In spite of the fact that the Internet is so incredible pervasive in today’s society and in the business world, the technology is still in its infancy: and website advertising is constantly changing. Many advertisers are just starting to realize how effective and profitable website advertising can really be, and the individuals selling ad spots online often have to rush to keep up with a quickly growing market.

Website advertising can be a mixed bag for your business or project. While there’s no guarantee that buying ads on a popular website will launch your sales and exposure to a new level, you can adhere to some guidelines that will help make your online ad campaign a bit more successful.

First, make sure that you’re advertising on a website in a similar niche. That may sound like common sense advice to some people, but you would be surprised at how many advertisers purchase space on websites or blogs that have absolutely nothing to do with their product. If you are advertising a microwave oven, you don’t want to buy ad space on a political site. Even if the site gets massive amounts of traffic, it won’t convert for your advertising and you won’t get many clicks. And the clicks you do get probably won’t be interested in buying microwave ovens.

Instead, spend some time doing research about the most popular websites in your niche and what their advertising prices are. Don’t just jump at the first opportunity you come across, but instead compare traffic levels, prices and ad sizes to make sure you get the best deal possible. Remember: if a website really is getting a lot of relevant traffic, they won’t be afraid to share their numbers with potential advertisers.

If the website does not publish their daily visitor statistics publicly, make sure that you request proof of how much traffic they get before buying any advertising. This proof can come in many forms, but the most common is usually a screenshot or printout of some sort of analytical program showing daily unique visitors, return visitors, and etcetera. Once you have this information in hand, you’ll be able to make a more educated decision on whether their advertising prices are fair or not.

Additionally, if possible, enquire about the average Click Through Rate for advertisements on their website. Click Through Rate, or CTR, tells you what percentage of visitors to the website generally click on an advertisement. A CTR over three percent is generally acceptable, but if it dips below two percent then you probably need to look elsewhere for website advertising.

Advertising on a website can be profitable and successful for your project or campaign, but make sure you take your time to do some homework before settling on the site that’s right for you.



By: Paul Turner

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Alternative marketing, also known as word-of-mouth, aims to reach consumers more directly than by traditional advertising on radio or television, or in print. It tends to be confusing, though, beginning with the number of names by which it is called. You can pick your favorite from a regular buffet of terms: under-the-radar marketing, below-the-line marketing, renegade marketing, street marketing, ambush marketing, vanguard marketing, ambient marketing, guerrilla marketing, covert marketing, stealth marketing, viral marketing, or diffusion marketing. They are all equally evocative of a marketing style that is unconventional in concept and hit-and-run in execution. Let’s look at just a few of the variations.

The Video Virus: Is it Catching?



Probably the best-known technique in alternative advertising is the viral video. A short video clip is produced, and slipped stealthily in front of the consumer by posting it on Internet forums, e-mails, video-sharing sites, and the like. This video is unlike the usual television commercial; it’s usually either humorous, or controversial, or both. A TV commercial wants to transfer information about a product to the potential consumer. These viral videos may include information transference, but their purpose is to entertain and amuse you. The idea behind them is that if people are interested and amused, they will pass the video clip on to Internet friends, and more people will then see it. Somewhere in the video is usually something about a product, or at least its name. Advertising companies believe that the details about a product will be sought out by the audience, if they enjoyed the video enough.

This is an interactive model of advertising, in that the consumer is active in receiving, viewing, and passing on the video clip. Even by just doing those three things, a person is exerting more effort than the watcher of television, who is simply sitting and watching. To see a video clip, at a minimum you need to press Play, or click on an arrow. And if you like it enough, you may watch it a few more times, then send it to some of your friends in an e-mail. After all this, it’s likely that you’ll remember the product when you’re in the market for something like it.

Blogs and Buzz

“Blog” is short for “web log”. Merriam-Webster Online defines “blog” as “an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer”. Blogs are a great way to reach an audience that pays no attention to traditional print and television advertising. Their contrast with the cleverly-produced values that are hyped on corporate websites is their “homespun” character. The voice in which they are told might be your own voice; at any rate, it’s the voice of ordinary, everyday folks. Many blogs are still, essentially, online diaries written by an individual; others have begun to dabble in the waters of marketing.

Anybody at all can set up a blog, as long as they have an Internet connection and something to say. There are webhosting services for sale that will help you create your own website for a blog, but you can get into blogging without hiring such a service. Most of the social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, or LiveJournal offer free blogging capabilities. In fact, there are so many sites and possibilities for blogging on the Internet that a new term, “blogosphere,” has been invented to encompass blogs and their myriad interconnections.

The marketing sphere and the blogosphere are beginning to intersect. Advertisers want to create “buzz” around their products: what better way than to get people talking about a product on their blogs? Young people, Generation Y-ers, and cool young professionals go to the Internet for the same services their parents would find in a telephone directory, an atlas, a road map, a radio or TV news program. This means that the Internet is the perfect place for advertisers to show their wares to potential customers. And blogs, because they are so friendly and believable, are the perfect medium for creating credibility.

You Can’t Get Away from the Ads!

The next new angle for advertising is the “captive audience”. Several companies like TransitTV are working this angle for all it’s worth. In five major US cities, over 3,000 buses, trolleys, and other public vehicles now have 8,400 screens installed to reach the captive audience. If you’re on a bus, in an elevator, or sitting in a restroom stall – you can’t get away from the ads! You can’t fast-forward through the commercials, or even turn the TV off! You are stuck, and even if you determinedly avoid looking at the screen, you can’t help hearing the sound.

TransitTV offers advertisers just what they want: an audience that is completely captive. There is only one channel, hence no flipping a remote from channel to channel when the commercials come on. There’s nothing else to watch. There is no way to get away from the commercial. Sometimes the commercials are hidden in what’s supposed to be a review of current events, a watered-down, not-of-the-moment news program; sometimes they are not. They’re the only game in town. Your only defense, as a consumer, is to avoid public transportation and elevators like the plague.

TransitTV also gives the advertising companies detailed demographic breakdowns of people exposed to their network. In addition, they can provide accurate measurements of advertising success. Advertisers love them; soon they’ll be everywhere.

“How’s It Going? Here, Try This!”

In an effort to make marketing more personal, and create real connections between advertisers and the people they want to target, “street teams” are becoming more popular. These people are paid to go out on the downtown streets and talk to people they encounter. They are a little like the lady in the supermarket with the bite-size samples of something or other – except that it’s easy enough to take another aisle if you don’t want to deal with the Sample Lady. The Street Team is right out there, walking alongside you, asking you to try something… it’s very hard just to brush past. It’s rude. They are counting on the likelihood that you won’t want to appear discourteous, and that you will have a verbal exchange with them, and maybe even agree to taste the crackers or cereal they’re pushing. They have already put up fliers and posters all over the buildings, so you’ve seen the name of the product just recently…

This is a first step in the creation of buzz. Advertisers have decided that the best way to get started on a network of personal connections that will be buzzing about their product is to force the personal connection between consumers and a company.

Buzz… buzz… buzz

“Buzz” is defined by Merriam-Webster Online as “speculative or excited talk or attention relating especially to a new or forthcoming product or event.” It’s estimated that consumers are exposed to about 3,000 commercial messages every day; so in order to cut through the clutter and make a point about your product, you’ve got to try something different. All the alternative advertising methods touched upon here are designed to create buzz and keep it going.

 

And buzz is a whole lot cheaper to use than traditional advertising. During primetime viewing hours, it costs an advertiser about $450,000 for a 30-second spot on television, for just a single airing. That’s just the airtime; it doesn’t include any production costs, actors, etc. Enough advertisers are investigating and using buzz that they have actually formed an association to try to weed out unscrupulous word-of-mouth advertisers. The Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association was formed in 2001, and is working with the Federal Trade Commission to set up guidelines to regulate marketing practices and prevent dishonest strategies.



By: Friak Angelo

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OK, a website is a phenomenal tool for getting your message out and selling your products. We all know the stories of the little guys that became big guys. They are promoted daily, almost tauntingly as TV commercials and banner ads make their success a glaring reminder that hard work pays off.

Many website owners aspire to have the same level of success but find themselves unable to break through the barrier that divides successful websites from unsuccessful ones.

As I give conferences, I am repeatedly asked “how do I make my website a success?” Depending on the website there are several different answers but there is one answer that I think applies to all websites that would like to grow in both traffic and sells.

The first thing that you must do is STOP GOING IT ALONE!

At first glance, that statement seems to imply that you should go out and bring in some partners to help with the day to day activities of the website. That’s not what I mean Check this out.

Often the owner of a website doesn’t have a lot of money. So, hiring a staff to help their website become a success is not an option. Many of the successful websites did it the expensive way and the expensive way works. But why do that if there is an inexpensive way? Any business owner will tell you that you have to be innovative when it comes to getting what you want or be willing to spend a lot of money to get what you want. I prefer the first option and you as a businessperson and website owner should always prefer it as well. Have others apply their talent to your website without it costing you an arm and a leg to do so.

Through websites like TypoBounty (dot com), you can essentially have a staff of thousands fighting for your website’s success for mere pennies and gain valuable website traffic at the same time.

Listen, the cause of a website’s failure is often not the product that is being sold. It can be the unprofessional appearance of the website. Spelling mistakes, poor grammar, missing graphics, broken links, lack of clarity, and the list goes on. These can be the death of a website.

The owner has to wear many hats sales, support, webmaster, tech support, business manager, accountant and on and on. He or she is often the one that must try to perfect the website to a level that will allow the website to accomplish the goals set for it. This often fails because the owner doesn’t see the clarity issues and non-connecting content on their own websites. Listen, a wire can be full of electricity but if you don’t connect it to the bulb, the light doesn’t come on. The same is true with a website. You can have the greatest product in the world but if you don’t connect with website visitors, their desire to buy never comes on and the sell will not happen.

Don’t underestimate the gravity of that statement. It can make or break your website. Why do you think large companies hire content writers to tweak their content for maximum effect? The power of words and their correct placement is often missed by website owners and those websites tend to produce limited results.

To do it alone takes more time and frustration than many website owners can afford. You can automate the process of making your website becoming perfect and powerful.

STOP GOING IT ALONE! Don’t just put your website on the Internet. Leverage the popularity of the Internet behind your website. Let the world help you market to the world. Websites like TypoBounty (dot com) lets you do that.



By: John Reed

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Many online marketers, both new and experienced, have used ppc advertising to advertise their website businesses.

PPC advertising; also known as pay per click advertising or ppc search marketing, has the potential to bring INSTANT traffic to your website.

Additionally, if you only wanted to advertise your brand online, then ppc advertising can allow you to publicize your brand or promote your business name on the Internet, often at little or no cost.

Many a time, however, internet marketing practitioners will encounter problems with their search marketing or ppc advertising campaigns.

An online marketer like you and I could potentially spend large amounts of money on ppc advertising, but yet not make any sales or generate targeted online leads. Some of us may remember watching the number of clicks and our ppc advertising costs rising continually but without having made any sales or acquired many email leads.

What could be worse is that you could end up getting jaded or disillusioned with ppc advertising methods and stop using them completely.

Certainly, setting up an effective ppc advertising campaign may well require a fair amount of time and effort, sometimes over multiple attempts of trial and error.

If you have tried ppc advertising, then you can probably remember all the keyword research, the webpages, tracking codes, keyword tracking systems, website analytics that you had to prepare and monitor?

As an online business owner doing your own website marketing, you would probably want the biggest website advertising “bang” for your buck.

Now, enter the free website advertising methods and techniques, which are also options that you can consider as alternatives to ppc advertising.

Naturally, if you wanted to replace ppc advertising with free website advertising, you will need to learn how to apply online advertising and Internet marketing techniques like:

1) article marketing

2) marketing with online videos

3) using your own website blogs as a form of free website advertising

4) applying web 2.0 website advertising techniques to drive traffic to your website

Also, let’s not forget that you have the choice of doing forum posts, blog comments, and joint venture marketing, all of which can be very effective as methods of free website advertising.

Given the many choices for advertising your website for free, should you then choose to replace your existing ppc advertising with free website advertising?

Perhaps, one possible approach is this — If you are not getting the ppc advertising results you want, then you can continue to learn the methods of ppc advertising, refine your techniques, and improve your pay per click advertising skills.

Meanwhile, it would certainly be a good idea for you to start learning and applying one or two other techniques in free website advertising.

The additional effort that you put into free website advertising will actually complement or supplement your existing ppc advertising efforts.

In other words, you can increase website traffic using free methods to advertise your website while you continue to market with and learn about ppc advertising.

Suppose you are doing pretty well and making a profit with ppc advertising. If this is the case, great job!

Why not also apply some of the many techniques that are available to you for getting free traffic to your website.

At the end of the day, a good internet marketing strategy to adopt might be to have several effective and consistent website traffic streams that will send visitors to your site.

Traffic to your websites could and should come from both free and paid website advertising sources. This approach ensures recurrent traffic to your website from a variety of advertising media and methods and will allow you to stay profitable while you make money online.



By: Tony C

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What exactly is online advertising? Online advertising is different from other forms of advertising, since its distribution channel is different. The advertising space on World Wide Web is more interactive, spontaneous, impressive and appealing to the prospective customers. However, the success of an online ad depends largely upon the active participation in it. The web space is sold to numerous webmasters in the form of advertisements, queries and promotional advertisements that are offered to public at large. The online advertising is one of the most emerging domains in the coming times and its past phenomenal success has already come up with a strong and positive impression.

Online advertising agency performs all kinds of activities that need to be undertaken to sell and/or promote a product or service. The process of creating a demand for the existing and prospective products and services is the primary motive of these value-adding agencies. These agencies collect information about the product or service description from advertisers and then promote and sell them by advertising on the websites and web pages.

How do these agencies perform? These agencies offer specialised services to their clients at an affordable price and since the Internet delivers an idea to a large audience within almost no time, the advertisers benefit from the services of these online advertising agencies. This is the main reason behind the evolution of Online advertising in the recent times and can also be evident from the fact that more and more business organizations’, nowadays, are allocating their budget keeping online advertising in mind.

Individuals make use of Internet for a number of purposes; these purposes may be specific or particular, personal or official. Whatever be the reason, Internet can take care of it. Internet has revolutionised the scope of advertising to a great extent. The most noteworthy contribution of Internet is in the field of Business and its defined areas. Advertising needs specialised individuals who are experts at sharing and promoting products and services to a large audience and thereby bring valuable traffic to the webmasters. This is the area where an online website advertising agency comes into picture.



By: Joy Smith

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