Banner Advertising and Exchange featured banner exchanges and networks >>> In recent years, banner advertising has experienced a plunge in popularity. The reasons for this shift in advertising interest was simple – banner advertising was not delivering on its initial promise to draw hoards of traffic, and the costs then associated did not reflect the true value of the medium. This is not to say that banner advertising has gone the way of the dinosaur. Certainly, there are other means that have proven to be more effective, with higher pricing that reflects that value, but banner advertising continues to offer an opportunity to introduce and brand your product within your target market. It’s ongoing prevalence in the marketplace is a clear indicator of its potential. The key to the creation of a successful and reasonable campaign is to ensure that the expenditure involved reflects the actual bottom line impact the advertising will have. When reviewing a potential banner ad campaign, be it through an advertising network, or within a site complimentary to your line, take care to assess the package thoroughly, breaking down costs to an expected price per delivered visitor. This can be accomplished by utilizing a conversion rate from impressions to visits of about .5%. Some campaigns can deliver returns as high as 1%, but in assessment of a marketing expense, it always pays to play it safe. Once you have determined an approximate cost per visitor, compare that cost to achieving traffic through pay per click search engines, based on the current bids for keywords relevant to your product and/or service. If you find value in the offer, take care to develop a banner that draws the attention of your market, as design can make the difference between a profitable campaign, and yet another wasted expediture. Banner exchanges offer an additional opportunity for the internet business owner to create awareness, at no cost. These common systems vary in their offering, but generally guarantee the site owner willing to place the banners of other operators on their site a ratio of 1:2, or one of your banners shown elsewhere in exchange for deliverying two impressions at your property. Though a cost efficient manner of generating some exposure, banner exchanges have their negative side as well. Many systems have insufficient controls, which can result in direct competitors actually gaining exposure on your site. As well, there is a sense among those experienced with internet business that users of an exchange program are "small time", which can later impact your ability to negotiate effective partnership agreements. As a means of introducing you to this medium, Online has gathered samples of banner related programs for your review. Click on a link below to explore further: Banner Advertising Networks Sponsorships.net Microsoft AdStore ValueClick.com AdOutlet.com Banner Exchange Programs Bpath Banner Exchange BannerAddict.com LinkBuddies.com Microsoft Banner Network Don’t forget to explore additional niche market site sponsorship opportunities listed by property genre, in our Site Sponsorship Directory. Click below to view some of the opportunities available in this growing medium, or consider submitting your site’s advertising opportunity for the consideration of our visitors. Related Subjects: Online’s web site sponsorship directory Content sharing as a means of promotion top of banner advertising page
Web Site Awards – Online’s Internet Award Directory
Submitting to Award Sites featured award submission sites >>> Since the dawn of the popular internet, and the growth of interest in being online, there have been those who have dedicated their time and efforts to the review of new web based properties. These critics have in turn garnered the respect and interest of web travellers everywhere, folks practically begging for information on the freshest new properties. Submitting your newly developed internet wonder can be rewarding in more ways then one. Firstly, there is the infinite satisfaction of being recognized for the serious efforts applied in the preparation of your web project. Secondly, there exists the potential for traffic… Award sites that have been in operation for some time can deliver the selected "site of the day" thousands of visitors in a very short period of time. Their online, and email publications are in demand, and those in receipt of the information waste no time in visiting the newest web commodity. Some sites offer no cost submission, while others may charge a range of fees depending on time of review. As in many pay per service internet areas, payment does not promise the featuring of your site, merely its review. When considering such a submission, it does the business owner good to keep in mind that all things are not what they seem. Many internet based award sites are merely intended to draw you, and your site visitors to their site, via visual awards that must be placed at your property in order for you to be considered. The traffic given in return is often minimal, and not worthy of the additional download time on your site relative to the added graphics. The award sites below are considered some of the premium honors available on the internet today. If you feel confident in your site’s leading edge appeal, consider a submission, and good luck with your review! Yahoo Internet Life Surfers Choice – 15% off Cool Site of the Day Yahoo Pick of the Week USA Today Hot Sites The Webby Award Related Subjects: Establish an affiliate program Banner advertising and exchange top of website aware directory page
Starting an Online Business: Search Engine Submissions are an Important Step!
Submit Your Site to Search Engines & Directories featured submission software and services >>> A critical stage in the potential success of any internet business is the submission process. This step should never be undertaken until your site is at its best, complete in every sense, and optimized to attract the best search engine rankings, and directory listings. Once you are comfortable with your state of readiness, there are still a couple of choices that need to be made relative to self-submission, or utilization of a service dedicated to that craft. Keep in mind throughout the process that although many services boast the ability to submit your site to 1000’s of sites, the top rated portals are where the majority of your potential traffic will be found. Ensuring selection of a reliable submission service that carefully manages the delivery of your site information to the top portals, within their guidelines for submission should be your priority. Site submission can be broken into a few specific categories: Directory Submission Directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project require manual submission to a category chosen by the submitter. For tips on how to prepare your site, and your submission, to achieve the highest rankings possible, visit Online’s guide here. Once prepared, the following links will guide you to these premiere sites. Find your category of interest, then choose the submit button at that location. Yahoo is the premiere directory site, offering thousands of potential visitors to the entrepreneur who gains a top quality search listing. Submission to business, or ecommerce categories now requires a payment, which does not guarantee inclusion, simply an efficient review time. Looksmart is a completely pay for service directory, categorized much like Yahoo. Looksmart listings feed into many of the most popular portal sites on the web, such as MSN, Excite, Alta Vista, and CNN. Open Directory Project is an entirely voluteer based directory, whose results feed into portals such as AOL, Google, Netscape, and more. There is no cost to submit to the ODP, and placement within this property can play a substantial role in traffic generation once your site is listed, and picked up by the major portals. Search Engine Submission The following sites are considered the premiere spider-based engines of the day. Submission to them can be accomplished either manually, or through the assistance of a software package, or service. Many of these properties maintain a directory area fed by one of the above portals, as well as a true spider based search engine. To ensure your property is in a state of complete readiness prior to beginning the submission process, visit Online’s guide to site ranking preparation here, then submit using the links below. Google.com Excite.com AltaVista.com Inktomi/MSN Web Pages Hotbot.com Lycos.com Fast – AlltheWeb.com NBCi.com Niche & Geographical Submissions The final area of value in submission of your recently completed internet ecommerce property is the use of niche and geographical listings. There are innumerable country and market based directories around the world that will accept free listings from relevant sites. These listing may not generate a substantial amount of traffic, but can add significantly to your overall link popularity ratings, thus impacting placement of your listing on the largest portal search engines. Research your market area, and apply some time toward this line of submission to maximize overall potential. Submission Software and Services The following software and services offer the advantage of either a relatively automated process of submission to the most popular search engines, to an entirely outsourced and hands off solution that frees up the site operator’s time for additional research, customer service, or marketing efforts. Some of the most popular of these products are listed below for your review. Premiere Submission Software Solutions Webposition Gold TopDog Submitta Submit Wolf Premiere Submission Service Providers Verica Submission Services APlusSubmit.com RegisterStore.com TopRankPosition.net Related Subjects: Preparing your site for submission to directory based engines Preparing your site for submission to spider based engines top of search engine submission tools