Using Banners to Promote Your Site

Banner exchanges are about the oldest form of advertising on the Internet. While banners won't flood your site with customers, they can be an effective low-cost tool in your promotional arsenal.

Your banner runs on other sites in a banner co-op while their banner runs on your site.

Two of the longest running free banner exchanges are Link Exchange (now a part of Microsoft..see http://adnetwork.bcentral.com/) and Banner Swap at http://bannerswap.com. Link Exchange reaches almost half a million sites and gives you plenty of helpful stats on how your banner is doing. Banner Swap lets you test different banners to see which work best for you.

There are a great many other banner exchange opportunities with widely varying benefits. Beware of claims that are too good to be true. They are usually aimed at Internet beginners who don't yet have a feel for the Web's limitations.

Many banner exchanges encourage you to put their banner at the top of your opening page. Don't do it. Banners take time to load and detract from the message your site needs to deliver. Instead, place banners at the bottom of your pages.

Banners that tell people to "click" to get something good far outperform other banners. Animated banners work well if their file size isn't too big (the banner exchange will list their requirements).

Yellow gets attention best but is hard on the eye. Blue is the most soothing color.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.

Feel free to use Kevin's articles on your website or in your newsletter or sales materials. Include contact info at the end. No spam.