AD PROGRAMS
A webmaster should take several steps and precautions when choosing a sponsor to be affiliated with. By checking out many different programs and companies, and doing your homework, you can find sponsors that will not only help you make more money, but can become a trusted and loyal business partner.AD PROGRAMS
A webmaster should take several steps and precautions when choosing a sponsor to be affiliated with. By checking out many different programs and companies, and doing your homework, you can find sponsors that will not only help you make more money, but can become a trusted and loyal business partner.
INVESTIGATE SPONSORS
Thoroughly investigate the sponsor’s webmaster and the company. Just because a sponsor has a really nice website, does not mean that they will pay you, or pay you on time. Find the programs that are loyal and honest. Do your homework on any company before you join their program. How long have they been in business? Are they reputable with other webmasters and people in the industry? Are they known to send their payouts on time? Have there been reports of problems with that webmaster? How is their customer service? Visit all their sites and check out their tours and content. Are they professional? Do they provide what they say they do? Read the terms and conditions for their surfers. See exactly what you are sending your traffic to. Ask other reputable webmasters about them. Read up on them in trade publications and webmaster resource centers.
TARGET TRAFFIC
Choose programs targeting traffic similar to that of the site you are referring from. If you have a mature site, you do not want to refer the surfer to a teen program. Your traffic is there because of your specific content, and creates a specific targeted audience for you to send traffic from. If you have a mature site your surfer’s interest is mature and you want to cater to that. That is how and why they came to your website in the first place. After visiting your site, you want to send them to your sponsor’s mature site(s). This increases conversion rates tremendously, as you are working with a ready-made market.
WATCH STATS
Only use programs that check stats in real time. You need to keep close watch on your numbers, and if they are not reporting in real time, you cannot accurately accomplish this. If one banner is not working for you, try another one. Try several different ones. A sponsor who does well for someone else may not do well for you. A sponsor who does well for you may not sometime in the future. Utilize all that your sponsor has available to you. Programs will make you money, but they are only as good as your ability to attract new surfers. As long as your signups are higher than cancellations, income will continue to rise.
FOLLOW GUIDELINES
Respect terms and conditions. Read the FAQ. Read the entire webmaster website. By complying with the rules and regulations and reading all of the specific terms and conditions for each sponsor, you can avoid any misunderstandings. Ask the webmaster questions when you are unclear on any subject. Do not assume any one program works exactly like another. You need to investigate each one. There are important differences set up specifically by each webmaster. You need to be very familiar with the specific guidelines and terms of any sponsor you choose to avoid problems ahead of time.
KEEP ADVERTISING FRESH
Surfers become familiar with common advertising colors, shapes, and positioning — and skip over them. Change your banners and text often. Make advertisements appear to be part of your actual website. Use uncommon and creative text links. Use odd sizes for your advertisements, vertical ads, and interesting text to capture their attention.
PLACE ADS APPROPRIATELY
Put your best performing sponsors in your prime locations. Experiment. Your worst sponsor could become your best sponsor just because of a change in placement or banner. By simply re-arranging your page, you can increase your sales. Don’t overwhelm the surfer with too many ads on any one page.
Jessica Black is the Websites Manager for Price Communications/Cyber Trend, Inc. The company now has 38 websites, something for every niche.
