About Online Advertising 

The internet is an unmistakable source for advertising and money-making possibilities. It not only gives you the possibility of advertising your products or services for free (see: Squidoo), but it also allows you to network unlike ever before. Through the many tools and services now available, it can become difficult to narrow down your decision as to which path is right for your business. There are two main categories: Free, and Paid - and both must be utilized in today's competitive market. Several online advertising options exist.

The popularity of a process called link exchanging is at an all time high...that is, the posting of a link from one site on your website, and vice-versa, to assist in search engine rankings such as Google, which highly favors the technique. Backlinking is a similar and more mundane process in which links from other websites simply link to yours. Of course, many factors come into play - such as the absence of "NoFollow" links.

Pay-per-click advertising is a system where you can personally create a text or image ad, and have it display on a valid network of websites. The webmasters who own and run the websites in which your ad appears are called Publishers. Corporations such as Google and Yahoo offer PPC services, as well as a multitude of their competitors including the other two most popular services: Adbrite and Kontera.

Beyond all of this, you can simply submit your own press release (in most cases, for free), create your own blog, or pay to get a positive review written about your website, product or service to boost confidence and exposure.

Online Advertising Information 

Get the word out

Online advertising websites allow you to spread the word about your business, website and/or product through contextual ads or placed ads. Contextual ad programs are services that webmasters register for, that allow strategic ads to display on their site, depending on what the site is about. An algorithm scans the website's text and other meta information, and makes a determination about what the website is about. It then 'pulls' the most relevant ads pertaining to that content, and displays it.

As a webmaster, the benefit to this program is an amount earned every time an ad is clicked. As an advertiser, the benefit is to have your ad appear on the most relevant sites, and to the most relevant audience. You will have no fee whatsoever until the ads you place are clicked somewhere else on the internet, and the price paid out per click is determined by you. This is called pay-per-click, an important buzz word, these days. While you certainly can pay a dirt-cheap rate for each click, your results will suffer, as your end result will probably be that of poor conversion.

Online Advertising: Top PPC Services 

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is the top online PPC (Pay Per Click) program on the internet, reaching a majority of major websites within Google's own internet network. Not only will your ad appear on major sites (including Google.com itself), but it will also appear on hundreds of thousands of publisher sites. You get to choose your own daily budget, keywords, write your own ads, and manage every facet of your account in this must-have advertiser's toolkit.

YPN (Yahoo Publisher's Network)

Yahoo offers an advertising and publishing network as well, with several options to help increase exposure to your site via PPC ads. It works almost identically to Google AdWords, but its effectiveness isn't at the same level. Yahoo ads typically cost less per click than Google and it's heavy competition levels.

Adbrite

Adbrite is another PPC program that handles advertising in a slightly different way than Yahoo and Google. With Adbrite, your ad can appear on the sites you select for a pre-determined fee. Using this service, you can have your ad appear, guaranteed, on some of the heaviest-hit sites on the internet (for a very large price). Adbrite also offers a traditional PPC service, and has multiple options for Publishers, as well.

Kontera

Yet another different method of advertising is found in this service. Kontera is a service that is installed within a website. It searches through the website's text, and hyperlinks select words. When you hover your mouse over these hyperlinks, a "speech bubble" text box appears, with targeted ads - and that is where your ad will appear as an advertiser.

Online Advertising: What are my other options? 

• Blogs: Blogging is massively popular - not only do blogs get incredible search engine exposure, but they are attractive options for those seeking backlinks and unique web site visits. Search the internet for blogs that pertain to your market (televisions, bronze doorknobs, Japanese cars, or whatever your site is about) and contact the blog owner. Ask if he/she has a link sharing program, or if they are accepting links into their Blogroll (a list of links, usually on the front page). Unfortunately, this will be difficult for new webmasters who still have no page rank.
• Social Bookmarking: Adding your sites to top social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, Furl, BlueDot will help improve exposure by associating your site with the many keyword tags that you can set. These tags assimilate into massive collections (i.e., if you tag "television" to your link, it will assimilate in a massive tag collection for "television"), further associating your link with a certain term and possibly helping it be seen in natural internet searches.
• Article Submission Services: Sites like Digg, Reddit and Netscape Propeller allow you to upload a blog posting from your blog or website to increase exposure. Hundreds of thousands of people read articles from these sites, and if your article is unique and interesting - you'll receive a great deal of unique visits.
• Social Networking Services: By using sites like Gather, Apsense, Ning, and Multiply, you can create profile pages that act as a "news portal" of information, pictures, suggestions, articles, links and more. Join groups and connect with others who share interests, and you'll get their attention.
• Social Content Websites: Sites like Squidoo, Hubpages, Spongefish and Launchtags are like mini-internets! They allow you to create a user account, and register a page name that permanently becomes yours. Use this to your advantage, and build up a great page for a keyword that can be used to pass on some great link juice to your own websites.
• Video Sharing Websites: Sites like Veoh and the ever-popular Youtube enable you to upload videos that get large volumes of exposure. Use it to your advantage - as you can turn those video views into unique visits. Additionally, other users can snag these videos and put them on their sites, further giving your service more exposure.

Online Advertising: Suggested Reading 

Read up on the foundations that will get your campaign going!

Www.Advertising: Advertising and Marketing on the World Wide Web (Design Directories)

by Richard Adams

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: (as of 05/16/2008)
List Price: $29.95

Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars

by Mitch Meyerson

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 05/16/2008)
List Price: $22.95

Usually ships in 24 hours

Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords)

by Perry Marshall, Bryan Todd

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 05/16/2008)
List Price: $24.95

Usually ships in 24 hours

3G Marketing on the Internet, Seventh Edition: Third Generation Internet Marketing Strategies for Online Success (3g Marketing on the Internet: Third Generation Internet Marketing)

by Susan Sweeney, Andy MacLellan, Ed Dorey

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $21.56 (as of 05/16/2008)
List Price: $29.95

Usually ships in 24 hours

How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business or Website with Little or No Money

by Bruce C. Brown

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 05/16/2008)
List Price: $24.95

Usually ships in 24 hours

Online Advertising: Reader Feedback 

Visitors can leave their comments here!

keywordsadvertising Super lens! I have added you as my favorite and joined your group. Posted September 22, 2007

Online Advertising: Networking 

StumbleUpon Headquarters

The StumbleUpon Networking Group: Join in with fellow Squidoo lensmasters and increase your StumbleUpon friend network! Stumble your best lenses, invite others as friends, and visit each other's favorites for the chance of getting some great exposure...

Advertisers Headquarters

Advertisers Group @ Squidoo: A group for those in the advertising field: regardless if you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced level professional...Those in high school and college, interested in the field and looking for honest tips & advic...

Backlinks Headquarters

Backlinks Group: Everyone needs strong, relevant backlinks! The main purpose of this group is to help you, the webmaster, attain more backlinks to your site from other people within your same niche or category. Add your site to a category if you're w...

Del.icio.us Group Headquarters

  Del.icio.us Group: This bookmarking service is actually an invaluable marketing and promotions tool. Join in and "friend" other del.icio.us members to boost your network - it's a great way to get your favorite sites or your personal...

The Freelancers Group Headquarters

The Freelancers Group: A group for freelancers in fields such as graphic and web design, programming, business consulting, advertising, marketing, tutoring, and more. Add your lenses - advertise your business - increase your exposure! Be sure to visi...