Ten
Things to Ask before Hiring an On-Line Media/PR Firm to Promote Your Web Site.
In this article he offers ten tips for hiring a media or PR firm to
promote your Web site.
1st
Steps: Marketing and Design Daily
A wealth of information on both general and Web-related advertising
subjects. "How Much Will Your Web Site Cost," "Do You Need a
Web Site," and "Integrating the Web into Your Marketing"
AdJuggler
AdJuggler, which provides software to help you maintain banner ads on the
Web.
Advertising
that Doesn't Suck
Advertiser's Bible for a mixture of tongue-in-check ("alcohol=God's
elixir") and worthwhile ("Thou shalt not use traditional advertising
methods in cyberspace") rules for Web advertising, and articles on
selling in cyberspace under the "Things Ain't the Way They Used To
Be" category. This is a good site for beginning to understand the new
media paradigm.
Conaghan
Report
Resources related to Web counting and measurement of visitors (of critical
importance when justifying advertising expenditures), with lots of background
on what the terms and technology mean, as well as links to the major players
in the Web measurement business.
DrNunley.com
Internet center for marketing advice and copy writing, with articles on
marketing, advertising, on-line promotion, and media.
Electronic
Billboards on the Digital Superhighway White Paper
The Coalition for Networked Information, in September, 1994, is still a
respected source for an understanding of Internet culture in relationship to
Internet advertising. Through an understanding of that culture, you can make
the most effective use of your Internet or Web advertising efforts.
International
Small Business Enterprise
The International Small Business Enterprise Web site provides "Tips
on How to Market Successfully on the WWW/Internet," which is a good
overall primer to "Webvertising."
Online
Advertising Discussion List
Focuses on professional discussion of on-line advertising strategies,
results, studies, tools, and media coverage.
PostMaster
Direct
Unsolicited, untargeted e-mail is one of the quickest ways to turn off
potential buyers. Net Creations solves that problem through their PostMaster
Direct service, which offers targeted lists of potential customers via e-mail
who have signed up to receive those types of advertising mailings.
Project
2000
A five-year research effort devoted to the implications of commercializing
hypermedia computer mediated environments (like the World Wide Web). It
features academic papers on measurement standards, baseline estimates, market
segments, commercial scenarios, opportunities, and challenges.
Site
Promoter
Provides a 12-point strategy for site promotion and offers links to
resources to complete every step of the process, including free direct
promotion links and site promotion software. This is an excellent resource
site for do-it-yourself Web site promotion.
The
Internet Marketing Center
Marketing tips, strategies, and secrets for internet marketing, online
advertising and website promotion.
Web
Site Banner Advertising on the Internet
Summarizes basic information about Internet Web site banner ad servers. It
is written primarily for webmasters but should also be useful to advertisers.
Web
Watchdog
The companies listed in the Web WatchDog "certified sites"
categories are mainly small to medium-sized businesses in the process of
establishing their brand, and using the Web WatchDog seal as a guarantee to
their visitors of their commitment to service, quality, and reliability.
Internet
Advertising Glossary
Banner ad:
A small ad for your site that appears on someone else's site: a search
engine or a similar site. The banner ad is linked to your site, so that when
the user clicks on the banner he or she is transported to your site.
Click-through:
When a user clicks on a banner ad for your site and arrives at your site,
it's called click-through.
Counter:
Many sites have counters on their page, created with small programs, to
show the number of "hits" the page has received. The counter may not
be accurate as it can be set to begin at any number.
Flame:
What you'll get if you spam (described in a moment). Unpleasant, sometimes
even hostile, return e-mail from people who did not want to receive your
unsolicited advertisement in their e-mail box, or were angry at you for
interrupting a newsgroup discussion with unrelated advertising. Not only will
you get flamed, the flamer will copy in your Internet service provider, who
very might well cancel your account for spamming.
Hits:
The number of times a user views your site. Counting hits accurately can
be difficult, as each graphic file on a page also counts as a hit. If users
have to come back to your main page to navigate the site, each visit back to
the main page is counted as a hit. So, hit numbers may not be accurate
representations of actual user viewing.
Spam:
Unsolicited e-mail or postings of irrelevant advertising to newsgroups
that particularly do not want them. Some newsgroups allow advertising if
clearly posted as AD in the subject line so the user can choose whether to
read it. Unsolicited e-mail is never welcome in the Internet advertising
world.
Web ring:
A "loop" of similar businesses who advertise for each other on
individual sites by providing a highlighted link to the next site in the
"ring."
Webvertising:
A term used to denote advertising on the World Wide Web.