You have a website. Now what? Make some money from it!
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Online Advertising Primer
Methodology -- How ads are paid
CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) - you get paid based on the number of times an ad is displayed on your website (the TV commercial model)
CPC (Cost per click) - you get paid every time a user clicks on an ad on your website
CPL (Cost per lead) - for every click that results in a lead or inquiry for the advertiser, a download of software, etc.
CPA (Cost per action / acquisition) - an ad display leads to a completed sale, registration, download, etc. Virtually all affiliate network advertising can be thought of as CPA.
Type of Ads you can put on your website
Banner Ads -- A graphical image or an animation which acts as an advertisement to entice site visitors to 'click through' to obtain further information.
Pop up Windows -- An advertisement that displays in new browser window. One of the more annoying types of advertisements in which multiple windows are popped up every time a user enters into the website. There are sharewares such as pop-up blockers that reduce the effectiveness of this type of ads.
Text Ads -- An advertisement using text-based hyperlinks. This is the bread and butter product where Google generates most of its profits. Another type of text ads are those the are embedded in the text of the website. The text contains an hyperlink that points to the marketer's website.
Video Ads -- A video that acts as an advertisement
Custom Made Ads -- e.g. a widget about the product being advertised -- such as eBay search bar, Match.com people finder
Other creative ad placements -- Some examples:
- Product placement inside your banner ads (e.g. the fast food stores featured in all the graphics in your site can be your neighborhood hamburger joint, or the famous McD.)
- Map product placement. If you have a map-based interface in your website, you can allow advertisers to be displayed more prominently on the map by paying a little premium (e.g. your favourite neighborhood hamburger joint can have a special icon that distinguishes itself from other fast food places.)
Ways you can embed ads in your websites and generate revenue from it is almost limitless!
Sources of Ads
Direct sign-up with clients -- you can liaise with people, businesses that are related to what your web site is offering
Join an ad network -- the most popular ones are Google Adsense, Yahoo! Overture, & Microsoft adCenter. If your website has good ranking, these programs are probably willing to buy out your entire ad space with a fixed monthly / annual fees.
Join a banner exchange network -- this network provides the potential to draw extra traffic to a web site through banner displays and is a good way to fill unsold or nonprofitable inventory. You put the banner ad of the exchange network on your website. Your banner will then be displayed on websites in the same network under a pre-defined ratio.
Affiliate Programs -- Programs that allow other companies, or individuals, to market a company's products or services for a commission fee per item sold.
Sponsorship -- You can ask a company to sponsor your website if what your website is complementary to the company's business.