someone else
June 2nd, 2001, 18:05
Size does matter!
I mean ads, of course. ;)
Let's see what we're dealing with here:
1)Popups: Some of you may be going "I got popup ads on my site and I'm making lots of money off of them!" Guess what? A few months down the road, you won't be. This is just the current wave. It'll soon be going the way of the banner, which anyone reading this forum knows is some pretty impossible advertising.
Popups are starting to show up more and more. Think about this: How many of them do you actually see before you close 'em faster than you can load? How many of you are running popup-killer programs? Both of these will be the death of popups.
The more sites that use them, the less valuable they become as an advertising tool. And then they only serve to irritate your site viewer in the end.
2)Banner ads: 468x60. I speak at internet marketing conferences in Europe and the States. During a Stockholm conference, a woman did a presentation on how the average surfer completely ignores any graphic that particular 468x60 size. They used eye-tracking devices and showed what the person looked at. The testees looked at almost everything, but not once did they focus on the banner.
Of course, there's obviously a few people out there that click these. Very few. And they're still trying to figure out what the heck an "internet" is. Probably clicked the banner by accident as well.
3) Button ads: Done right, these can actually work. People's eyes don't avoid these small ads like they do the average banner size. However, the odds of a site doing them right are... too large against.
Most sites that use buttons tend to stack several of them on top of each other, on the right or left side of the site. This looks like one big jumbled mess to the site viewer, and they ignore it. Why take the time to stroll through a pile of flashing nonsense when that's not your reason for coming to the site?
Ditto with those that run a string of 4 or 5 in a row across the screen.
Yes, they're small. No, that doesn't mean you need to put more of them together!
A single small button placed in a well-noticed position on your site should get ten times the response of a clump of buttons stuck together combined.
4) Text links - These are still by far the best advertising you can use. Not written off to the side, but well-placed in an area where a site viewer will be reading.
This absolutely has to be done tastefully though, so as not to insult your site viewer. Learn how this works, and you'll get a pretty steady income from it.
5) DIFFERENT-SIZED ADS - The only way you'll get these is on your own. Well, and some companies have them in CJ. I'm talking about 230-width banners instead of 468. "But it's smaller, so people won't notice it!" Re-read what I wrote about banners. People are intentionally ignoring the 468x60 graphics. A simple change of size messes with their brain cells a bit, and makes them have to think about whether it's an ad or not.
This only works for so long, though. When people get used to seeing one size ad in one position on your site, it's time to switch sizes again. Plop a button ad in your banner ad space if it's possible layout-wise! Experiment! Don't just follow the masses that are going the standard banner route... they're not making any money!
-------------
GOING OVERBOARD THESE DAYS
Banners just haven't been working. So what are sites doing? Besides popups, which the more professional sites have fortunately been avoiding so far, the concept of flooding pages with ads that surround a small amount of content has come into play.
And really big ads. Ads that can cover anywhere from 25-50% of the screen.
Bigger is not better. Bigger is insulting your site viewer. You don't get money from advertising by insulting your site viewer.
I just wrote about using a single small button rather than a flashy mess of them strung together. A simple text link.
Smaller is better. Smaller is actually attracting more attention, simply because so many sites are using the nasty banners/large ads/flash button messes.
-----
IN ALL CASES, the ads must be things of interest to your target audience. Throwing up just any old ad won't work. If you find the right affiliations via CJ or a similar program, and work them into the content of your site properly, you may actually find yourself making some money.
Spend less time worrying about whether an advertiser may pay a bit less than another one. If that one that pays less is more suited to your content, the clicks/leads/sales/whatever should more than compensate. If you throw on an ad just because it pays more, but it has nothing to even remotely do with your site content, you're just wasting your time and ad space.
----
THE ONE THING THAT IS BEING FORGOTTEN THESE DAYS
What is it? The site viewer. These are the people you need to click on your ads. And you're insulting them with large messes, banner ads that they don't look at, and popups that just annoy them.
Hmmm... you really don't want them coming back, do you?
Put plenty of content on your site. Give them a reason to come back, such as a discussion forum. Content is what gets your viewers there in the first place. And you need them on your site first to get them to click your ads, right?
It's time to redesign your site. It's time to rethink your advertising strategy. It's time to stop following the trends and come up with a way that works for your site. Some faceless random banner server can't say exactly what ads will work on your site. Only you can do that.
Dare to be different. Cut back to the absolute minimum when it comes to ads. Make sure those minimal ads are appropriate to your site. Place them where people will end up seeing them, not at the top or on the sides of the site.
Be creative! Find places on your site that people are actually looking! Does your site have a banner at the top along with your logo? Do you really think people are looking at your logo every time they change pages of your site? Of course not. Once they know the logo is there, they have no reason to look up there again. And THAT is where you are placing your banner? Where noone is looking?
Creative thought: For those of you with discussion forums (possibly like this one), try placing an ad (not 468x60!) under the final post in the thread. Have the "post reply" button centered under the ad. Hmmm... do you think they'll see it?
Quit following the masses when it comes to advertising on your site. The masses are losing money left and right. Figure out what would work better for *your* site, not what banner companies are telling you is right. The day of the easy buck on the web is gone. You're going to have to actually work to get your site to make money.
Well, if anything, I hope that makes people think. :)
For the truth about the way the average advertising company thinks, read:
http://www.satirewire.com/briefs/rectangles.shtml
Yes, it's a satirical article. But there's a lot of truth behind it.
I mean ads, of course. ;)
Let's see what we're dealing with here:
1)Popups: Some of you may be going "I got popup ads on my site and I'm making lots of money off of them!" Guess what? A few months down the road, you won't be. This is just the current wave. It'll soon be going the way of the banner, which anyone reading this forum knows is some pretty impossible advertising.
Popups are starting to show up more and more. Think about this: How many of them do you actually see before you close 'em faster than you can load? How many of you are running popup-killer programs? Both of these will be the death of popups.
The more sites that use them, the less valuable they become as an advertising tool. And then they only serve to irritate your site viewer in the end.
2)Banner ads: 468x60. I speak at internet marketing conferences in Europe and the States. During a Stockholm conference, a woman did a presentation on how the average surfer completely ignores any graphic that particular 468x60 size. They used eye-tracking devices and showed what the person looked at. The testees looked at almost everything, but not once did they focus on the banner.
Of course, there's obviously a few people out there that click these. Very few. And they're still trying to figure out what the heck an "internet" is. Probably clicked the banner by accident as well.
3) Button ads: Done right, these can actually work. People's eyes don't avoid these small ads like they do the average banner size. However, the odds of a site doing them right are... too large against.
Most sites that use buttons tend to stack several of them on top of each other, on the right or left side of the site. This looks like one big jumbled mess to the site viewer, and they ignore it. Why take the time to stroll through a pile of flashing nonsense when that's not your reason for coming to the site?
Ditto with those that run a string of 4 or 5 in a row across the screen.
Yes, they're small. No, that doesn't mean you need to put more of them together!
A single small button placed in a well-noticed position on your site should get ten times the response of a clump of buttons stuck together combined.
4) Text links - These are still by far the best advertising you can use. Not written off to the side, but well-placed in an area where a site viewer will be reading.
This absolutely has to be done tastefully though, so as not to insult your site viewer. Learn how this works, and you'll get a pretty steady income from it.
5) DIFFERENT-SIZED ADS - The only way you'll get these is on your own. Well, and some companies have them in CJ. I'm talking about 230-width banners instead of 468. "But it's smaller, so people won't notice it!" Re-read what I wrote about banners. People are intentionally ignoring the 468x60 graphics. A simple change of size messes with their brain cells a bit, and makes them have to think about whether it's an ad or not.
This only works for so long, though. When people get used to seeing one size ad in one position on your site, it's time to switch sizes again. Plop a button ad in your banner ad space if it's possible layout-wise! Experiment! Don't just follow the masses that are going the standard banner route... they're not making any money!
-------------
GOING OVERBOARD THESE DAYS
Banners just haven't been working. So what are sites doing? Besides popups, which the more professional sites have fortunately been avoiding so far, the concept of flooding pages with ads that surround a small amount of content has come into play.
And really big ads. Ads that can cover anywhere from 25-50% of the screen.
Bigger is not better. Bigger is insulting your site viewer. You don't get money from advertising by insulting your site viewer.
I just wrote about using a single small button rather than a flashy mess of them strung together. A simple text link.
Smaller is better. Smaller is actually attracting more attention, simply because so many sites are using the nasty banners/large ads/flash button messes.
-----
IN ALL CASES, the ads must be things of interest to your target audience. Throwing up just any old ad won't work. If you find the right affiliations via CJ or a similar program, and work them into the content of your site properly, you may actually find yourself making some money.
Spend less time worrying about whether an advertiser may pay a bit less than another one. If that one that pays less is more suited to your content, the clicks/leads/sales/whatever should more than compensate. If you throw on an ad just because it pays more, but it has nothing to even remotely do with your site content, you're just wasting your time and ad space.
----
THE ONE THING THAT IS BEING FORGOTTEN THESE DAYS
What is it? The site viewer. These are the people you need to click on your ads. And you're insulting them with large messes, banner ads that they don't look at, and popups that just annoy them.
Hmmm... you really don't want them coming back, do you?
Put plenty of content on your site. Give them a reason to come back, such as a discussion forum. Content is what gets your viewers there in the first place. And you need them on your site first to get them to click your ads, right?
It's time to redesign your site. It's time to rethink your advertising strategy. It's time to stop following the trends and come up with a way that works for your site. Some faceless random banner server can't say exactly what ads will work on your site. Only you can do that.
Dare to be different. Cut back to the absolute minimum when it comes to ads. Make sure those minimal ads are appropriate to your site. Place them where people will end up seeing them, not at the top or on the sides of the site.
Be creative! Find places on your site that people are actually looking! Does your site have a banner at the top along with your logo? Do you really think people are looking at your logo every time they change pages of your site? Of course not. Once they know the logo is there, they have no reason to look up there again. And THAT is where you are placing your banner? Where noone is looking?
Creative thought: For those of you with discussion forums (possibly like this one), try placing an ad (not 468x60!) under the final post in the thread. Have the "post reply" button centered under the ad. Hmmm... do you think they'll see it?
Quit following the masses when it comes to advertising on your site. The masses are losing money left and right. Figure out what would work better for *your* site, not what banner companies are telling you is right. The day of the easy buck on the web is gone. You're going to have to actually work to get your site to make money.
Well, if anything, I hope that makes people think. :)
For the truth about the way the average advertising company thinks, read:
http://www.satirewire.com/briefs/rectangles.shtml
Yes, it's a satirical article. But there's a lot of truth behind it.