Web advertising is the new black. Or the new pink. Wait, what color is in style now?
Web advertising comes in all shapes in forms, with many more opportunities than print ads.
But there are two types of web advertising: free and paid advertising. When it comes to increasing website traffic there is no right or wrong. Each has a place.
If your goal is to convert website traffic at a fast pace, then paid advertising may be for you. Free advertising (outlined below) that builds website traffic over time starts with your Portal and focuses on relationship building. While this all takes time, in the end you’ll likely experience high quality traffic results.
Free Advertising
What do I mean when I say free advertising results in high quality traffic? Free advertising focuses on building relationships and brand preference with your audience. This increases the “know, like, trust factor” over time. Then, you are able to convert them into buyers.
Some examples of free website advertising are:
- Free articles (with a call to action)
- Free reports (with a call to action)
- Free videos (with a call to action)
- Floaters
- OFIEs
- Text Ads
- Email newsletters and promotions
- Social media posts
- Press releases (using free sites)
All of these examples require the same thing – good organic search optimization and an editor whom we’re assuming you already have on the payroll. Another benefit to this process is that it never stops working for you. Your blog, video posts, and press releases will live on the Internet forever, all the while driving website traffic.
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Paid Advertising
While most research shows that a top organic search ranking will generate about 50% more clicks than a paid listing, a paid listing can be bought today—assuming you have a relevant offer that gets clicked. (Google ranks paid listings based on their CTR (click-thru-rate and their maximum bid per click.)
In Mequodaland, website advertising offers the ability for someone to click on an ad that leads directly to your Rapid Conversion Landing Page (RCLP), subscribe to your email newsletter and then be up-sold to a paid product at a later date. You can also buy ads that lead directly to a product, but we rest heavily on the idea that you can sell more products to an email subscriber over time than you can a one-time web visitor who is meeting you for the first time through an ad.
Most websites charge a flat fee for a paid ad, for a period of time, that is based on some implied number of impressions. Larger websites and website advertising networks will actually charge for the number of impressions delivered on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis.
If you want immediate results, then paid web advertising might be right for you. Paid advertising allows you to target a specific audience which generally yields favorable results – increased website traffic – in a relatively short period of time. Paid advertising will require some testing and sampling to determine traffic flow and a budget.
Some examples of paid web advertising include:
- Online magazine ads
- Pay-per-Click ads
- Co-registration
- Mobile ads
- Pop-up ads
- Email ads
- Native ads
- Video ads
- Ezine ads
- Banner ads
- Online directories
- Press Releases (using paid sites)
- Affiliate Programs
Conclusion
Free website traffic and paid website traffic each have their pros and cons. It may take some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. Some opt to include both.
Which do you prefer, free or paid advertising? Please share your comments below.
