Wake Up!!!!!! Comon Your Not That Stupid Are You?

**Mo Money** · 10-12-2002, 12:22 AM

Hey yall I just realised something!
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Link banner swap programs and basically any link swap program are the dummest thing in the world to put on your site. It's simple why... The supposedly "good" banner swaps, and link swaps normally give you anywhere from a 2:1-5:1 ratio. Therefore you are giving away any where from 2-5 visitors to your site, and only receiving 1 in return. This is simple studpidity to anyone that uses them (no offense people that use em "I have for a while to until I realized how dumb they were").

In conclusion participating in a link or banner swap program instead of increasing your hits will unbeleivably only decrease them.

(I hope some of you found this to be some good advice.)

**ghettocars** · 10-12-2002, 12:26 AM

yes, i realized that a long time ago, i set up an account with free-bannesr.com, and its a piece of crap.

i second that you shouldnt use swaps

**Criper2000** · 10-12-2002, 12:28 AM

I used them and they suck. (free-banners that is)

**ghettocars** · 12:34 AM

yes, i saw the banner on your site criper, imma take off the coding from my site when im not lazy enough to do it.

i just realized, that i give away 280 views of their banner and like 40 clicks, they give 140 views and 5 clicks.

**Criper2000** · 10-12-2002, 12:34 AM

I haven't gotten anything from them so im takin them off my site.

**ghettocars** · 10-12-2002, 12:35 AM

its your best bet.

an affiliate program is always good to join though.

**DaveMo~** · 10-12-2002, 04:16 AM

What if you find a banner exchange that has a 1:1 ratio and also pays for hosting their banner? And, what if you have the banner open in a new window? Good points to consider.

I know of one that:

...you get free advertising for your site AND 10 cents credit for hosting other ads on a 1 - 1 basis....

... And with our multi-page code you can host ... on as many pages as you wish, thus earning multiple credits to have your ad displayed from a single visitor.

... you'll earn 10 cents every time a visitor to your site clicks on one of the paid ads ...

Does that make it bad? IMO, this is a good feature.

About link swaps: Another point to consider is the discussion that we've had on links to your site from other sites. Since external links help with your search engine positioning, wouldn't it make sense to have as many links as possible coming into your site? IMO, link swaps are good if used correctly.

Just some points to think about.

Dave

"Stupid is as stupid does." Forest Gump

**ghettocars** · 10-12-2002, 12:41 PM

great tips there dave. hmm, dont they have articles on this stuff?

**DaveMo~** · 10-12-2002, 09:29 PM

We've had some discussions on link swaps, external links to your site, links in guestbooks, etc.

So I really have to disagree. If link swaps are so "stupid", then why would there be a forum about it? It's the proper use of them that is beneficial.

Just my IMO's.

Dave

**Mo Money** · 10-12-2002, 09:53 PM

Just because there is a forum about it doesnt make it stupid. It is stupid unless you have a 1:1 ratio. No exeptions

**DaveMo~** · 10-12-2002, 11:15 PM

I think we might be agreeing. I didn't say that having a forum makes them stupid, I was inferring that there would not be a forum for something that is stupid.

Something else to think about:

Quote:

It is stupid unless you have a 1:1 ratio. No exeptions

I don't agree with that either. Think about it this way. Hypothetical situation. Say you have a low traffic site and are needing more traffic. You use a banner exchange of 2:1 ratio and you get 40 visitors. The total number of visitors for that day was 80. Then half of your total visitors came from the banner exchange. If you didn't have the exchange, then it would have only been 40.

It all depends on what you want to do for traffic, and what kind of traffic you want. There is not an absolute when it comes to what one person is willing to give while another is not willing.

I have 1:1 and am not willing to use the 2:1. But someone that uses the 2:1 for whatever reason (maybe can't get the 1:1) is willing to do that for the additional traffic. That might be good for them.

Dave

**Mo Money** · 10-13-2002, 05:27 AM

Good point except that barely anyone will click on banners.

**DaveTodd** · 10-13-2002, 06:14 AM

but still...the lower the ratio you can get, the better for your company. it *is* sometimes worth moving to a 2:1, or possibly at a stretch 3:1, if you're going to get highly targetted traffic coming to your site rather than random "whats that?" traffic.

If you're going to get lots of traffic from a big site, then maybe a higher ratio is sometimes worth it.

but still, the fact remains, the lower the ratio is, the better it will be for you. bring on the days of 1:2 ratios...which you could achieve if you set up your own program

if you did that, and people exchanged with you, you'd derive more traffic than you sent...makes sense to start your own program!!

just some thoughts for consideration...

**Criper2000** · 10-13-2002, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mo Money
Good point except that barely anyone will click on banners.

That isn't always true. I click on banners and I get clicks from banner exchanges. (except for free banners.com)

**DaveTodd** · 10-13-2002, 08:08 AM

of course...you can rig it if you are so inclined

sign up to a banner exchange, get the banner on your site, go to your site, and click on it. when it loads, close the window, refresh your site, and do it again. if you have multiple browser windows + an ISDN+ connection, you can get this done soo easily.

you'll get loads of hits, and if you can set your web stats to ignore your IP address, then your stats aren't affected either. but your site appears very popular to everyone because they believe you're generating them loads of click thrus...

a few sneaky ideas...

**DaveMo~** · 10-13-2002, 04:39 PM

You might want to be careful with that last idea. Most exchanges won't mind one IP clicking once everyday on a banner from the same site, but to do it multiple times in the same day will probably get flagged and get your account discontinued.

But I still think it's a good idea to do some clicking on the banners that you have on your own site (or searches, or paid sponsors, etc.).

Another thought about banners, you can not incentivize some clicking, but you can ask your customers or loyal subscribers to help you out occasionally by doing some clicking. Those members that like your site might just be helping you out by clicking on the banners.

On sites that I like and frequent often, I click on the banners to help the webmasters out. BTW, you can do that here too. And, I will click on a banner if it has information on it that is something that I'm interested in.

I don't think banners are the top in advertisement, but they are still a viable means of advertising.

Dave

**Mo Money** · 10-13-2002, 04:43 PM

Someone should make a banner swap for impressions rather then clicks!

**ghettocars** · 10-13-2002, 07:43 PM

free-banners.com is for impressions and not clicks. it still scuks.
1:2 impression rate. and out of that no one barely clicks.

it would be better if it was an impression/click swap. that would really be outstanding and beneficial for everyone.

like 20:1. for every 20 impressions they guarantee 1 click for your site. or 10:1. thats a good idea, any banner services doing that.
if not, then i think i got an idea...

**ghettocars** · 10-14-2002, 04:52 PM

hmmm i wonder why this thread hasnt been moved to Affiliate/Link swaps forum.