Buying Ads from Website

Buying your ads directly from web sites themselves can be difficult work. Most web sites, in an effort to minimize the amount of work on their end, opt to participate in networks. Thus your only opportunity to advertise with them is by going through those networks. Once involved with a network, a web site will not be allowed to also sell ad space on its own - one condition of joining a network is that the network controls the ad space.
Many of the larger web sites join an ad network, so a great place to look for ad space for a direct buy is within niche websites. On any given topic there are tens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of web sites catering to the common interests of potentially millions of online users.
You name the topic, there are web sites online loaded with information about it. Now, many of these sites tend not to have the highest quality in design and layout, but that should matter little to you. Remember, overriding goal should be conversions. Do you really care if the site showing your banner is a plain html web site with basic black text on white pages? No, you don't. The only thing you should care about is traffic. Does the site have any? Can the site owners provide you proof, either in the form of past reports and traffic numbers, or with a test flight of your ads? Posting your ad for one week should be long enough to test the exposure for value. With these smaller, niche sites, don't be afraid to ask. Worst case, they say no. Best case, you get the flight of test ads running and see for yourself. For many niche web sites it's unlikely the site is the sole focus of the webmaster or whichever individual you'll be dealing with. In many cases the web site is a sideline or hobby, so you should remember to be flexible about things like actual start dates, whether the web site returns emails immediately, and the ad sizes it can accommodate.
It's no secret that blogging has exploded, so look to blogs as opportunities for exposure for your banners too. Blogging is an entirely different world than the one inhabited by regular web sites, so be ready for a difference when you get involved. Generally speaking, bloggers care more about credibility than profits, though this trend is starting to change. While you might want to place your ad on a particular blog, finding the owner, talking to him or her, and, in some cases, convincing that person can take time and effort. In the world of blogs, you might be better served starting high up and trying to work you way back down. In other words, you should look for ad space on popular, well known blogs for your products and services before seeking out smaller ones. Usually these more well known blogs will already be set for advertising and be accustomed to dealing with advertisers, so working out a solid plan that drives converting traffic to your site will be easier.
Take the time to figure out who the informal leaders are in the niche. Do the research. Participate in conversations on blogs and websites, and then approach the most appropriate ones about advertising with them. Bloggers and niche site operators tend to be very connected to their users and communities, and they are keenly aware that whomever they promote reflects on their own sites.
In many cases you will find that when you purchase banner ads, you tend to get more than you paid for. By setting expectations around performance up front and by clearly communicating with the site about performance each week during the campaign, you can have productive discussions once the campaign is over. If performance was better than expected, write another check and keep going. If it was lower than expected, ask the web site/ blog to work out another arrangement. In exchange for another month of advertising, sites will usually give you more exposure.
When i was running banner ad campaigns, if any were returning 10 to 20 percent below my expected success rates, i'd often ask the web site for another 10 to 20 percent on top of the contractual agreement It didn't matter whether it was impressions or clicks the website was charging for. The web site usually agreed to help me try to meet my overall goals. Unless a web site is totally sold out of ad inventory, it will usually accommodate this request after the first month's results are in. You do need to be realistic and honest, though. The worst thing you can do is to build a reputation for trying to swindle web sites out of traffic and users by pretending your banner ad campaign results were much lower than they actually were. If your results truly were that bad, don't sign on for a second month. Period Try another site.