Banners? Pop-Ups? What's Best?

[WiseWizards]

Hello!

For my website design company's website, I am providing sponser services. I was wondering, for pricing, what the order for recommended advertsing was.

Which receives more attention (And in order):

Banners
Pop-Ups
Pop-Unders
{Enter Your Idea Here}

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
Mike

[WiseWizards]

Are there any methods you prefer over the other? Which do you feel least bothers visitors?

[Linda Buquet]

Pleeeeese don't sell pops!

Since people hate pops it drives the sales of ad blockers. Some wipe out ALL affiliate links and eat ALL cookies which means every affiliate and webmaster's income could be affected. The more pops are served the more blockers are sold and the more everyone loses.

[Will.Spencer]

Ah... but the real question is... how much more money do you make by switching to the dark side (popups)?

[KarenDawn]

Ahh...but how many people already use a pop-up blocker! You won't find me troubled with pop-ups.

Is there anyway you can advertise you sponser services in a newsletter. Permission marketing is really the best way to go.

[weareaffiliates.net]

Text links are good as well unless they get kinda deceptive. At least they are more mind targeted:)

[WiseWizards]

Thanks for your thoughts! I'll see what I can acomplish! :-)

Regards,
Mike

[baggiho]

Banner and text link are the best.

Let me give the example for popup. If you give 100k traffic for pop the ads, maybe only about 20-30k traffic can earn profit.

[mizambar]

Text links with well targeted keywords and/or good selling points seem to work best for me.

I personally can't stand pop-ups and I honestly believe that they drive potential customers away...

[WiseWizards]

Thanks so much for all your comments! Do you feel pop-unders are just as bad as pop-ups? I like the idea (which I honestly never though about) using raw text links.

Regards,
Mike

[WiseWizards]

I'm allowing the client to choose which advertising they wish to use, so it's not like I'm really forcing them to lose business; It's up to them.

[Ian L.]

It's not your client that loses when you run popups. It's your site and you end up with the bad rep. Although I have seen popups work well in a few unique situations, I think what others have suggested is a bette idea. Endorsement linking gives the best conversion rates. Banners are ok if you have lots of impressions to sell.

Good luck!

[Romsourcing]

Have you considered pro active chat services instead of popup windows? For some online businesses (online shops) this could help increase online sales.

Regards,
Claudiu

[Chelsey]

I find that content around a text link will work the best. If you have a consumer on your site who reads about the offer (or general industry info) and then clicks on the offer (from a text link), conversion increases significantly.

For our program, leads have increased as well as the affiliates conversion on our back end, which in turn allows me to pay them more.

[Karen Hudgins]

I would highly encourage you to stay away from all pop campaigns including pop ups, pop unders, and exit pops. They are intrusive and ineffective. Chelsey's comment of building relevant content around text links is true. Our best affiliates use this tactic by using our text links and keyword lists to generate custom content.

Banner ads still work, but have become much less effective over the years so much so that many people are immune to them and barely notice they are there, unless they are sliders in which case they mine as well be pops since those types are sooo annoying... Sliders are banners that appear to "lay" over the site's content and follow you until you find and click the close button.

If you can begin the conversion on the partners site through a mini form or your entire quote or sale form, this will also help as well. We have found that our top affiliates use our seamless quote forms in addition to text links and content to deliver the highest conversion and volume rates.

[Tyson]

I really don't think pop-ups give results.
I'd stay away from them.

[Webnauts]

Text Links with good link "Titles" or well designed Banners, for example with bright colors with efficient contrast and with good "Alt Tags" would be my advice!

Text Link example:

Webnauts Net

Banner example:

[img]images/webnauts_banner.gif[/img]

But you must consider that it is equal important where you position them. More about this see here: http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/position.htm

That is my advice, in concerns of accessibility and usability.

You may like to have a look at my articles about accessibility and usability, to find out why are these issues are important for you:

1. http://www.webnauts.net/accessibility.html
2. http://www.webnauts.net/usability.html

[sbeco]

While I agree pop up ADs are extremely annoying, I think a pop up that announces your newsletter is not a bad thing. As long as it shows up just once and not every time you return to the HOME page.

I know a great pop up software app that can't be blocked. I'll tell you what it is if you promise not to use it in an evil way.

For newsletters only.

http://unstoppablepop.sawpit.net/index.html

[Webnauts]

Another good resource about the use of popups.

Pop-ups damage brands http://bunnyfoot.com/popup.html

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by sbeco

While I agree pop up ADs are extremely annoying, I think a pop up that announces your newsletter is not a bad thing. As long as it shows up just once and not every time you return to the HOME page.

I know a great pop up software app that can't be blocked. I'll tell you what it is if you promise not to use it in an evil way.

For newsletters only.

http://unstoppablepop.sawpit.net/index.html

Do you mean so? http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=6806

[Jason - SmartDraw.com]

Originally Posted by Chelsey

I find that content around a text link will work the best. If you have a consumer on your site who reads about the offer (or general industry info) and then clicks on the offer (from a text link), conversion increases significantly.

I agree 100%, the same is true with our Affiliate program: our highest performers integrate the offer into relevant content, making the purchase a logical end to the reader's visit. It's the same as going into a retail store, spending 1 hour with a sales person, and then having them ask you for the sale. It's a logical step, and provided the sales person has answered every question you have along the way, it will flow quite nicely into the sale. (That's Brian Tracey 101 ;) )

PLEASE do not sell pop ups. I agree with everyone here that they drive away potential business. Plus, with the Google/Alexa toolbars or Mac's Safari program, you virtually eliminate them.

Affiliates who put in the honest work of creating a relevant, content rich site will reap the benefits. Our affiliates certainly have!