Make Money from your web site - the best banner ad
networks
Banner advertising payout rates have definitely decreased over
the last couple of years, but there is some good news for web masters looking
for a flexible and reliable way of selling banner ad space. For information on
implementing pop up/pop under ads as a source of income, please view:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/pop-under-ads.htm
Teaming up with a good banner advertising agency rather than intensive marketing
to paying individual clients can save a lot of time and provide you with a
steady income. The size of that cash flow is a numbers game - the more relevant
ads you display, the more you will probably make. The agency provides the
clients and the ads, you simply implement some code in your banner space and the
ad will appear. In your association with these companies, you will be known as
an "affiliate" or "publisher".
We decided to research the best advertising network for publishers/affiliates
who have a site of our size. We tried many different networks, but only one
stood out - more on that later. Many promised a great deal, but returned
nothing. Some networks allowed very unethical advertisers to peddle their wares.
On investigating a number of networks, we also discovered a few of them did not
pay in accordance with their terms and conditions - worse still, some did not
pay at all.
The following is a list of desirable affiliate/publisher features that you
should look for before agreeing to "rent" out your prime advertising
space to an agency:
Targeting
Does the network provide ads that are relevant to your subject
area or that would appeal to the users of your web site? Irrelevant ads will not
only fail if you are participating in a CPC campaign, but they may annoy your
visitors.
CPC, CPM and CPA options
A good ad agency will give you a mixture of CPC and CPM ads. CPC
ads pay when a visitor to your site clicks on a banner through to an advertisers
web site . CPM advertising is based on $X.XX per thousand views (impressions).
Another variation is CPA - a visitor clicks a banner, passes through to the
advertiser's web site and either purchases (a sale) or expresses interest (a
lead) in the companies products or services. CPA pays the highest but usually
has a much lower conversion ratio.
Control over ads displayed
The better ad networks have comprehensive publisher/affiliate
administrative interfaces where you can preview a banner and decide whether you
want that particular campaign displayed on your site. This is particularly
useful if you (or your visitors) object to certain kinds of advertising - such
as those wonderful flashing ads that we have all grown to love ;0) - an
interesting and amazing fact is that those flashing ads do draw high
clickthrough rates - figure that one out! If your agency is really on the ball,
there will also be visual flags in your administration area to indicate that the
ad contains references to adult material, gambling or tobacco related products
etc.
Default ad control
Most agencies have quotas on the number of ads appearing to
particular users. After that quota is filled for the hour or day etc.,
"default" ads will be displayed. These banners do not earn you any
money - but they do tend to display community oriented ads, so you can also be
promoting positive social messages - but be sure to check this out before
signing up. Quality agencies will also give you control over these default ads
allowing you to display your own offers instead. This gives you further
opportunities in making money from this prime advertising space. If the default
banner rate is too high in proportion to paying banners, and those non-paying
banners promote other businesses, then these networks are well worth avoiding.
Rates
The days of the $10.00 CPM ads are pretty much well over, unless
you find advertisers yourself by direct marketing, but there are still great
payment rate differences between networks. Shop around carefully. You should aim
to receive on average US$.40 - $.65 CPM or at least US$.15 - $.20 CPC.
Referral Bonuses
Another way to benefit financially from your publisher/affiliate
association is to be paid a percentage of any referrals of new affiliates or
advertisers to the network from your web site. Again, the rates vary greatly
between networks, but an ongoing rate of 5% is a level that can provide you with
decent residual income in the years ahead. With advertising campaigns quite
often running into thousands of dollars, it is possible to draw a good
supplementary income from referring advertisers.
Payout Schedule
Look for a banner network that pays promptly. I came across a
couple of agencies that paid up to 4 months after the end of month! A common pay
schedule is anything from 15-30 days after the end of month.
Terms and Conditions
Before joining any banner ad network, ensure you read the terms
and conditions carefully. The banner advertising industry is well known for its
share of fraud - perpetrated by all parties. Some agencies combat this with
Draconian rules, which gives publishers and affiliates very little flexibility -
look for an agency that takes fraud seriously, but still gives you some room to
move. It is also EXTREMELY important to read the terms and conditions carefully,
otherwise you may be breaking the rules without even knowing it. This usually
results in termination of your account and forfeit of any money that you have
made.
Variety of mediums
Many major ad networks now also offer pop-up and pop-under
campaigns as another means of creating income from your web site. For a more
detailed look at the pop-up and pop-under industry, view this article:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/pop-under-ads.htm
And the winner is..
So, back to the results - who did we find to be the best banner
ad networks on the Internet? Click on the link below for our recommendations!
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/misc/top-banner-agency.htm
Other income options
Another way to derive income from your web site is through
affiliate programs that offer text links. Descriptive text links are not only
kinder on bandwidth and load times, but tend to draw higher click through rates.
The other great aspect of text links is that when implemented correctly, they
can also assist with search engine rankings! To learn more of the benefits and
pitfalls of the text link affiliate game, and some of the better programs
around, view:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/
affiliatemarketingaffiliateprogram.htm
(excuse the long url, too much coffee that night!)
While you may not make a million dollars through banner ads, they can be a good
way to recuperate web site maintenance costs. If you do make a million bucks as
a result of our recommendations, donations will be gratefully accepted! ;0)
Further Learning Resources
Successful Affiliate Marketing:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/ articles2/successful-affiliates.htm
Michael Bloch
Taming the Beast.net
http://www.tamingthebeast.net
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