Testing with a 728×90 CPM Banner
If you pay a visit to the website today you will notice that I have added a 728×90 banner on the header. I know it is not looking pretty, but it is just a test period.
I will leave it there for one week, to measure both how many real page impressions I am getting daily (web analytics services all distort the numbers), and what kind of eCPM I would get with the banner. If the results are good, I will probably be redesigning the blog soon to be able to integrate the banner more smoothly. If the results are not that good, I will just leave it out.
I always tell you guys to test, test and test, and that is what I am doing here as well. I will keep you updated on how the banner works out.
Daniel Scocco on October 7, 2008
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You could of at least centred it!
I’m testing out the 125×125 plug in on my site now. But I don’t know if I can trust it. I would like to get someone to hard code the ads on my site so I can use openx to track the clicks. The plugin, if the numbers are right, seems to be doing really well.
@Danny Cooper, it is centered.
@Cecil, you can hard code it yourself, just put the image tag directly.
Thank goodness for adblock
Actually, I don’t think that it looks that bad. Maybe you could add a little “X” icon in the top right corner so we can close it.
I meant for each ad. I’m not that good with code. I could so it but it would be all hacked up and prob not look good. I guess I will have to trust this for now. The person I was working with for coding my site got really busy and was taking to long to get back to me so I chose the plug-in.
Now that you’ve written a post about it, aren’t you concerned that people might click on it, and thus affect the results of your testing by artificially increasing the click-count?
@Martin
This was my exact thought.
@Martin and Jay, those are CPM ads not CPC. Clicks don’t affect the performance.
I don’t think it looks all that bad.
@Martin and Jay, well there are some affiliate banners filling the inventory, but I won’t count those.
I also have no a 728×90 banner in my blog
How I wish that will give better conversion.
I have had very little success with the 728 ad. It seems most people are blind to it anymore, but then again I wasn’t getting very many page views at the time. I am anxious to see how it works for you.
Adam
You’re right to say it doesn’t look pretty…I’ve blacklisted the source with Adblock, so it’s gone now anyway (sorry)
Well, David, your impression will still count so you’re still helping Daniel even though you’re not seeing the ad!
Daniel, it doesn’t look too bad…good luck!
Well guys keep in mind it is just a test. If I decide to keep using it I will redesign the header around the banner.
I wondered what ever happened to Kenny G.
@James, LOL
Are those Adsense ads in the left sidebar new too?
Hey Daniel,
Site look will get damaged because of that.. this is my personal feeling as a visitor
But if you redesign theme, then it may look good….
I keep up with comments by leaving them “Mark as unread” in my email (I do subscribe to my blog).
I have been also motivated by you and was trying the advertisement blocks on my web site and found that large rectangle image/text advt was performing well when placed in the right side bar. regards
http://www.indian-share-tips.com/
Could be my connection, but the 125×125s are timing out but one. I think the banner doesn’t look so bad the way it is now. Granted, redesigning the theme to incorporate it a little more would be a good idea, though.
Oops. Did I just reply to the wrong thread?
Doesnt look good…….
I think the banner is attractive enough and very inviting. However, I also think that it is not advisable to put one on the header since the readers might get tempted to visit it, and forget to go back to your blog to read your posts.
But then, you have tons of followers so I suppose you will not have a problem.
Good luck to your test, and hope you can make a separate post about the result.
Glad that your at least giving it a shot and would like to see how it actually performs. Personally, I think it would like better below your menu and above the categories and butting up to the beginning of the sponsors.
Did you give thought to 468×60 banner than the larger one? It might be accommodated very well in the new design. It would also not take up separate space above the header where as 728×90 would love to have it’s own space and pushes the content down by 90 pixels.
Just my 2 cents.
I am curious to know the findings
@Life Is Colorful, very few CPM networks use the 468×60 one.
I read ir on my RSS Reader, and came to the site to check it out. It really doesn’t look that bad, I thinks it integrates quite nicely.
Not centered in Opera. No grey background either.
Not centered on Firefox 3.0 either. What’s going on here?
I’m testing the exact same thing on one of my sites at the minute - I think I prefer the banner there than under the nav bar (which I’m testing on another site). You can see it but its less obtrusive.
I’ll be interested to read your results.
@Rasrt, it looks like here: http://browsershots.org/http:/.....gtips.com/
You sure you didn’t forget to refresh?
Now it’s centered. I did refresh few times earlier, maybe some old css got stuck in cache or something.
By the way it could really use some integrating - the sooner the better.
Looks like mandatory banner on free hosting at moment.
Hello,
The ad at the top of your blog seems ok to me I think if there was an ad that I liked I would use it more because it the first thing I see when I log on to your blog. Or you could put 4 125×125 ads across the top? just an idea
Steve
@Charles, I tested in over 30 browsers here http://browsershots.org/http:/.....gtips.com/ , it looks like you have not refreshed.
I agree with Rarst.. That reminds me exactly of free hosting..
It degrades the site.. Not so sure I like the look of the dailyblogtips design anymore.. (It sticks out.. Alot!)
Nice, looking forward to see the results. Although I’d be more interested if it was an Adsense ad, but that’d look even uglier for sure…
I’ve always wondered if those ads actually worked, a lot of big sites have them but I barely have enough time looking at them because I usually scroll down.
The results will be interesting =)
Looks pretty unobtrusive to me. Please post the results as it would be good to see them. I find that i get better payouts with adsense than any affiliate links
There’s nothing wrong with the ad. It fits in fine.
People have simply come to expect ads in headers, ads in general for that matter. For those who just can’t live with them, they figure out AdBlock quickly enough and that’s that.
It doesn’t detract from your site at all. The main content is still way above the fold (in fact at my resolution and browser size the entire post is above the fold).
The only thing you might find is that the CPM isn’t great. In my experience 300×250’s consistently (and significantly) outperform leaderboards and towers.
I don’t get what you mean by testing if it’s not CPC. What is there to test?
I don’t mind it.
It’s not centered in Safari on OSX, and it’s not in the grey ‘pre-header’ either. Looks fine in Firefox 3 on OSX.
The banner doesn’t look good with this design.
It might look better with a new look n feel of the blog.
It doesn’t look ~too~ bad, but my main issue with it from a design perspective is that it makes the DailyBlogTips logo take second-place in terms of user-attention. The site ‘feels’ like it isn’t about DailyBlogTips anymore.
Well, I don’t agree with you either. It is not looking bad at all. may be you can also put something on both sides of that.
Obviouslly you should get a ton of clicks, let’s hope it’ll convert for you! I’m eager to see your results on that.
Is the test already over? I can’t see the banner anymore…
What about a post about how to approach possible advertisers? Or they just come and approach you?
@Fabio, yeah the test is over, I collected enough data
.
You can read about how to approach advertisers here: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/h.....ate-guide/
Phew, I thought I was losin’ it not seeing anything. LOL
I am trying a huge banner ad on the top right corner (The header Area) of my Blog. Again based on its effectiveness, I shall consider continuing with it or no
http://www.iwebie.com