If you are having trouble finding or adding our ad code to your web site then this step by step instruction guide is for you. We do recognise that not everyone has experience with using services like ours and need some help getting started.

I am going to assume you are completely new to AdToll and have not attempted to add your site yet.

If you follow these steps below you will successfully add your site into our system, create an ad group and then get the ad code required onto your site.

STEP ONE: ADD A SITE

To get started you need to be in your account area - http://www.adtoll.com/account

The account area is the central hub that you will use frequently to perform a variety of actions. Once there you can start off by adding your site. To do this click “Add a New Site” in the Publisher control panel.

This will take you to the area where you add the details of your site such as URL, name, description etc… Fill out all of the details accurately then click on the “Add Site” button at the bottom of the page.

It is important to fill in all the details correctly as it is this information that is used to review (then approve) your site and more importantly is seen by prospective advertisers - so you want to impress them!

STEP TWO: CREATE THE FIRST AD GROUP

Now that your site has been created you need to create the first ad group for your site. Select the ad format and provide all of the details required and then click on the “Proceed to Ad Group Layout” button.

Again it is important to note that you should provide all of the information accurately!

STEP THREE: AD GROUP LAYOUT (GRAB AD CODE)

Now that your site and your first ad group has been created you are ready to format how you want your ads to look. On this screen you can do exactly that. I encourage you to have a play with the options available and format the look and feel of your ad group to your liking. When you are done you are then ready to copy the ad code provided, which will look something like this:

So from there you select the text (ad code) provided in the text box, copy it, and then paste it into your web sites HTML where you want the ad group to appear.

Once you have done that all you need to do is upload the modified page to your web server, normally using an FTP client such as wsFTP or LeapFTP. In some cases you might use a web editing tool to edit your web pages but the theory is the same.

Getting your ad code if your site and ad group is already created

You might already have your site and ad group created and just want to get to the layout screen where you can alter the layout and copy the new ad code. You can do this from the account area by expanding your site and clicking the green edit icon to the right of the ad group details.

It really is that easy! If you do have any questions though please get in contact with us or reply to this blog entry with questions.

Many of you know that we provide a Default Ad facility for AdToll banner ad groups. This allows you to display ads from another network (or your own personal ads) in replacement of the AdToll Run of Network ads - giving you complete control of your ad inventory! Read more about Default Ads at http://www.adtoll.com/publishers.php#da_1

As an example for Publishers I have taken this a step further hoping that it gives you the initiative to perhaps try it with your sites.

What I have done is used our own PicText™ Ads as the default ads on the 120×600 ad group on our blog (left hand side under the 125×125 ad group).

Why would I do this? Quite simply to ensure ads are being served on that 120×600 ad group and to provide variety to readers of the blog. This in turn attracts more clicks on that ad group and hence more revenue!

How did I do this? Well I am going to spell it out for you so that you can try this for yourself.
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We have a lot of Publishers who use forum software and in particular the very popular PHPBB forum, which is free.

Software like PHPBB is designed in a way so as to extrapolate functional code from the design, known as “templating”. This allows forum owners to easily modify the look and feel of their forum and even use pre-built themes that they can plug in and have running almost instantly.

Occasionally we get an e-mail from a Publisher who is having issues plugging in our ad code; usually reporting an error something like:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '}' in /yoursite/includes/template.php(127) : eval()'d code on line 182

This is happening due to the “templating” system that PHPBB uses, which doesn’t like the use of the curly brackets in the TPL (template) file.

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Time and time again we see Advertiser ad campaigns with low Click-Through-Rates (CTR) simply due to the poor quality of their banner ad. In some cases we have recommended them have a new banner made and when they do their CTR increases drastically.

The quality of your banner ad is extremely important and definitely plays a part in the ultimate success of your advertising campaign.

A lot of webmasters and business owners simply do not have the skills to create a quality, targeted banner ad and it’s a common myth that to get them made is expensive. In fact it’s quite the opposite!

At BannersWorld they focus on creating quality banners for you from $15.95 per banner. They even offer packages so you can save by buying a range of banner ads in different sizes.

If you are looking at having some professional banners made then we do recommend BannersWorld. They offer a professional, satisfaction guaranteed service.

Below are some examples of their work.

So visit BannersWorld today, you won’t be disappointed!

Rate Cards are a tool for Advertisers to learn about the particular site and browse the different advertising options available. The statistics on the Rate Cards should be used as an indication only as they are based on the previous performance of the site.

Statistics on the Rate Card is calculated using an average of the data collected over the past 7 days, which helps smooth out daily variations to give a better indication of the sites performance.

A very important consideration Advertisers must make and understand, is that the statistics of each available advertising option are representative of the next ad booked in that spot. It is displayed in this way to inform Advertisers of the performance their ad may achieve if they made a booking.

As an example:

A Publisher has a standard banner Ad Group with Ad Pool size set to 10 ( so there are 10 available spots in the rotation). The Ad Group is currently being served 2 Sponsored Ads and 5 Run of Network Ads. Therefore, the number of ads currently in rotation is 7.

In the course of the day the Ad Group receives 100 clicks from 15,000 views.

At the end of the day, the data is complied and statistics calculated, as follows

Average clicks/ad/week

7 times the total number of clicks received during the day (to give total clicks in a week), divided by 8 (the position of the next ad booking). This equals 87.5 (or 88 clicks/ad/week).

Average views/ad/week

7 times the total number of views received during the day (to give total views in a week), divided by 8 (the position of the next ad booking). This equals 13,125 views/ad/week.

The Rate Card is then updated to show the average of the last 7 days of data.

To make things easy, let’s say the daily statistics were the same each day, for the last 7 days. The Rate Card would then display:

Average clicks/ad/week: 88 clicks

Average views/ad/week: 13,125 views

Average CTR: 0.7%

When an Advertiser views the Rate Card, this information gives them a good indication of the performance their ad may achieve if they made a booking. Of course, performance will vary depending on targeting, media used etc. This is why Rate Cards are only an indication. Your Account Manager can help you optimise your campaign to get the best results.

In summary,

• Rate Cards are a tool and are to be used as an indication only.
• Statistics shown are for the next ad booking, NOT for the entire rotation of ads in the group.
• You Account Manager can help you optimise your campaign.

Video Ads are quite new to the industry and many Advertisers simply do not have a video ad they can use. The misconception is that they are too expensive or too hard to create. That could not be further from the truth!

Our friends at LeadsByVideo.com have put together a step by step guide to creating your very own video ad using Windows Moviemaker, which comes standard on any Windows installation.

Tip: you can overlap images as well as audio by dragging one clip on top of another. This is how the voice narration and music are played at the same time.

To enhance your experience and to learn more about Windows Movie Maker check out the following;

Education and Forums:

• www.atomiclearning.com/moviemaker2
• www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Forums/Default.aspx

Software Transitions and Add-ons:

• www.pixelan.com/mm/intro.htm
• movies.blainesville.com

An alternative to Windows Movie Maker

If you don’t require voice narration and would like some unique transitions, OneTrueMedia.com simplifies the making of online slideshows or video presentations by effortlessly combining photos with words and music to personalize your story.

This 15 minute process is free, quick and easy with no software downloads and immediate results. Just follow the 4 step process that’s described below;

• Upload your images
• Add in any special transitions and effects you desire
• Use text slides and captions if applicable
• Add music from their catalog or upload your own
• Publish your video, and submit the video link to LBV

Once you have created your video ad you can easily book ads on AdToll! You will need to host your video on a video sharing site like YouTube. We do provide instructions for doing this here

We get a lot of questions from Publishers like “Where do I get my ad code?”. I guess no matter how intuitive our design is there will always be those that still have trouble working it out. We understand that and hence the reason for this blog entry.

All Publishers have a MY SITES section in their Account area, as seen below:

This is an example of a typical MY SITES section in a Publisher account area. As you can see this particular Publisher has 6 sites. Each site has its own row which can be collapsed and contracted using the icon to the left hand side of the site name.

At the site level, on the far right you will see two green icons, the first provides you the ability to edit your sites information and the second allows you to create a new Ad Group for your site.

You will see from the image above the “Razzling Arcade” site has been collapsed so you can see the Ad Groups running on that site. Each Ad Group shows daily statistics, the current Average Clicks/Ad/Week, the number of Ad Bookings and the current Average CPC based on the current price (set by the Publisher). On the right hand side of each Ad Group you will see two green icons; the first allowing you to edit the details of the Ad Group and the second will take you to the Ad Group Layout screen where you can modify the look of your Ad Group and copy the ad code to paste onto your web site.

I hope that helps Publishers with their questions! If not please do get in contact with your Account Manager.

The words you use in your text ad are vital and can determine the success or failure of your ad campaign. Here we provide you with some hints and tips on how to effectively write text ads.

Understand the audience
Understanding the mindset of your prospects is the fundamental key to writing click-friendly ads. Start thinking like your customer and not an industry insider an you will be far more effective. Understanding the challenges of your audience will also increase your chances of success when communicating to them in writing.

Less is more
It is just not possible to get a complicated strategy into a short text ad and there is no room for elaborate techno-speak. The objective of your text ad is to be straightforward and succinct so as not to make a sale but to get your prospects attention and therefore a click.

Define your goal
Make sure the message you put across in your text ad supports your desired goal. If you want to generate phone calls then put your number in the ad or point to a page on your site that contains your contact details.

Highlight unique selling points
Be sure to make your Unique Selling Position clear. Do not just tell the user you are the best, show them why.

Clever word play doesn’t work
Do not try and be too clever with the wording of your text ad. What does work is precise targeting and an attractive offer. Try to avoid clichés that are meaningless; users become “blind” to commonly used clichés and phrases.

Forget punctuation…for once
Avoid irregular punctuation like all capitals and title case. It is very distracting to the eye and most publishers won’t allow it. Keep the punctuation of your text ad so that it appears clear and professional. As an example it is fine to use the word free but avoid caps and do not use exclamation marks.

Test different concepts (split testing)
Put together 2 or 3 (or more) ad copies together and run them head to head to see how they perform. Keep them running for at least 7 days and at the end of the period compare the results and their performance. At this point you can throw away the lower performing ads.

Test the link
Once you have booked your ad and it is running, click it! It does sound like common sense (as most things are) but many advertisers simply do not check their own ad. So make sure the link works!

Writing effective text ads is a skill and now you know the rules for writing text ads, give it a try. Remember to split test your ads against each other to see which ads are performing the best for you.

With the new Goal Tracking feature available to Advertisers I thought it would be useful to show it in action! In theory then this would be a real life case study where you can see the results of a real campaign.

The Ad Booking I will be showing you is a campaign advertising an online game (www.pimpineuro.com) which is a Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). The Advertiser chose a 120×600 banner on Charazay Basketball Manager, which at the time cost $10 for the week.

The Advertiser used the Goal Tracking feature, with the required goal being a sign up on the game; therefore a new player.

The statistics on the Ad Booking you will see are quite impressive with a CPC of under 1c, a CPM of under 1c and a cost per conversion of 18c!

Below is a screen shot of the Ad Statistics, if you click on it you can view a larger version which you can clearly read.

As you can see from the stats the campaign is still currently running as of this blog entry.

A picture speaks a thousand words and all you have to do is look at the stats of this Ad Booking to see that the Advertiser would be pretty happy to this point. At 18c per guaranteed sign up I know I’d be reinvesting more money into the exact or a very similar campaign!

Keep in mind the cost per conversion is based on the “money spent so far”. This gives the Advertiser an exact cost per conversion at any point in the campaign.

As you can see from this, Goal Tracking provides valuable information to the Advertiser which really helps them justify where they are spending their money. If you are currently Advertising then consider using the Goal Tracking feature!

If you are a new Advertiser looking to use our service and are concerned about the quality of campaign statistics then read on; this blog entry is really aimed at you!

At AdToll, we beleive in providing the highest level of service as possible and in doing that recognise the need for Advertisers to be able to have access to quality and reliable statistics on their ad campaigns. Let’s face it, without stats how do you know how effective your advertising effort was? Quite simply, you don’t!

When you book an ad campaign you will see it appear in your account area in the Advertiser area on the right hand side under Sponsored Ads or Run of Network Ads, which ever ad type you booked.

Here is an example of a Sponsored Ad booking:

Here you can see the campaign name, the site you have advertised on, todays views, todays clicks, todays CTR, todays CPC and a green icon on the right hand side which is a link to your ad statistics area which provides more information on your ad plus detailed statistics.

Here is an example of the ad statistics area of that page:

In this example you can see daily stats (views, clicks, CTR, CPM, CPC), a statistics summary, a graph of views/clicks and the Goal Tracking section.

These statistics in an entirety provide a very accurate and useful picture of how your ad campaign has performed. You can then use these statistics to make future advertising decisions. In fact they are also useful for split testing different ads to see what works better etc…