Tag: Banners

Effective banner advertising has two main functions — branding and response — but ads don’t always do both jobs equally well.

Brand Your Business With Promotional Banner Ads

Online brand marketingThe best promotional banner ads market an online business with a mix of branding and response.

Promoting an online business is not entirely about pay per click advertising, which in the case of the search engines emphasize text ads. Graphical banner ads can build awareness and memory of a site name and bring customers back again.

Again, all advertising is a combination of branding and response. A TV commercial brands a car model, and the hoped-for response is a customer who goes to the dealership (a lead) and buys the car (a conversion).

But what about online branding and response? Continue reading “Brand Your Business With Promotional Banner Ads”

Contextual Ads Need Contextual Content

Contextual advertising from Google AdSense will deliver high CPMs and click-through rates if they appear with content that provides the right context.

Contextual advertisingContextual advertising from Google AdSense will deliver high CPMs and click-through rates if they appear with content that provides the right context.

What are contextual advertising banners? They are ads whose subject matter is determined dynamically by the site content that surrounds it.

For example, a contextual ad on a travel site will display travel advertisers. If the ad appears on a page about Caribbean cruises, the ad most likely will display cruise advertisers specifically.

Continue reading “Contextual Ads Need Contextual Content”

Google AdSense Alternatives Often Bring 6 Added Risks

Google AdSense alternatives bring with them at least 6 risks that might outweigh any benefits from the revenue they also bring.

AdSense logoGoogle’s industry-dominating AdSense product provides online publishers with enough paying ads to fill an entire site.

Some sites use AdSense to fill remnant ad space that hasn’t been sold to direct sales clients. Other sites are entirely filled with AdSense. Still more use the product with AdSense alternatives.

The product provides not only the largest quantity of online ads in the world but often the highest-paying remnant ads. Google gives the publisher 68 percent of the revenue and keeps 32 percent for the selling, marketing and management of the product.

But for some sites, AdSense is not enough. They may have one of three reasons to look for an Adsense alternative:

  1. They violated Google’s terms of service, got caught and were banned from using the product.
  2. They have so much available inventory because AdSense RPMs can’t keep up with the high volume.
  3. They want to replace the lowest-paying AdSense ads with higher-paying ads from another provider.

While some sites find alternatives that compete with AdSense on RPM, others may find that the following risks outweigh any benefit. Continue reading “Google AdSense Alternatives Often Bring 6 Added Risks”

Should You Sell Your Own Ads on Your Website?

Many publishers reach a point where they wonder if they should sell ads on their own websites. The choice depends on answering five questions.

Many publishers reach a point where they wonder if they should sell ads on their own websites.

They often already make money by displaying ads from Google AdSense, Media.net and other vendors on their sites.

They might decide they are not making enough money and want to increase their total revenue.

These publishers often have tried other forms of easy advertising such as affiliate marketing and found that it doesn’t pay well.

Whether or not someone should try selling their own ads will depend on the answers to the following questions. Continue reading “Should You Sell Your Own Ads on Your Website?”

Expandable Banners Increase Revenue Without Depleting Inventory

Expandable banner ads provide a way of boosting revenue for sites that are running out of ad inventory.

Expandable banner ads provide a way of boosting revenue for sites that are running out of ad inventory.

The average growth rate of online audiences has slowed to single digits in recent years.

That means successful Web sites that want to grow audience aggressively must take market share away from competing sites.

It’s easier said than done. Don’t mind the cliche, because it’s true.

Sites with flat to moderate growth rate and aggressive sales, especially if they have direct sales, end up running out of inventory to sell. Continue reading “Expandable Banners Increase Revenue Without Depleting Inventory”

Effective Banner Ads Rely on Right Location on Page

Effective online advertising delivers results for customers and revenue for publishers based in part on one simple technique – the location of banner ads on the page.

“Performance depends not only on the ad position but the quality and relevance of the ad itself.”

Effective online advertising delivers results for customers and revenue for publishers based in part on one simple technique – the location of banner ads on the page.

If you have software or a vendor that provides ad delivery reports, it’s fascinating to see the results of moving ads around a page.

Three simple tips improve banner ad effectiveness and response rates:

  1. Keep two ads visible above the fold.
  2. Use at least the leaderboard 728×90 and rectangular 300×250 or 300×600 (which may be cut off by the bottom of the browser status bar).
  3. Minimize nearby distractions, i.e., large photos or graphics.

Here are some examples of how the banner position impacts the revenue. Continue reading “Effective Banner Ads Rely on Right Location on Page”

Right Banner Ad Sizes Impact Results

The fact that banner ad size has an impact on performance may seem intuitive and obvious to some people, but it is not to others.

To be truly effective, advertising has to deliver results for both the publisher and the advertiser.

The results for the publisher come in the form of revenue, client retention,  revenue growth and higher Website ad rates. Results for the advertiser come in the form of clicks, leads and transactions.

Following a commonly accepted banner ad size standard will result in more revenue and happier clients. Ad networks will deliver higher quality and better paying clients as well. Continue reading “Right Banner Ad Sizes Impact Results”