Banner and Link Exchange Services
(Put free resources to work for you!) Step 7 of Pacific Business Marketing's
"Ten Steps to Web Site Success"
The World Wide Web represents a marketing opportunity unlike any that has existed in the past or will likely ever exist again. The ability to reach
so many anxious buyers, for so little cost, across international boundaries is staggering. Smart entrepreneurs will cash in now! If you have been following our Ten Steps to Promoting Your Web Site, you've already created a marketable web site, maximized your site's ranking
with the major search engines, submitted by hand and with the
Net Submitter Pro, linked with all the sites you can for free and you're now ready to take advantage of the benefits of both free and paid services using some of the more popular banner exchange
services on the Internet.What is a link or banner exchange service?
Simply stated, a banner exchange service is a web site (the banner exchange service) that has assembled a group of web sites for the
purpose of sharing visitors. The links the banner exchange service uses are established through banner ads (rather than text links). When a banner is displayed, clicking on it takes you to the website that paid for
the banner. How do banner exchange services work?
The banner exchange service you use will monitor the number of times visitors "click through" to another member sites. Each time a visitor "clicks through"
to another member site, the sponsoring site receives a credit (typically 1/2 credit) toward their own banner appearing on other members sites. The more traffic you generate, the more click throughs to other sites. The
more click throughs to other sites, the more credits for your banner ad to appear on other pages. The more times your ad appears on other pages the more click throughs back to your site... you get the idea!
Who are the major link and banner exchange services on the Web?
Here's a partial listing:
Cyberlink Exchange 2000
Link Exchange
Link Trader
Smart Clicks
Trade Banners
Narrow Cast Media
Net On Banner Exchange
What are the disadvantages of Link and Banner Exchange Services?
Let's face it. While link and banner exchanges promote themselves as a "free" service, the reality is they aren't. Why? Think about
it. Your new web site will take time to generate traffic. During that time you are to earn very limited free credits, so how is your banner going to appear on other members' sites? Of course the answer is you can buy
banner exposures! You pay the banner exchange service and they will display your ad on member pages, enough displays you start to get enough traffic and the money machine starts! Right? Well... still not really true.
We'll run some math in the next paragraph. How effective are these services?
Unfortunately, the effectiveness (and the COST effectiveness) of a banner
exchange services is highly dependent on a number of factors. What are those factors?: First - the math. Assume for a moment that you were to consider a "free"
link exchange service as your primary vehicle for attracting visitors to your site. Let's assume you started out by buying 1,000 credits for your banner
to appear on other members' sites. We'll further assume that your banner generates an exceptional 35:1 "click through ratio" (the ratio of the number
of times your banner is displayed on other members sites for each time one person clicks through to your site). So, with 1,000 appearances and a 35:1
ratio you should get approximately 29 visitors. If the member banners on your site also get an excellent 35:1 ratio you now have 1/2 credit left for
your banner to appear on other member sites! Bad deal if you think "free" banner exchange services are going to create a tremendous volume of traffic for free!
Here are some factors that will effect the amount of traffic you receive
- The quality of your banner will effect the click through ratio. Experiment with banners until you get ones that generate click through ratio you want. Don't forget, 35:1 is an exceptionally good ratio. See
web design services
for more details creating banners that generate traffic to your site!
The targeting capability of the link exchange service(s) you belong to will effect the volume AND quality responses you receive.
The quality of the member banners that appear on your site will effect their click through ratio and consequently the number of credits you earn for additional exposures. If they do a poor job you lose the
benefit of the exchange service!
So how can I benefit from using link and banner exchange services?
Link and banner exchange services are not a solution to effective website
marketing (and they are not "free" if you expect to get any traffic!). However they can - and should be - ONE of the components of your overall marketing
plan. The key to understanding how these services benefit you is to understand that you still need to drive traffic direct to your website through all the other marketing vehicles. Those other vehicles include:
Submission and Ranking Services
Link Swapping
Internet Advertising
Email Lists
Fax and Mailing Lists
Web Reviews
With those other vehicles in place, link and banner exchange services can be employed as a "spin off" benefit. The bottom line? Link and banner exchange services should not be a key
component of a start up web site's marketing plans. The "free" part only provides a real benefit when you have traffic through other sources. See Also... | Web Design Services |
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