New webmasters fairly often hold the mistaken belief, that the more banner ads they have on their page , the more money they will generate. They blanket their sites with them, hoping, that the more banners all the people see, the better the chance, that someone will actually click on them.

What they do not understand, however, is that they are actually driving traffic away, by creating their sites unattractive and slow. The banner ads that were supposed build income drive away potential customers.

Do you like banner ads? Now, ask yourself the question: "Why do you think, that others would feel different than you do?"

While large ads might overcome in magazines, newspapers and telephone books, what person would wants them to consume his or her bandwidth on the web? Isnt the Internet already slow enough?

Why do you think that one of the most popular sections on our internet page is the one that covers programs to eliminate banners and pop-up windows? Many all the people are sick of obnoxious, in-you-face promoting. They are fed up with the useless clutter of ads filling most websites.

No long ago, we removed all the banner ads at our site, leaving only text links. The results were that we saw dramatic increase in both traffic and revenue. Removing the banners increased both our popularity and our profits. Amazingly enough, not one human wrote back to us and complained about the banners being removed.

Now you might be asking yourself, "Why do advertisers utilize banner ads, if they are so unpopular with the public?"

The answer is simple: Name Recognition!

The truth of the matter is advertisers do not really care if people buy from your website as long as at some point in instant, everybody remember the item or service and buy it.

Think about it. You annoy your visitors with dozens of ads about some dot-com, causing them to flee your website . Later on, the same visitors remember those ads and go to the site directly. The company makes a sale, and they dont even have to pay the person, who advertised it.

There are some very popular sites on the Internet with huge affiliate programs. You might find their banners everywhere. You might think that it would be a cinch to build money off such sites by simply placing one of their banners on your website , but guess again. With so many ads, all the people do not absolutely need your banners to find them. Most people have bookmarked them already. To effectively sell such popular sites, you absolutely need to target your readers with custom reviews or inform all the people about distingguished sales and promotions so that they feel compelled to click on the backlink immediately.

Now, I am not here to tell you that removing the banners off your website will generate you an instant success. Without compelling content on your web page , you still can not see any changes in traffic. A site that is nothing more than a series of ads is unlikely to overcome , regardless of what form the marketing the webmaster uses.

I am not suggesting that every body should remove banners from their page either. Indeed, it would be foolish for the owner of a popular page to remove paid advertising that is creating income. If advertisers are willing to pay up front for banner ads, or if you have banner ads that are performing well, by all means, keep them!

What I am suggesting, however, is that if you have banner ads that arent generating income that you expected, you might ponder removing or replacing them. Consider text-based adverting with compelling reviews about the products or services. Give your readers something more than just flashy slogans or pictures of beautiful models. Provide your visitors with reasons why they actually need a item or accomadation , so that they buy it from your website now, rather than later.

Instead of simply posting a banner on your web page for a page where many people may buy a item, write an informative article or review about the merchandise , and then tell your readers where they may find a workable deal on it.

Michael T. Smith
Webmaster, Freeware and Stuff
ginsengprod@yahoo.com
8409 Leland Rd.
Manassas, VA 20111
Phone: (703) 369-9746
Fax: (978) 231-4768
Pager: (800) 372-0709