's not too effective if you're advertising your plumbing service in New Zealand. Look at what sites would appeal most to your target audience, and what sites they are most likely to be visiting.

What click thru ratio can I expect?

This depends greatly on your ad. Is it eye catching? Does it prompt action by the user to click on it? Most people will tell you to expect a 4-5% click thru rate, but in my experience it stands at around 2%. Out of 1000 impressions that's only 20 click throughs. And you paid $100 for that?? Now how many of those click thru visitors are going to buy your product? 1%? Great, if you're selling high cost products. Bad if you're selling low cost products. But don't forget, your ad is also there to serve as an awareness generator.

What sites can I advertise on?

Generally any site where you see a banner ad for a company, product, or service that is outside of the site. Look for a link on the front saying 'Advertise here', 'Ad info', or something along those lines.

Which sites should I advertise on?

I may see an ad 10 times before I click on it. This is not going to be very effective if you're spending $500 a month on Yahoo. When choosing a site check the content. Is it a 'repeat visit' site, or is it a 'one off' visit site. You want people to see your ad more than once, so ask what their traffic numbers are to determine how much you're going to spend.

How do I know whether my banner is being clicked on? The site displaying your banner will most likely have a banner tracking program for you to use which will show you daily hits, monthly totals, click thru rates etc. If they don't, demand one!

Is the Link Exchange right for my site?

In my opinion, no. Leave it off you're site if you want to maintain a professional image. Ok, so what does my opinion count for? I've been using the Internet everyday for the past 20 months, and that totals a lot of hours online, so I've got the general idea. You'll find that Link Exchange banners appear mostly on personal homepage s, and that's where they're best left. You're site will definitely look like a low profile, low traffic site if you have a LE banner on it. Does Yahoo or CNN have LE ads on their pages? No. Another point I've noticed is that new sites who grow into popular high traffic sites often start with a LE banner and then remove it as their log files grow. I once placed a LE banner on Net World. Out of 2,000 impressions I had 10 click throughs (0.5%). So how effective is that? Again, in my opinion, it's a waste of space.

Lastly, and this one is often missed. Banners hold potential on your site too. You may not have the traffic to sell ad space, but you can utilise banners on your site to advertise other sections, products, or services within your site. Of course you'll be wanting a good program to track your banner stats. We use an excellent one called Web Adverts. You can download it from (http://awsd.com/scripts/webadverts/). Note you'll need a cgi-bin or access to one to run the program.