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Placing banner |
What is Banner Advertising?
 ver the past few years, banner
advertising has become an integral part of the World Wide Web. If you are looking to place banner
advertisements on your site, this article will help you sort through all the terminology and industry
trends.
Let's start with definitions used in the industry. A banner is an image that when clicked on, takes you to another Web page or Web site. A banner impression is the display of a banner on a page. A click-through occurs when a visitor clicks on a banner. A banner's click-through rate is the number of times a banner is clicked, measured as a percentage of the number of impressions for that banner. For more advertising definitions, visit the Website promotion dictionary. |
Understanding banner statistics:
 et's look at some banner
statistics for one of my sponsors to better understand the terms above.
This sponsor had a total of 54 click-throughs as a result of a banner served by my site 2,295 times. Notice that both impressions and click-throughs varied from day to day (and site traffic also varied). Banner advertising is most effective when the banner is placed at the top of the Web page. The visitor should not have to scroll in order to see the banner. It is also recommended that you place only one banner on a page. (More than one banner per page looks unprofessional). Four main banner advertising models exist on the Web: banner exchange networks, affiliate programs, banner brokers and networks, and private sponsorships. Your first decision is to choose which model (or combination of models) makes sense for your site. |
Banner Exchange Networks
 here are many banner exchange
networks on the Web. For example, Link Exchange will display your banner once for every two times
you display a member's banner from their network. This is fairly easy to set up and there are
no fees involved. You place special tags on your Web page(s) so that member banners appear.
For every two member impressions displayed on your site, your banner is displayed once on another
member's site. Link Exchange manages and tracks all activity through the special tags they
provide. This type of banner advertising will not generate any revenue, however it can increase
traffic to your site.
Example: Social-Studies.com (see bottom of page for Link Exchange banners)
Information: WPRC Banner Exchanges
(list of banner exchange networks)
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Affiliate Programs
 ffiliate programs have become
very popular on the Web. Amazon Books launched one of the first affiliate programs. Web publishers
can recommend and link to specific books at Amazon.com and earn some revenue in return. The revenue
earned is a percentage of book sales resulting from the clicks on these links. It is best to
recommend books from your own area of expertise. Amazon affiliates place a special link on their Web
page for each book they want to recommend. Affiliates can also display banners and icons in addition
to the links.
Affiliate programs vary in their offerings. Typically, the revenue earned is a percentage of the sales resulting from clicks on your links or banners. For more information about affiliate programs, visit: Example: Mathgoodies.com (an Amazon.com affiliate)
Information: Active Marketplace
(guide to affiliate programs)
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Banner Brokers and Networks
here are many banner networks
with paying sponsors on the Web, each with its own terms and conditions for membership. These
networks function as banner advertising brokers, bringing the sponsors and the Web publishers
together for a commission. Some networks pay Web publishers by impressions, others by clicks.
Commissions vary widely and are usually paid as a percentage of the total revenue earned. Most of
these networks require a minimum number of impressions per month. Typically they require a minimum
amount of earnings that must be reached before payment is made to the Web publisher. Your best bet
is to shop around and read the fine print.
Example: Puzzlemaker.com (uses ValueClick Banner Network) Information: Adbility
Advertising Networks (list of banner networks) |
Private Sponsorships
 f you have enough traffic to your
site, you can acquire sponsors privately. You can set your own rates and create a banner program
specific to your site. The rates you charge are a function of the traffic to your site. Rates are
given as CPM (cost per thousand impressions). Typical rates vary from $4 CPM to $25 CPM or more.
This is the most difficult banner advertising model you can choose since you are relying on your own business contacts and abilities. Rates are sometimes negotiated until an agreement has been made with the sponsor. Your site should have thousands of visitors per day in order to attract sponsors. Another option is to engage in private reciprocal banner exchanges with other sites. Such an exchange can increase traffic to your site. Example: Teachers.net (site has private sponsors) Information: Advertising Age
(articles on banner advertising) |
Summary
 egardless of the banner model you
choose, banner statistics (such as those at the top of this page) and site traffic are very important
factors in attracting sponsors. Prospective sponsors want a site with a lot of traffic before they
will pay for banner advertisements.
Sponsors will also want a site that offers the best prices and click-through rates. Average click-throughs have been declining on the Web each year. Click-through rates now average only 0.5 percent, instead of 3 percent in 1996. Targeted banner advertising usually yields a higher click-through. Targeted banner advertising is a concentration of banner impressions to a specific part of your site. For example, if you have an educational site, you can concentrate a math-related banner in the math section of your site. A higher fee is usually charged for this service. |
| t is recommended that you use
banner ad server software to rotate your banners and to provide banner statistics for your sponsors.
For a review of banner ad server software, visit
Adbility's Web Publisher's Guide.
There should be a good match between your content and the banners you place on your site. The banners should thus blend in with the content on your page. |
Additional Resources
 heck
out these sites for more information and articles about advertising
online. Good luck!
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