Technology > Resources > Website Design
Summary. Businesses often make decisions based on what produces the most revenue, rather than what’s in the customer’s best interest. If instead, they would make customer experience the bottom line rather than profits their goal, they would ultimately gain both. Putting people over profits benefits everyone.
Website advertising is an example of this phenomenon. Most advertising slows down websites, clogs up the Internet, creates a possible conflict of interest, and exposes site visitors to potential viruses and security risks. It’s also an annoyance.
Fully aware of these drawbacks, some websites and online social networks allow users to pay a premium monthly fee to have advertising removed.
This is similar to paying a premium for foods that have the unhealthy ingredients not put in by the manufacturer.
The website WAYN.com (Where Are You Now), is a social network similar to Facebook that offers a VIP premium membership for $120 per year ($10 per month). One of the VIP benefits includes the ability to turn off advertising:
As a VIP, you have the option of turning off the standard advertising banners which speeds up the site and improves the user experience.
If website owners know that advertising slows down the site and degrades user experience, then why do they put so much of it on their websites? The answer is probably a combination of things, but mostly due to greed, ignorance, and a lack of creativity. Increasing ads makes a site so unpleasant and ineffective to use that most website visitors will never return. The equity and value of a website and brand can be destroyed through poor advertising decisions.
Advertising Alternatives. Below are some alternatives to traditional website advertising. It’s important to remember that it’s legally required to disclose when you are promoting a product or service in exchange for compensation, so there should be some mention of this in such cases.
- Announcements, Articles, and Reviews. Rather than simply placing a small advertisement on your site, why not consider writing a thoughtful review of a new company and their products or services. A full article provides more information to visitors.
- Funny Videos. Some advertising is quite clever, funny, and entertaining. A page (like a channel) on your website could feature some of these funny videos.
- Links. Some advertisers will pay for simple links on your site. These can be unobtrusive and don’t reduce site performance.
- Online Store. A page (like a store) on your website could features all of the affiliate links to products and services you promote.
- Promote Your Business. What is your business? Rather than looking for ways to make money promoting someone else’s products or services, consider how you can promote your own product or service. If you’re a blogger without any product or service to sell, and want to make money off your website, consider partnering with a friend or someone you know who wants to promote what they sell. Even as a blogger, you can monetize your writing and research by offering expanded writings and research documents as inexpensive ebooks.
- Static Ads. Advertisements that are static images with affiliate links or links directly to websites of paid advertisers can at least be more strategically placed and may be less disruptive to website performance than animated ads that are fed by affiliate programs.