02.24.07

Banner Advertisement

Posted in Marketing at 1:25 am by Natalie

Another site promotion method is banner advertisement. A banner is a graphic image of a standard size such as 468×60 pixels. Some Internet “experts” may say that banners don’t work, but this is not true. Banners work very well - otherwise you wouldn’t see so many of them around. Also, banners work especially well in the dating industry where surfers are more receptive to the graphic content than on other sites.

You can create banners yourself or hire a designer. Banner effectiveness is measured in CTR - click trough rate. The higher CTR - the more traffic you receive from a banner campaign. The trick to effective banner campaign is to have a banner with a high CTR. Note that only a half-percent CTR difference can make your campaign a success or a failure.

As a rule of thumb - avoid pretty banners with your company logo and name in a dramatic font. Such banners do not generate high clicks. People don’t click your banner because they like its design. Neither will they click your banner because they are interested to learn more about your company. So, leave those things out of your banners. Fine design does not belong in banner art - it can decrease your CTR and waste your advertising money. But a properly crafted banner will make you tens of thousands dollars and more. This is how important a banner is. Do not underestimate the importance of the banner design.

A great trait of a banner campaign, usually overlooked, - is its scalability. If you ever bought PPC traffic - you know how that system works. The more traffic you want from a PPC engine - the more you have to pay for each click. So, if you bought $100 worth of traffic from a PPC and made a $200 return on it - it’s terrific, but if you want to double that deal the PPC may charge you several times more. This makes scaling unfeasible and you are stuck with very modest profits. But with a banner network you will only get a wholesale discount, not a price increase. Virtually there are no limits to your profits when you know what you do with your banners.

Banner networks (also called banner exchanges) usually work better than stand-alone sites because they cover large number of websites offering you a better exposure. Better yet to use a specialty ‘dating banner exchange’ specializing on dating websites and therefore producing traffic of a better quality. A banner exchange can display your banner at no cost, in exchange for you displaying ads on your pages. But instead of displaying the ads on your site you can simply purchase banner advertising from the exchange. Banner ad inventory is usually measured in CPM - cost per thousand impressions. Avoid week networks where traffic may be contaminated with cheating and irrelevant websites. A good banner exchange such as www.romance-net.com will have give you strong well-converting traffic, offer a free advertising as well as buying and selling banner ads.

Thanks

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02.17.07

Offline marketing

Posted in Marketing at 2:20 am by Emil Sarnogoev

Have any of you sites owners, ever tried offline marketing? I’m not particularly speaking about tv or radio ads but rather about none standard and, as a rule, inexpensive ways to promote your sites. A banner on your car, bizcards, local events sponsorship, yard signs, whatever.

Please, share your experience with others and don’t forget to mention your site niche, specifics, demography, and geographic targeting.

Thanks.

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02.15.07

Software Update: Build 868

Posted in Software Updates at 1:55 am by Emil Sarnogoev

We are pleased to announce the new update, build 868, for SkaDate SuccessPoint.

Up to this moment we were silently releasing fresh builds every 2-4 weeks. Although, our current customers enjoy constant updates, it may not seem evident for others that we work as hard as in the very beginning. From now on, we will announce new updates with details regarding the changes.

We’ve done terrific job since the major version release. This is the summary of the changes up to the current build:
- 8(!) new templates;
- Global smilies (emoticons) integration;
- New payment providers, reccuring payments support;
- FaceJuggle auto facecrop native integration;
- chuPPo flash webcam recorder native integration;
- More flexible, fast, and convenient languages support. Easy import/export;
- Easier group and individual membership management;
- Photo upload rebuild;
- Banned IP management;
- A lot of current features enhancements driven by customers’ feedback;
- Tons of major and minor fixes.

SkaDate development team is as productive as never before. Expect more new candies soon.

Feel free to check fresh demo. Order your copy today.

Thank you,
Emil Sarnogoev
CEO

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