HIT COUNTS AND ADVERTISING

Written by Bob McElwain


Continued from page 1

Probablyrepparttar best approach is to forget about a 3 or 4 month moving average, and generate an average this month for all earlier months. Whatever your results, you can not afford to advertise until you have a tested ad and feel confident fromrepparttar 125255 value of a hitrepparttar 125256 ad will produce profits. For a new site, unless you already knowrepparttar 125257 advertising game, this may mean waiting a year or more before even giving advertising a try.

Getting Started With Advertising

Most find advertising in ezines to berepparttar 125258 most effective approach onrepparttar 125259 Web. The trick is to find ezines directed at your target. Then test your response to an ad inrepparttar 125260 least expensive way. Given a poor or inadequate response, try another ezine. But given a good response, go for it. In theory, advertising that works can bring unlimited profits.

Ezine advertizing costs are often stated with a single price. To make your numbers work, convert this price to CPM. This also makes it easier to compare costs from ezine to ezine. For example, ifrepparttar 125261 circulation of an ezine is 4000 andrepparttar 125262 cost ofrepparttar 125263 ad is $20, you are paying $5 CPM.

Other Paths

I've haven't heard any recent reports of good success with banner advertising usingrepparttar 125264 CPM model. Some are reporting success withrepparttar 125265 pay-per-click model, which means you pay only for clickthroughs to your site. This is essentiallyrepparttar 125266 same model used withrepparttar 125267 pay-per-click search engines such asrepparttar 125268 one at GoTo.Com. There are no tough decisions here. Ifrepparttar 125269 value of a hit to you is greater than what you must pay for a click to your site, go for it. If it's not, ignore these avenues until it is.

With an established site, several search engines, such as Google, offer some interesting possibilities I have not tested. Pricy, though, for new or small sites.

Directories

To submit a listing to Yahoo requires payment of $199. Regardless ofrepparttar 125270 value of a hit to you, submit as soon as your site is sufficiently polished. Consider it a one time advertising cost, and don't look back. Yahoo may deliver as much as a third of search engine related traffic.

LookSmart is not such a sure thing. Also $199, they're asking too much, in my opinion. But I still recommend payingrepparttar 125271 fee. Again, it's a one time cost. Over time, a listing will pay for itself, and may ultimately do so many times over.

SNAP is another matter. They also ask for $199 for a listing in their "Top Sites" directory. I don't think it's worth it. And I have not heard others recommend it. But it is an option. Submit for free to their "Live Directory," then walk away.

DMOZ is a must. Submitting a listing is free. And if you find a second category into which your site fits well, a second submission about a month later works well.

So When Should An Advertising Campaign Be Launched?

As soon asrepparttar 125272 value of a hit and a tested ad will produce profits. Until this point is reached, advertising is a waste of money.

For a new or sluggish site,repparttar 125273 way to go is to keep working at boosting your CR (Conversion Ratio). That is, continuously examine all elements in all paths leading to sales, in search of improvements that bring a higher CR. By increasing your CR, you increaserepparttar 125274 value of a hit. Ignore all thoughts of advertising until your CR is sufficient to produce a hit value high enough to coverrepparttar 125275 costs of placing ads.

But once this happens, go for it. All out.

Bob McElwain Want to build a winning site? Improve one you already have? Fix one that's busted? Get ANSWERS. Subscribe to "STAT News" now! mailto:join-stat@lyris.dundee.net Web marketing and consulting since 1993 Site: Phone: 209-742-6349


"What EVERYONE Wants on the Internet!"

Written by A.T.Rendon


Continued from page 1

The list of web masters gives you a good start on which to keep building your community.

2. Mailing list.

Join a discussion or mailing list.

These are communities that already exist and discuss topics of interest by e-mail.

The Internet discussion groups may be mailing lists, newsgroups, message boards, chat rooms or IRC type chat channels, to name just a few possibilities.

Seek outrepparttar moderated type lists as they are loaded with target rich people. And you do not place ads in such groups, you participate.

However, a 2 or 3 line signature on posts is allowed. Some groups even allow larger signatures.

Here are some FREE Resources to find and Join Free Discussion or Mailing Lists:

Liszt - The Mailing List Directory: http://www.liszt.com/

Search The List of Lists: http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html

CataList,repparttar 125254 catalog of 46,902 public LISTSERV lists! http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html

3. Your Signature.

NEVER underestimaterepparttar 125255 power of your signature.

During a one week period, my signature wasrepparttar 125256 ONLY form of promotion I used and in just five days we got over 1000 visitors to our unadvertised web site.

How To Use Your Signature: http://emailexchange.org/sig.html

4. Ezines/Newsletters.

Whatever your interest, there probably already exists a network of publications that tap into your community.

Tap into these publications, a few at a time, and you will get an instant pulse on happenings online.

Top 100 Online Newsletters: http://emailexchange.org/newsletters.html

5. Start Your Own Mailing List.

Email isrepparttar 125257 foundation of global communication onrepparttar 125258 Internet.

It is essential to begin your own mailing list of people that AGREE to receive your email.

Perhaps once a week, with a word of interest, you send out a mailing with info directly related to your common interest.

It is important to keeprepparttar 125259 lines of communication open with your community of people.

This gives you a basic "Blue Print" to follow to either begin to establish yourself onrepparttar 125260 Internet or expand on whatever you have already accomplished.

Once you know WHY you want to contact people, then you will know WHO it is you need to communicate with and for WHAT reason.

The basic resources outlined above will give you a strong foundation to discover WHERE to reach that special niche or target audience of yours.

A.T.Rendon is an entrepreneur and published writer. Subscribe to FREE Business Classifieds Newsletter-FBCN & receive FREE online access to our Password Protected "FREE Submit To Over 2.7 MILLION FREE Ad Sites - DAILY!" mailto:subscribe_fbcn9@emailexchange.org Visit us at: http://emailexchange.org/?freecontent


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