Patience and Perseverance

By MaryJo Scamurra
www.readybanners.com


Whether you run a large e-commerce website or a small personal
homepage, banner advertising can bring you new traffic. It may not
happen overnight, but it will happen and it doesn't have to be costlya
it may even be free!

CREATING A BANNER

Before you decide how your banner will be made, decide what you want
it to advertise. This is something that is often overlooked. The
offer itself can be just as important as the banner presentation.
Banner ads seem to work well when they offer something for free or at
a discount.

There are several ways to have a banner created:

1. Create Your Own
This option may take some time and practice before you get it right,
but anyone can do it. To keep your costs down, download a free trial
of Paint Shop Pro from www.jasc.com. This program is easy to use yet
produces many special effects, including animation.

2. Banner Generators
You'll find many online banner generators available, although end
results are not always desirable. It can be difficult to manipulate
the test and colors to suit your needs, but at no charge, these
generators will get the job done cheap.

3. Free Banner Makers
This is a more personalized way to go. Free banner services provide
you with customized banners. Some restrictions may apply, such as
size and animation, and generally a link back to the service is
required.

4. Professional Designers
Banner designers are experienced at creating ads that are eye-
appealing and effective. This option will most likely produce the
best looking banners and can carry a price tag of anywhere from
to several hundred dollars.

WHERE TO ADVERTISE

Once your banner is complete you will need to decide where to have it
be seen, and how much you are willing to

pay.

1. Banner Exchanges
These services place your banner on other websites, for free.
Basically, you show their banner and they show yours. Ratios vary by
service and extra impressions can usually be bought. A downside to
many banner exchange services is the lack of pinpointing your
targeted audience, although there are some exchanges that do target,
to ensure a more interested group sees your ad.

2. Swap For Banner Space
One way to get your banner shown on other websites is to create your
own exchange. Certainly you can seek out other webmasters willing to
trade banners, but also consider swapping your products and services
for ad space on other sites. Be creative, the possibilities are
endless.

3. Purchase Banner Impressions
Start small at first. Instead of heading over to Yahoo! to buy
impressions (which will cost you thousands!), find smaller sites that
reach your targeted audience. Send a request for ad rates to the
webmaster.

Create more than one banner ad and track the success of each one.
Not only should you track which banners were clicked on the most but
also where they were located. Gathering this information will help
you determine which banner ads are most effective.

Remember this is trial and error. If a banner doesn't seem to be
bringing in much traffic, test it on another site. If it still
doesn't work, try a different banner. Patience and perseverance will
pay off in the long run.

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ReadyBanners.com, your source on the web for free and custom made
banners, featuring pre-made banners that are ready to promote your
site! Visit us at http://www.readybanners.com
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