what do i need to know about online advertising?

You could fill a book with information about online advertising, and whittling it down into a one-page answer will not provide you with everything you need to know. However, it will help you understand the basics and learn what topics within online advertising that you'd like to know more about.

Forms of Online Advertising

Online advertising can have multiple objectives, ranging from branding to driving traffic to a Web site, and can include many different forms. Some of the most common forms of online advertising are:

• Banner ads - Varying in size and shape, these ads may be animated or static and are embedded in a Web page or email. When clicked, they take the user to a destination URL specified by the advertiser.
• Pop-up ads - Like the banner ad, these ads vary in size and shape but appear as a new window above (or below, in the case of pop-unders) the first window. When clicked (often clicked accidentally as they usually appear unexpectedly), they take the user to a destination URL specified by the advertiser. Pop-up ads are seen by many people as highly annoying and most browsers now block most, if not all, pop-up ads.
• Pay-per-click ads - These ads are text-only ads that appear in results pages for Web searches. They include a short headline, description and display URL, and when clicked take the user to a destination URL specified by the advertiser.
• Sponsored links - Advertisers may pay to have their Web site linked in a site that contains content that is either relevant to the advertiser's site or that attracts users who are similar or the same as the advertiser's target audience.

While most online ads are clickable and geared toward generating click-throughs, some advertisers do use them for branding purposes without focusing as much on the number of clicks they produce. Additionally, it is possible for an online ad's call to action to be something other than a click - perhaps to encourage a phone call. Regardless, the call to action and expectations for an advertisement and its campaign should be determined at the beginning of the campaign planning process.

Purchasing Online Advertising

When purchasing online advertising, it is essential you understand how you're paying for the ad. Ad prices may be based on the number of impressions guaranteed per month. Or, they may be sold based on the number of click-throughs they produce (pay-per-click). They can even be sold based on the number of actions they produce (pay-per-action), such as paying a specific amount per person who clicks through to your site and fills out an email opt-in form.

Pricing for online ads can range from simple to complex. For this reason, pay-per-click and pay-per-action campaigns can be more time-intensive to manage as ads are displayed based on a bid you set per click or action for particular keywords, and your ad is ranked among others based on the price you're willing to pay in comparison to competing bids. Certain keywords may also have minimum prices, preventing advertisers from even appearing in those searches unless they meet or exceed that price.

Placement

One of the primary success factors for any online advertising campaign is ensuring your ad will be seen by your target audience. Views of your ad are measured in units called impressions - which count the number of times your ad was displayed on a Web page. Depending on what kind of online ad you're using, you may be paying per impression, so it's important not to waste impressions on Web users who will not be interested in your ads, which is why placement is an important first step in a successful online advertising campaign.

It's simple to understand appropriate placement for banners, pop-ups and sponsored links; advertise on a Web site or email that is frequently used by all or part of your target audience. Unfortunately, identifying such a site or email is not so easy and takes research and diligence. However, when done correctly it can be a very effective method of driving traffic to your destination URL.

There are several ways to select appropriate placement for pay-per-click advertising - the most obvious being selecting keywords or phrases that your target audience will likely use in a Web search. Additionally, you may narrow your placement to particular geographic areas (add more here about server locations and search terms). There is also the option to advertise on content networks, which are Web sites that have an agreement with a search engine to display pay-per-click ads.

Content

The next step in targeting your audience is to display content in your ad that will capture their attention and give them incentive to click on the ad. This part of your targeting process is pretty much the same for banner ads and Pay Per Click ads, the only difference being Pay Per Click ads are text only.

Testing

As with other Web technologies, you usually have the benefit of immediate feedback; within hours of posting a banner or Pay Per Click ad, you can begin seeing click-throughs. Better yet, it is usually possible to have several versions of your ad rotating equally so you can test copy and creative to determine the most effective way to achieve your objectives. As a result, online advertising works best when it is constantly being analyzed and refined. The benefits of testing and refining your ads is that you become better acquainted with your target audience and can sometimes leverage that knowledge across other channels such as print advertising, direct mail and email marketing.