Contextual Ads Explained

Contextual ads appear on the pages of web sites participating in an ad network. These networks attempt to understand the context of a page and serve up ads that match keywords or topics found on that page.

The big player here is Google through their AdSense program. But, now you can also get contextual that’s through Yahoo! and MSN. Take a quick look at this review: Top 10 PPC Alternatives or more.

Contextual ads are currently also found on social networking sites and browser based e-mail services. You can expect contextual ads to start showing up in a lot of new places in future.

Contextual ad

What’s good about them?

They are usually cheap
They generate a huge volume of impressions (but low click through rates)
The high volume low click through rate combination can be a good way to spread branding messages inexpensively
They allow display advertising (graphic banner ads)
The huge volume of impressions can still deliver significant click through traffic
They offer a way to reach customers who are not already looking for you using a search query especially through the new channels they are reaching into like social networking and e-mail.

What’s bad about them?

Because of the low click through and conversion efficiencies it can take quite a while to get enough feedback to know whether contextual that’s our working or not
Many networks automatically up you into their contextual advertising program thus exposing you to low value high traffic sites like my space. If you are not aware you could blow a month’s advertising budget on garbage clicks.
Unlike the traffic generated from the search query page traffic from contextual ants is not as qualified and therefore less likely to convert into a lead or a buyer on your web page.

Email Marketing

Email Subject Lines That Get Opened

get email opened Here is a simple technique you can use to create email subject lines that won't get deleted before they get opened and read... and to be effective with email marketing you must get your emails opened and read.

Local Search

Local Search Tips For Beginners

If your business model is all about attracting local customers then you need to start thinking about local search as a way to drive traffic to your website and to your phones.

PPC (paid search)

PPC Alternative Networks Overview

Most successful PPC campaigns include Google and Yahoo almost as a default setting. But there are other resources out there for paid search advertising that can provide some very profitable traffic.

Content Marketing

Getting Video Content in Search Results

Did you know that viewership and user generated videos has gone up nearly 48% from 2008, and you can bet it will go up even more next year.

Marketing with content is a great way to draw traffic to your site through organic search. All the major search engines have complex algorithms for crawling sites, analyzing the text based content, indexing that content and using it to deliver relevant search results for users. But...