The low CTR explains why most display ads can be purchased on a CPM basis rather than the CPC model used for most text advertising. Paying for impressions the CPM model has been the most common model for banner advertising. That doesn't mean it will remain the most typical, however.
CPM ads would be the de facto standard because display ads are all about capturing eyeballs instead of capturing clicks. That is, because you're not necessarily encouraging clicks by having an image-building ad, there's pointless to pay for clicks. Instead, the goal is to get the ad in front of as many eyeballs as you possibly can, which means you wish to pay for impressions. That's the CPM model.
That said, there's a subtle but definite shift in the CPM to the CPC model. While you should be familiar by now, with the CPC model you pay only if an ad is clicked; you don't pay for placement or impressions. This shift towards the CPC model may reflect advertisers' movement toward higher accountability; they want to be sure that individuals are actually viewing their ads, so it's natural to push for any click to register some kind of action.
That action doesn't need to lead to a sale; you can simply ask viewers to click to understand more, to download a brochure, or whatever. The key is to ask for action and then register (and pay for) the click.
Banner advertising isn't really for small advertisers. To get sufficient reach, you need to pay for a many impressions. That typically means buying space on high-traffic websites that charge a high CPM. So how much does a display ad cost? That depends upon a lot of factors, obviously. You'll pay more for larger ads, for better (top of fold) position, for higher-traffic websites. And of course you pay more for running your ad more often.
That said, a top-of-page banner ad on a high-volume website like AOL.com can cost you upward of the half million dollars. On the other hand, the same ad on my own website can be had for any ham sandwich and a handful of beads. Ultimately, however, you get that which you pay for; if you want a lot of impressions, you need to pony in the appropriately large budget.
With regards to display advertising, there's no one single type. Today's display ads can be image ads (that is, they contain a static graphic image) or rich media ads. So when it comes to rich media, the sky's the limit. What's rich media? It's anything that moves or plays or that delivers dynamic content towards the targeted audience. In short, you can take a look at ads that offer any of the following:
With that in mind, know that with regards to advertising effectiveness, bigger is better. It will come as no real surprise that wider ad formats tend to outperform narrower formats even if the narrower ad can also be taller. It's all about readability. Visitors can read more instantly with a wider ad than they are able to with a taller one. To that end, advertisers have found the following formats to be among the most effective:
That's two horizontal banners, a vertical skyscraper, and two largish rectangles. As you can see, these are all fairly large ad units and therefore are dominant on the underlying page. Obviously, you should experiment with different ad sizes, as well as ad positions, to find the ones that work best for your ads. But there's nothing beats size for getting you noticed.
While we're talking about ad sizes, additionally you need to consider the file size of the ad how big the image or video or Flash file that loads once the ad is displayed. In general, you want to keep file sizes no more than possible for most formats, under 40kb. Anything larger and you'll affect the viewership of the ad.
There's a good reason for keeping things small. While many Internet users connect over fast broadband connections, many don't. And when the connection speed is constrained, it takes a long time to download big files. Given that your display ad is likely on the top half of the page, that means it gets loaded before the underlying content. You don't want to tick off potential customers as they watch for your ad to load before they are able to view the page content they came there for.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
Note: This article was sent to us by: Charles Turner at 03142011
1. Search Engine Optimization Process
All articles are property of their respective authors. Please read our Privacy Policy!
© 2009 ArticleInput.com.
Partners: Damenmode