When designing a new website or redesigning an old one an important part is advertising space, how much do you need to include, where abouts is it going to be located and will it blend or stand out?
I have been faced with this dilemma a few times recently, the cold hard fact is that I need to profit from my websites, no matter how old or new. For the first 12 months I would love to not need a single bit of advertising space so the content could be perfectly placed and the whole navigation system, logo, rss buttons etc could all be exactly where I want them (above the fold, big and clear!) to aid the building of a solid user base. Unfortunately I’m not in a position to do this so I need to be generating revenue as soon as their is even a trickle of traffic!
If we didn’t have to worry about revenue generation then designs could be much more impressive, maybe not in colour and imagery, but certainly in overall layout which would be great for users.
I’m currently setting up a website related to vitamins and minerals, it is going to be a sort of online magazine. In my design I have decided to go for one large block of ads in the sidebar and knowhere else. I normally like to integrate ads in both sidebars, at the top (quicklinks) and then have affiliate links when possible in content as well as a google search function to make money from searches. This represents a big change for me.
Having only one block of ads on my new website I am sacrificing short-term valuable ad space in the hope of faster growth - I hope it is worth it!
March 23rd, 2011 at 10:42 am
I have been in the process of creating my website for years it seems. I am an artist who loves computers but had no idea what was actually required when you sit down to make a site. WOW! It has a lot of levels. So thank you for the insite. Keep me updated if you will on how your new advertising idea goes. I personally hate invasive advertising, but never realized that you have to have it. Ooooo seems I still have much to learn Sensei. LMAO