| LED Digest 0003: Efficient Banner Design |
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================================================== LinkExchange Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising" ================================================== List Moderator: Supported by: John Audette LinkExchange This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.linkexchange.com .................................................. January 29, 1997 Digest #003 .................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== NEW ======================= "Moderator Comment" ~ John Audette "Changing Banners" ~ Dillon "Efficient Banner Design" ~ Scott Dial ~ David Pettifer ~ David Harris "Idea: Top CTR Page" ~ Jan Hertsens "Non-Commercial Sites" ~ Andy Anderson ==== CONTINUING ================= "LinkExchange Click-Through Average" ~ David Sussman ~ Moderator Comment ~ Tony Hsieh / LinkExchange "Banner Network Comparisons" ~ Mark J. Welch ~ Tony Hsieh / LinkExchange "CTR Sample Size" ~ Richard Harper ==== INTRODUCTIONS ============== ~ Paul DiPasquale ~ Louisa B. Johnson ==== BULLETIN BOARD ============= "Banner Needed" ~ Curt Pedersen "Banner Recommendation" ~ Bobbie "Free Banner Offer" ~ Boris Grinkot ==== NEW ============================== Moderator Comment.... We have had an absolute *avalanche* of posts to our new LE Digest -- right now I have over 80 posts in my inbox. The average Digest will accommodate about 8-10 posts, so the math tells you that a lot of posts will not get published. This gives me the opportunity to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high, but a lot of well thought-out posts won't make it. In any event, don't get discouraged if your post doesn't appear in a Digest. Things will settle down a bit over time and the odds will improve. Regards, John Audette Your Moderator ++++ new post ++++ From: Dillon < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Changing banners? Greetings fellow readers: I'm the editor of the monthly online ezine The Pocket Internet. I've had a banner running for about a month now and I was wondering if I should change it. If the same readers are seeing it over and over again that might be good for building up a brand name. On the other hand, if it's being seen by different people every day then keeping the same banner doesn't do much to build recognition. My CTR (click through rate) varies between 30:1 and 50:1. Anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks - Dillon The Pocket Internet @ http://www.tiac.net/users/gadillon/pocket.htm ++++ new post ++++ From: "Scott Dial" < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Efficient Banner Design Well, It didn't take long once I signed up before I got my first issue of the Digest.. I just want to say that I for one am very happy with the service I am getting from LE. I run an information based site for Christian Musicians, so you wouldn't think that my ratio would be very high but so far it's 34:1. I for one am pleased with the results. I would like someone to explain "THE BEST" way to get a full color banner with text and still keep it down to 7k. This has been the most challenging part of dealing with LE. 8-9k no problem.. But 7k? I typically use photoshop to make the banner, save it as a jpeg (lowest quality) then load it into LVIEW and save it as a gif89a. If there is an easier way, I would love to hear it. Scott Dial Sold Out Productions This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.oklahoma.net/~soldout ++++ new post - same topic ++++ From: MediaSoft Magazines < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Banner Design As a commercial web site we are always experimenting with different ways to increase traffic to our pages. We do a lot of banner advertising, and have tried many different designs over the past six months, but have found that one type is extremely effective, so effective in fact that it has increased the CTR of our previous best banner by 25%. This method is the use of colours in banner design. We have found that sticking to just two or three bright solid colours in our banner ads rather than using a wide range of colours increases click through rates a great deal. It seems to make the banner stand out, and give it a certain unique identity to the rest of the page which catches the readers' eye. We recently did a test on our web site and asked visitors which banner they found most attractive - and 85% of them stated that the solid three colour banner (red, blue and black are the colours we use) was the one they preferred the most. So our tip when producing banners is to choose and keep to three or three bright, solid colours if you want to increase your click through rates. You can get an example of one of our banners by visiting: http://www.mediasft.demon.co.uk/example.html/ Increase that traffic! David Pettifer ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ), MediaNet - the best e-zine on the planet. ++++ new post - same topic ++++ From: Eliezer Brender < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Banners Hello, The LE banners are much shorter than normal banners on the net. They are only 40 pixels high. This is nice when creating a page, because they are so small and can fit in well. But it would be nice to make a banner taller and put some more stuff on it. What would people think of adding another 20 or 15 pixels in height? Of course, the restriction on banner size (in kilobytes, not pixels) would have to be changed to accommodate this. This brings up another topic. I have seen a number of people complain about the restriction on banner (kilobyte) size, saying that it really restricts what they can do in a banner. I think it might be a good idea to up the limit on banner size by a couple KB. Also, what about having the ability to have something like three different banners that are shown for one member. This way new banners could be tested out without using all of the credits and the old one could be restored without waiting for LE to approve it again. Basically, I just wanted to bring up these topics to see what people think and get some discussion going. - David Harris \ This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it DRH Internet Services \ http://www.drh.net/ ++++ new post - new topic ++++ From: Jan Hertsens < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Just an idea: Top of Click-thru's Would it not be a good idea to have a page a LE with "This weeks top 100 best click-thus" ? A nice little table that show the banners and their ratio. This will make the owners of those happy because they get some extra fame/exposure/hits and the rest of us can see what exactly makes a banner work. This can probally be done with the LE database without much hassle. As for privacy concerns: You could make it so that only those who have made their stats public to show up in the list. Or make an extra field in the profile page. Personally, I have a CTR of about 32. I would like to know how this compares to others. Any other suggestions? Greetz, _ o PGP: D7 60 17 56 37 85 B3 69 5A 37 8F EE C5 6A BE 57 | _ _.._ |<)_/# <<< Don't get mad. Get EVEN. Get CheatMachine! >>> \_|(/_(_|| | TT <T http://www.SliceOfLife.com/Official/AFOREST/CM.HTM NEW: Send a message with subject "SEND CM" to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it to automatically receive the latest version of Cheat Machine. ++++ new post ++++ From: Andy Anderson < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Non-Commercial Sites I've been a subscriber to ILE for 1 month. I'm very pleased that the level 1 & 2 categorizing works as advertised. I have not received any site ads which I'd consider offensive or on the risque' side. This was a concern because I had used a 'ring' before and ran across a porno link. My page is intended to be inspirational, on the 'safe surf' side and this is important to me for my visitors (http://www.inficad.com/~andya). I was also pleased that the first new post was from a personal, non-commercial site (thanks Betty St. John). The intro to this newsletter from John made me think that the primary focus was on commercial sites and free advertising. That part still is unclear to me. I am in the personal, freebie category (as far as I know); but I don't seem to receive many personal site ads -- mostly commercial ones with something to sell. Perhaps John could moderate on this topic. Regards, Andy -- Greetings From Andy Anderson, Phoenix, Arizona < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Please visit my Serenity Welcome Homepage: http://www.inficad.com/~andya "Do not regret growing older. It's a privilege denied to many." I Wish You Well ==== CONTINUING ======================== From: "Consumer Group USA, Inc." < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: ILE CLICK-THRU RATIO's The average click-thru ratio's at ILE is 33:1 ?!?!?! I find this very hard to believe that the "average" of everyone's click-thru ratio happens to average out at 33:1. This would mean that many click-thru's are much better than 33:1 and many are worse, yet the average is 33:1. I personally run a consumer information site which show's people how to save their money in 4 ways without a lot of wordy text to read through. Membership to our site is absolutely FREE. http://www.consumergroup.com/ The banner I made on ILE couldn't be more interesting to people who like their money. My banner has a catchy slogan about saving money without spending a dime. I doubt any other slogan could be better or more universally attractive than mine other than "FREE MONEY CLICK HERE". I am currently getting a click-thru rate of approximately 59:1. Although this rate is good (almost 2%), I cannot believe that someone who is selling pillows or cd's or laundry detergent is getting a better click-thru rate than I am. For this reason I find it VERY hard to believe that the true ILE average is 33:1. I have tested my banner with approximately 15,000 credits to my ILE account and therefore believe that my click thru ratio is accurate for my banner. I would appreciate some information as to be able to view a bunch of banners which are getting click-thru rates better than 33:1. I would also love to hear from all of the happy "average" ILE users who are getting that "average" 33:1 ratio. There's nothing worse on the ego than being just an "average" person, yet I would love to be an "average" ILE member at this time. =) Your Unaverage ILE person, -David Sussman Consumer Group USA, Inc. http://www.consumergroup.com/ This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ++++ Moderator Comment +++++ David's CTR is not at all exceptional. The banner for my company (MMG) has been displayed by the LE since 4/27/96 a total of 148,453 times and our CTR is 11.1:1. We run the same banner at the WebStep TOP 100 from time-to-time, and there the CTR has been 9.41:1. You can view the TOP 100 stats yourself if you're interested at -- http://www.mmgco.com/adcentral/ -- the username is mmgban and the password is mmgtop100. Regards, John Audette Moderator ++++ LinkExchange Comment ++++ The average click-thru ratio on the LinkExchange network is calculated by taking the total number of member banner impressions shown in a 24-hour period, and then dividing that number by the total number of click-thrus during that same 24-hour period. When we last made this measurement and calculation (about a month ago), the ratio came out to about 33:1. Tony Hsieh LinkExchange This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ++++ new post - new topic ++++ From: "Mark J. Welch, Esq." < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Re: Comparisons Between Banner Networks Chuck Locurto < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > commented on "the need that all of us who run commercial sites have concerning accurate comparative information about the different exchange/banner network programs." He added: "What we really could use is a concentrated source -- this digest would be ideal -- to compare the different programs and share experiences about them: How many different programs are there, What are the basic offers that each program makes, what experiences has each of us had with these programs, etc." I think my page on "Banner Ad Servers, Networks, and Brokers" is pretty much what Chuck is looking for. I attempt to summarize the information available about each program, including feedback from webmasters. My page is at http://www.ca-probate.com/comm_net.htm ___________________ Mark J. Welch (510) 847-2026 http://www.ca-probate.com/ Web Ad Networks & Brokers: http://www.ca-probate.com/comm_net.htm Banner Ad Server Software: http://www.ca-probate.com/ad_sw.htm Public Service Banner Ads: http://www.ca-probate.com/psa_bann.htm ++++ LinkExchange Comment ++++ You'll be able to find a lot of information on these topics at: http://www.ca-probate.com/comm_net.htm and in the le.test newsgroup that we carry at: http://www.linkexchange.com/newsgroups.html Tony Hsieh This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ++++ new post - new topic ++++ From: Richard Harper < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Organization: Enchanted E-Books Subject: Click-Through Ratio Dear Ms. Kahn: > My name is Ruth Kahn and I run a software business with a homepage on the > net. I recently joined ILE. My banner has a click thru of 114:1 after > about 550 exposures. I was drawn to respond to the comment above because because a click-through ratio of 114:1 after only 550 impression may not be a valid indication of the effectiveness of your banner. In the studies done by the Link Exchange they used 16,000 impressions to decern a banner's effectiveness. I would like to suggest that 550 is just too few for statistical value. If you are serious about testing your banner, I would suggest that 2,000 impressions would be a bare minimum to get a general idea of the banners effecitveness. And this can most quickly be achieved by becomming a "Friend of the Link Exchange," which I strongly encourage you to do. Software sales is made for the Internet and depending upon what it is you are selling you should be able to do pretty well here, provided that you have an effective banner (i.e. LT 30:1). Best wishes, -- Richard Harper, Mailto: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Enchanted E-Books: Http://www.E-Books.Com ==== INTRODUCTIONS ===================== From: joan piroch < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Introduction Hello to everyone, and thanks to LinkExchange for a great service. We all know how difficult marketing a new site can be, especially when budgetary constraints prevent us from "banner advertising" on the big search engines. One of the reasons we created Cue-Pons, <http://cue-pons.com> is to give sites of all sizes a place to advertise their sites (products/services) in a reasonable manner. Our price structure is based on "click throughs", so you only pay for actual visitors to your site. We believe this model will gain popularity as Internet Commerce grows up, in the next two or three years. For those of us who are selling a product or service on the Internet, high click through ratios (and "fill out form ratios") are certainly hard to come by. Try designing three or four different banners, and display them a few weeks apart. This strategy should allow you to select your most effective banner(s). Targeted Email is also another good, and cheap, way to market your site. Thanks again LinkExchange and best regards to all. Paul DiPasquale President Cue-Pons Company http://cue-pons.com This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ++++ new introduction ++++ From: "Louisa B. Johnson" < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Introduction Since our kind moderator suggested intros, I'll leap into action. I'm a portrait artist who specializes in canine charcoal headstudies, and I've used the Web for displaying my products for the past 6 months. I am your typical small business owner - company consists of me as CEO, marketing, advertising, development, accounting, clerical & whatever else comes up :) I'm involved with a few other e-mail lists revolving around dogs - what else - and have my own collection of dogs as evidenced by my sig. Louisa & a Gaggle of Irish Setters, a Setterized GH & 1 Deaf Brit Louisa B. Johnson - http://www.thepooka.com *************************************************************** Reasons for Living in Duluth, MN Potholes Recognized by Historical Preservation Society **************************************************************** ==== BULLETIN BOARD ===================== From: Curt Pedersen < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: ILE Banners Hi ! I am looking for someone that is willing to design an ILE banner for my www site for free. I have tried using the free sites on the ILE www page and have not received a banner. thanks for your help. Curt Pedersen Peak Performance Page: http://www.peakperformance1.com Peak Performance Supplements: http://www.peakperformance1.com/usana.html Peak Performance Bookstore: http://www.peakperformance1.com/titles.html ++++ new post ++++ From: Bobbie < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Banner Created Hi all - glad to be a "part" of John's digest, and a member of LinkExchange since early '96. I wanted to reply to the post from Mademoiselle Tina < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > on tonite's BB part of the digest. I needed a banner, and wrote to several listed on LinkExchange. The person who did a great job was Gabriele Wincker < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > She did a fine job for one of my sites....and I encourage you to contact her. The banner she did for me can be seen at: http://www.flash.net/~ericg/MARKET/MemoriesShared/MemoriesShared.html Regards, Bobbie Webmistress www.ismacs.net ++++ new post ++++ From: boris < This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it > Subject: Great banners designed (for free, of course) Hello everyone! At Internetika we will design your ILE banner free of charge. Visit our web site, http://www.internetika.com/asfa for more information, samples, and the application form; or mailto: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Boris Grinkot Certified Internet Marketing Consultant Member of the HTML Writers Guild This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.internetika.com/asfa |
