Don’t we all wish it was that easy.  Well it used to be.  But as millions have flocked to the web for setting up digital storefronts, getting noticed and found on the web has become the next great challenge.

If you are familiar with the Internet you know that many search engines have been set up to allow people to sift through the mounds of data and sites to find what they desire.  Although there are reportedly several hundred search engines available, the vast majority of activity involves about a dozen.  These search engines certainly foster some order out all the data morass.

However, one characteristic of search engines is that for any given search, they list the sites in order by a certain relevance factor.  These lists of returns are short for highly specialized searches such as for “Tanzania and wildebeest” for example.  But when I conduct a search with Alta Vista, a highly popular and robust search engine, using “Northwest Florida Real Estate” as criteria, the results are disappointing.  The results were equally disappointing when I used “Fort Walton Beach Florida Real Estate” or “Destin Florida Real Estate”.  Results produced very few recognizable Realtors or brokers within the first two pages.  Additionally there are many rogue sites attempting to position themselves as the “end all product” for ones real estate needs.  And it is not likely, no let me rephrase that, it is highly improbably that anybody would continue to go through the 20+ pages of additional pages of sites in the vain hope that something that is going to jump out at them.  So for the most part, using search engines for finding Realtors, property or other relocation needs is a “digital safari”.

Enter the Banner Ads.  The ubiquitous marquee splashed across untold numbers of web pages, some with animations and others with glib and curious messages inviting the viewer to “click through” in the web advertising vernacular, and explore the associated link.  These are becoming very popular means to get placed on top of popular web sites.  For the most part, most businesses don’t have an international audience so placing banner ads on such popular sites as Yahoo and Alta Vista, CNN, etc. are expensive.  And industry studies have indicated that response rates for banner ads approach the same as for direct mail.

But it is definitely a good strategy to get placed on a highly visible site in ones market area.  The Daily News On-line edition (http://www.nwfdailynews.com) has banner space available and one shrewd Platinum-producing Realtor has jumped on the opportunity.  No doubt her Home Page will have a tremendous increase in visits. The unique thing about banner ads is that any number of people can advertise there.  They pay for a minimum of “impressions”.  The banner changes each time somebody comes to the home page.

The Banner Ad represents yet another way to get seen.  It is a guaranteed “buy-in” top position that ensures your message is seen.  With thousands of visitors reading the likes of the Daily News On-line edition there are plenty of opportunities awaiting those that see the net marketplace as a competitive business advantage.

Local Internet service providers can build a banner ad easily.  If you have a provider check with them about rates.

Scott Jackson
Mindlace Media & Photo
Mindlace.com
E-mail

This article was published in the February 1998 issue of Coastlines, a publication for the Fort Walton Beach (FL) Chamber of Commerce courtesy of the Daily News.

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