Then there's the "banners are a no-no anyway" argument...  For affiliate marketing especially, text-based recommendations have been proven to be far more effective persuaders (to click on a link) than banner ads.

In fact, some affiliate merchants and other advertisers have taken this so to heart...  That they've created banners that look like textual testimonials (clever!), or other typically expected portions of websites.

This is not to say, by any means, that all visual banners are bad!  Though my nervous system doesn't appreciate jarring, flashing, jangling stuff of any kind on a website, I have seen some really attractive banners...  And I firmly believe that visuals can enhance a message in inimitable ways.

But it's the message that's important.  Most people on the web are looking for information; and surely the vast majority of the most successful websites give it generously.
 
 
Still, banners wouldn't be there if they didn't work at all!

It would be silly to forget reality - people do click on banners, even if not as much as on an editorially-promoted text ad.  And many webmasters are willing to give up bits of their "real estate" to other people's banner ads.

A webserver proprietor I know figures that most people are adept at tuning out the ones they don't want to be bothered with...  So he does suggest that his customers use a banner exchange as one of their promotional tools.  

For the frugal webmaster of a site that doesn't have much traffic, banner exchanges remain of interest...

Wouldn't it be cool if you could just concentrate on making the best ad banner for yourself, that would stand out from the crowd?  You'd be sure to make it informational, so that it would attract targeted traffic to your site.

In fact, you might even use affiliate program banners (with your coding) in a banner exchange...  If those banners are really information-rich and enticing.

But there are still all of those first generation banner exchange program problems...

Really.  There's a new free banner exchange that solves all of those problems I listed above!  And it even has an affiliate program 5 levels deep, whereby you can earn the right to have your own banner displayed more times.  (Which you don't even have to promote to gain from, because there's a link beneath every ad to let people know how to join.)

(It's even paying you an extra $15-worth of ad impressions to join.  Perhaps this is something that will be pulled in time...  All the more reason to look into it now.)

The one-of-a-kind "Banners Go MLM" program gives you...

• Access to two different banner creation tools.  (I highly recommend the first one listed on their site - it's quite sophisticated yet easy to use.)
   
• A 1 to 1 exchange ratio...  For every impression of another business' ad on your site, your ad will be seen once on someone else's site.  (How can they do that? - they display two ads at once; simple.)
   
• The ability to select the types of sites you want your banner to be placed on... targeted banner ads!
   
• The ability to bar one category of advertisers from your own site (i.e., your competitors, or perhaps subjects you don't want to have associated with your website).
   
• The choice to put or not put ads on specific pages of your site.  And that includes your home page!
   
• The choice of where to put a banner ad on your page.  If you'll only consider putting it at the bottom of your page, so be it!  (The only restriction is that you can't jam a bunch of empty space between the real bottom of your page's content and the banner ad.)
   
• And it's even set up so that clicking on one of the banner ads opens a new window...  Meaning, your own website will still be on your visitor's browser when they get through at the other advertiser's site.

Suddenly, this well-conceived service has put the advertiser in control!  And that's what was glaringly missing from the genre. ...Great!

Not only that, but consider this...  More people in this banner exchange program will not be putting ads on the tops of pages.  That means that fewer site visitors will be automatically filtering out those banner ads.  Now, if your banner ad also stands out from the crowd (especially, if it looks like a natural part of a website), it stands to reason that it should be that much more effective.
 

Is this for you?

"Banners Go MLM" is a fantastic improvement over all those first generation banner exchanges. ...But you still have to make sure it makes sense for you.

Ever notice how tightly-focused those very successful, only-a-few-pages sales sites are?  No extraneous banner ads there!  Those are narrow funnels, leading directly to the order page.  Don't sidetrack people with other people's ads on your get-to-the-order pages!

In contrast, some websites that are specifically geared toward webmasters might indeed do well to have this banner exchange on the top of even their home pages...  Because it would be one of several money-making opportunities that they promote to their site visitors.

Others will wish to carefully pick and choose amongst their pages. ...Pages "deeper in" might be "safer" - though that has to be weighed against the probable lesser traffic to each such page, equating with a lesser number of ad impression credits for you.

(But if you do have many pages...  Yes, this is a good rationale for that! - along with having that many more chances to draw keyword traffic via the search engines.)

There are some types of pages where ads are far less likely to detract from your site's "message".  Newsletter archives are "dig deep" pages, where people land because they really want to be there...  Any page of that type is a safe choice for other people's ads.  Discussion forum pages, if you host your own, would be another good bet.  How about archives of articles?

You have to strategize...  Yes, you could also place your own affiliate banners on those pages - but they won't bring you traffic!  So you might deem some ("prime real estate"?) pages best for driving sales, others more useful for bringing in traffic via this banner exchange.

Hmm, does this give you impetus to set up newsletter or article archives? - it does me!

Still, I'm not now touting "banner exchanges"...  Just one banner exchange program - "Banners Go MLM".  (Or any other one just like it that comes along!)  
  

Gordon Pioneering - Copyright 5-2001

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Sherry Gordon is the learn-it-and-pass-it-on creator of "The Affiliate Marketing Primer", at http://www.AffiliatePrimer.com/ - and the website http://www.ThinkJointVenture.com/...  If you're interested in learning what has percolated up to the top in her webmarketing tactics, sign up for her free 6-day e-seminar called "Top Web Business/Success Builders" here - mailto:topwebcourse@geteresponse.com
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