re: take down the banner ad

From: Justin W. Hitt <Justin.Hitt_at_hittpansophism.com>
Date: Wed 20 Jun 2001 13:24:25 -0500

RAMON RAY <ramon_at_smallbiztechnology.com> WROTE:

>I encourage all the smaller sites out there to think
>about it. You may be able to increase your revenue by
>a) building up your audiences
>b) selling high margin/profit services to those
>customers who rely on your brand!

These points are very important for anyone with a website
on the Internet (actually for any business, period.)
When I first reduced my ads by 50% my traffic
dramatically increased. Was it because of fewer ads,
probably.

Something else also happened, the CTR of my ads went up
dramatically as well. It seemed when ads were placed
in areas less intrusive, visitors took more care in
visiting them. Right now things are going pretty smooth
and my site has very few ads.

Before you remove all your ads do some experimenting.
Ads do serve some useful purpose, it channels traffic
away from your site and when done right increases your
value. Ads can even be used to channel those who are
not specifically interested in your product away from
your site to greener pastures.

For example, on your site try putting your 468x60
banner ad at the bottom of your page. This says to the
reader, "If you have not found what you wanted and you
have read the entire page, then consider ..." Also
screen your ads, those ads with the flashing "$115
Shopping Spree" are very annoying -- until you get
higher levels of traffic consider a good professional business-to-business banner exchange.

I recommend the banner exchange because it has worked
well for my cluster of sites that serve business owners
( http://www.hittpansophism.com/ | http://www.osn.net/ )
it keeps the traffic tightly knitted between related
sites. Of course, what ever you do to enhance the site,
take some benchmarks and test it.

Sincerely,

Justin Hitt

PS. Email me direct, we run simular sites and perhaps
can help each other get more traffic and better serve
our customers. I can set you up with an account on
my exchange and we can see how that works for you.
Anyway, good luck, drop me a note.
--

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(v) 301-904-3429
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(e) Justin.Hitt_at_hittpansophism.com



Received on Wed Jun 20 2001 - 13:24:25 CDT