Advertising for a small business can be tough, because the business may not have the capital for large-scale advertising; online advertising for a small business is not as hard, because most advertising methods are more affordable than some traditional methods. The two basic forms of online advertising for a small business are text and banner ads, which are paid for either by click or by every 1,000 impressions. Sponsorship ads are paid for upfront and are displayed on the website or in newsletters. Pop-up and pop-under ads open in a new window when a user visits a website with the advertisement. Interstitial ads are displayed in a new window when the user goes from one Web page to another.
Banner ads and text ads are the two most common shown on websites. A banner ad is a graphic the business uses to try to draw in the reader with a colorful or striking design, while a text ad provides the business with a small area in which to write about its services. These ads are paid for via cost per click (CPC) or cost per mile (CPM), which means the business pays every time someone clicks on the ad or every time the ad has gotten 1,000 impressions, respectively.
A sponsorship ad is broken into two types: page sponsorship and newsletter sponsorship. In this type of online advertising for a small business, the business pays upfront to have the ad displayed, and the ad is shown for a certain amount of time, usually from a month to a year. While this gives the small business more exposure, because the ad will be constantly displayed for the specified time, it does not guarantee that any extra traffic will go to the small business’s website.
Pop-up and pop-under advertisements are ads that show up in a new window when the user first enters a website. The difference between a pop-up and pop-under is how they are displayed. A pop-up ad will be displayed in front of the user’s browser window, while a pop-under will appear behind it. Many users have pop-up blockers that block these ads, so some users may not see the business’s ads.
An interstitial ad is similar to a pop-up and pop-under, but it appears when someone navigations from one page to another. When the user navigates, he or she will be brought to a new page where the small business’s ad is being displayed. This forces the user to look at the advertisement exclusively, but it may be considered irritating, so some users may not click it.
