Are Banner
Exchanges Worth It?
By Joshua Reimer I get many people asking me,
"are banner exchanges worth
it?". Why do they ask that question?
It's because they see their banner's
terrible statistics, usually something
like this:
Banner Displayed 198
times
0 Click Throughs
6 Credits Remaining
Isn't that exciting?
You have displayed this banner exchange's
banner almost two hundred times and have
received nothing in exchange. This is the
way it is with most people. If the
exchange offers a 2:1 exchange ratio, and
your banner has a click through ratio of
100:1 click (not uncommon on the
Internet), then your statistics will most
likely not look to pretty.
The debate goes on...
are banner exchanges only good for the
people who run them?
It is starting to sound
like that.
Personally, I think
that banner exchanges do have their
place, if you do it right. Here are some
things that you can do to optimize your
banner exchange experience:
- Make sure you have
a banner with a good click
through rate. Of course, click
through isn't the only thing. You
want to get a good response. So,
let me change that. Don't just go
for a banner that gets a good
click through rate... go for a
banner that will draw visitors
that are interested in your site.
It is much better to get
qualified visitors even if you
have to get a lower click through
rate.
FourCorners
has lots of information on
designing good banners. http://www.whitepalm.com/fourcorners/
- Make sure you only
display one banner on each page
of your site. I can't tell you
how many times I have seen sites
that line over five banners up at
the bottom of each page of their
website. Banners are annoying
enough... don't annoy your
visitors more than you have to.
The object of banner exchanges is
to drive visitors to your site,
not to drive them away.
- Make sure that you
give the banner a good location
on each page. Design your site so
that the banners are a natural
part of the design. Take my site,
Promotion World for example. I
have designed it so that the
banners look good on it... in
fact, I have experimented with
leaving them off, and it doesn't
look nearly as good.
Webreference is another
good example of a site that
integrates banners well into
their site design. http://www.webreference.com/
- Make sure you join
an exchange that offers good
targeting, especially if your
site is on a subject that appeals
only to a very small audience.
There is no point in broadcasting
your banner to hundreds of people
that couldn't care less about
your site.
- Make sure that the
exchange you join has a good
credit ratio. There are a number
of exchanges that offer much
better ratios that what
LinkExchange and others offer.
LinkBuddies is one such
exchange. They offer a 4:3
exchange ratio. http://www.linkbuddies.com
TrafficX trades
click throughs instead of
traffic. This exchange works
really well! http://www.trafficx.com
Finally, check out a
number of different exchanges to see
which works best for you. My website,
Promotion World, has reviews and ratings
of over 35 different banner exchanges to
help make your decisions a bit easier.
There are also a number of different
articles on the subject of banner
exchanges. Have a look at http://www.promotionworld.com/be/
If done right, banner
exchanges can be a reasonably useful tool
for getting a bit of extra traffic. Make
sure, however, that you don't rely on
them alone. There are many, many other
forms of promotion available. There are
lots of websites dedicated to the subject
of website promotion, and I recommend you
visit some. Some of my favorites include:
My own site, Promotion
World at http://www.promotionworld.com
VirtualPROMOTE at http://www.virtualpromote.com
Webpage Advertising at http://www.toppromotion.com
May your banners be
blessed with high click through rates!
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Writen
by Joshua Reimer
Are you a beginner to website promotion?
Then try my FREE 40-page tutorial
designed especialy for beginners. You
will get a good grounding in the basics
in a painless, easy to understand way.
The tutorial and other great promotion
help can be found at http://www.promotionworld.com
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