Getting website advertising revenue from ads that really work
It is one thing to put ads up on your website and get people to see them, but quite another to get those visitors to click. So, what works and what doesn't these days?
Well, recent research shows that 'in ya face' style adverts which are over complicated and animated do not work too well any more. Now when I say 'too well' what I mean is that they are no longer generating the kind of click through rates of up to 10% (yes, 10%) that they were 8-9 years ago.
Of course, people were clicking on these great new designs for fun back then, but things move on and people respond in a very different way now.
One thing you must do though is test out what can work on your site. If you rely on adsense or network ads on unsold pages then it really does make a huge difference when these ads are in the right style and format for your visitors.
A general concensus (and One I absolutely agree with) is that you should always match the colour and general style/theme of your ads to your content. If your site is in a dark blue then a banner or text ad with a dark blue background, text, or URL link will probably work best. Another thing you can try is to place the ads to the left and right of the text and then test the response by moving the ads closer or further away on a regular basis. If you do this via a database for adsense then it is a few minutes job. If you have to do each manually then it will take you longer and may not be worth all of the extra effort.
However, do thoroughly test your ads and make notes on how people respond to them. If you test this with adsense text ads and get great results, then follow that up with your banner ads and any new formats (like video) or other new designs.
Believe me, the time you spend getting this right will pay dividends later on. What's more, you can impress your advertisers by telling then that you have taken the time to research it and that is just one less thing for them to think about!
Finally, if your advertisers are not convinced about the colour scheme argument, it is probably becuase they want to run their own designs on your pages. Always think of a compromise in this case and maybe offer a free banner design service.
If they reall want to run a bright yellow flashy ad on an orange website, then you may just have to give in. Don't go down without a fight though!
We hope you'll have a look around this site and view loads more of advertising related material in the news section. You can also receive our free ad-sales report by filling out the fields in the box at the top of this page.
Finally, don't forget to to take a look at our new ARC service for webmasters and site owners. You won't look at your business in the same way again!
Date added: Saturday July 26th, 2008
