Worlds by Design Monthly Newsletter Volume I
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There is more than one way to create revenue from your website. You do not need to only rely on selling your primary product or service. You can open a whole new source of revenue by permitting selective advertising on your site. Banner ads are no longer seen as unprofessional. Many major sites now use advertisements to create extra revenue, including CNN, AOL and Yahoo. There are many online companies who now offer affiliate advertising programs that allow you to collect commissions on sales, or pay you a small fee for each click from a visitor to your site. So how do you choose which companies and programs are right for you?
Context is the key. You should choose products and services related to the topics of not only your site as a whole, but each individual page. If you have a site about Pet Sitting for example, you will be much more successful getting visitors to click on your ads if you list books on pet care and films with animal characters, than you would if you listed ads for the newest Brittany Spears CD. Visitors to your site will respond better to advertisements related to the topics that lead them to visit your site in the first place. There is another advantage to advertising as well – it creates additional topic-related content on your site and increases traffic, rather than detracting from your site and turning visitors off with random messages.
In this article we are highlighting two very popular programs: “Google Adsense” and “Amazon Associates.”
First let’s look at Amazon.com’s program. Amazon has a database of virtually every CD, DVD, Book (and so much more) that you can by in the United States. Most of you already know what an incredible business and selection they have. Their program allows you to selectively advertise the products of your choice. You can list not only specific products (examples are above), but specific categories and results from keyword searches, or let them suggest selections based on the keywords you provide. You receive a percentage of every sale Amazon makes from a click on through your site--whether they item they purchased was listed in that ad or not.
Click here to find out more about the the Amazon Associates Program.
Goggle’s Adsense program is amazing. Google will actually search your website for relevant keywords in your site, and post ads specifically targeted for each page. If one page is about the house-sitting services you provide, then expect to see ads for house-hold products. If you have a page about your family’s vacation to the Caribbean, then expect to see ads about hotels and airfares to the Caribbean. And best of all—you can block competitor ads. And here’s a secret benefit to Google’s program – it appears that by placing their ads on your site, they actually may index your site in their search engine faster. There may be other hidden benefits as well. Google Ads can be customized by color to match – or stand out from your color scheme – for best results.
Google has another great product – a free search tool for your website and the web at large (an example is below). You can collect revenue from clicks on ads that Google places in the search results. It is very customizable. In fact Google has MANY wonderful tools for your website, including their new Maps feature.
Click here to find out more about the Google Adsense Program.
Do you find yourself referring your customers to other companies for services you do not provide? Check their site! They may already offer a referral program! Do you accept Paypal for your business, but some of your customers don’t have Paypal accounts yet? Then you should be referring your customers with a special link they provide and earn .5% of their future sales.
Think about the other needs of your customers. For example, if you have a petsitter website, or your site is in any way related to travel, your customers will be interested in hotels, car rentals, flights, calling cards, etc. (as well as books, CDs, and music related to pets and pet care, and pet care products). You may be referring them to these services already – but weren’t getting any profit from it. Now you can. Companies offering these services often have affiliate referral plans.
Ads should be placed on pages that receive the most traffic, in order to be the most effective. They should be tailored to the content and keywords of each individual page; not just the site as a whole. In general, the upper-left side of the page has the best performance, and the lower-right has the worst. Ads may be made to blend in, or stand out from your site, depending on your style.
If you would like to receive a consultation on how Worlds by Design can help you improve revenue and traffic to your site through advertising and search engine optimization, please contact us. We can help you choose which companies, programs and products are right for your industry and your customer base. We can help you place them in the most effective locations on your site, and enhance your image, design, and the content quality of your site. We can also help you optimize your site for more keyword-search-related traffic, and increased web exposure to take advantage of your new revenue source.
Next Month: Making the Most of Your Website, Part 2: the Truth About Search Engines.
Have a great Autumn!
Your Friends at Worlds by Design
The 
. Enya is a personal favorite of Adam’s, and a vital inspiration to his own music (