I've recently launched a new site that will be part of a network of sites. I hadn't planned on selling ad space other than the AdSense I have on there for a while, as I had assumed there would be no interest until the network had been built up somewhat. That being said, I've already had several advertising requests for the site. The site is CanadaPhotoSeries.com, and the only thing I've put up on the site regarding advertising is in the FAQ: http://www.canadaphotoseries.com/faq/how-to-add-a-listing My initial plan was to offer ads on a yearly subscription. If you look at the FAQ, you'll see you can sponsor on a per city basis. You'd get your ad on as many pages as the city has, which could be anywhere from 1 page to 25 or more pages. That ad links to a full page ad on the site with a photo, description, map, email, phone, several links to the site - almost like a "billboard" type ad. My question is, what should I charge per year for an ad like this as a new site? when the network is established? Would it be better if it was permanent? Thanks in advance for your advice.
You would probably want to wait until your site's PR reached 4 before actually selling links. As far as a yearly subscription I guess that would be good. I prefer monthly because it is nice to get paid every month instead of once a year. To find the exact amount you would charge I would check the current rates for differents page ranks that other webmasters offer. That should give you a place to start.
Traffic could also be an influencing factor in the price of the links in question. But again, this may not be great as the site is only just being established.
The people and companies that I will be targeting for advertisers will not necessarily be webmasters, and therefore would not particularly care about PR. I want to be able to sell hundreds of sponsored listings, so yearly billing will be a lot easier than monthly. I was thinking in the range of $40/year to start, and go up towards $100/year as the Network grows... An example of an ad placement is here: http://www.canadaphotoseries.com/ontario/greater-toronto-area/toronto/toronto (look for the Toronto Zoo ad) which would link to a full page add like this: http://www.canadaphotoseries.com/ontario/greater-toronto-area/toronto/ads/toronto-zoo
And again, my motivation for setting up advertising now is because I have already received several offers, despite the fact the site is new and has relatively low traffic and no PR...
You are on the right track. Know your market and your potential advertisers. If your website is highly targeted and the advertising delivered is highly visible, then branding has some value as well. The fair price is the what's best for you. What's best for you is what the market will bear. You can't find out what the market will bear unless you ask. You would do well to research other websites like yours and start putting together a comparison report.
Thanks, although that is fairly generic advice. I am not aware of any sites that are really like mine, so I guess I'm looking for guestimations on people's thoughts as to what might work as a starting price point.
I might do something like 6 months to at least give you some leeway, because I am sure you want to have some limit to your inventory on existing pages.. But maybe have a speical introductory offer when you first do it.. say you do $40 for 6 months, but you give them the second 6 months free. That way you have set your price at $40 for six months, but you still only sold them for $40 for the first 12 months. They feel like they got a deal, and you have already built in an acceptable price increase down the road. Just a thought.
Yea, I really can't give specifics. I also am not a big fan of selling advertising for a fixed price over a long term. I don't mind doing a one year contract, as long as the price is based on factors, which can drive the price up (or down) based on performance. To me, when you do something like 6 months free with a 6 month contract, it makes you look cheap. By giving so much away for free, you effectively communicate the message that your advertising space is not worth much to begin with.
And I disagree.. as an introductory offer I think it looks like a good deal for the advertiser. By doing what I suggested, you have effectively doubled your going rate for advertising and just giving a special offer to a few initial clients. They feel good about it and you end up with higher rates long term. Framed properly it can work fine. Lots of people do not mind being convinced they are being given a deal. As a new venture and somewhat of an unknown entity, I think any rational advertiser would expect a break. This way you give them a break without actually giving them a break.
Excellent advice, aeiouy... thanks. I think the fact that the site is brand new, people will not interpret the ad space as cheap, but lower then it will be when the site becomes busier. I like that idea. I'm not in the business of offering performance incentives - with potentially hundreds of advertisers, it would be way too time consuming monitoring it as such. I'm treating the listings almost like a local directory listing... flat price for a long term, renewable contract. Unless people think I'm way under-cutting myself, I think $40/year is a good starting point that is still getting less than 200 uniques/day. Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming.
One thing I would do if that were my site is to get some sort of revenue generating ad space ABOVE THE FOLD. On 1024x768 your adsense ads are buried where users have to scroll down - as opposed to focusing ads around your pictures and picture captions, where most peoples focus is concentrated.
Yeah, I had thought of thar previously, but in the end decided that it took away from the site itself. I don't mind the ads being secondary to the content.
with your type of site, i agree with you. the ads above the fold would make it look instantly spammy. as for advertising -- i think the $40 for 6 months with 6 months free is the best idea out there. Since people are going to be potentially paying you good money for these links though, i would try and give them more than just a colored box to put their links in. Maybe "featured toronto local businesses:" or something like that. i dont know... i just feel like those links will get glanced over by all the readers who see them between the google ads. also, i must say, i think your idea for the site is fantastic and i think your design & layout is even better. keep up the great work. it is a great site.
Thanks... actually, in addition to the colored link, the link points to a page like this: http://www.canadaphotoseries.com/ontario/greater-toronto-area/toronto/ads/toronto-zoo Thanks for the encouraging words.
yeah i saw they each get their individual "billboard" page, but for the uniques to see those pages, they need to click the links, and those links will have to jump out to the surfers for the advertisers to get their $ worth. i cant imagine them buying the links for PR... so they are expecting some traffic from these links, not a PR boost. just my too cents though...
Yeah, I hear what you're saying... I guess it's just a matter of getting the traffic up on the site as a whole... it's barely a month old, so we've got some work to do there, still.
Any ideas on how to present the advertising opportunity to potential advertisers? What would be the selling points I should try to hit?