The Master Advertising Thread

I decided to compile all the threads and polls about advertising into one place so we could get a solid overall picture of advertising and all it's related issues.

Does Guest Advertising Work?
I think we've shown pretty conclusively that it does. I was even rather surprised by the results.

Rules?
Ad Rules Poll
I would argue that the more rules you have on your ad forum, the more it's only going to hurt you and your site in the long run. Other people will just move on to the next site. I think of advertising as working on a scale of even ratios - the more I allow others to advertise, then the more I can advertise.

The top six don'ts in advertising are:
1) Requiring people to post your ad when they post theirs, commonly called "postbacks". This seems to be an overall hated rule, and sites who do this not only run the risk of not being allowed to advertise anywhere, but they also run the risk of turning away potential members who may be initially checking out the site just to advertise.
2. Rejecting people from different software/hosts from posting.
There seems to be a consensus that this just makes your site look bad to potential members, as well as a general feeling that it's really not that hard to make an ad for each type of software and save it for use later. You don't even have to intentionally advertise on that type of software, just respond when someone advertises on your site. I wrote a documentation for coding ads on different boards to address this problem.
3. Requiring a form
Most roleplaying sites who do this are not large enough to warrant the extra time it takes to fill out a form, and they don't get people who post there (and a lot of people won't let them post their ads on their sites). Many roleplaying sites go to great lengths to make their ads stand out, and forms really don't offer anything that's worth the trouble of using them. If you have a large site, like an advertising site, then the form gets a lot of hits and is worth the time to fill out.
4. Post my button so you can post your ad.
This just isn't fair, and sites that have this rule have empty ad forums and get their ad deleted on other sites. This isn't worthwhile in any sense. Popular ad forums are an exception, because of the exposure your ad receives. That would be an even trade.
5. Disabling images without noting it in your rules
Just don't do it. If you want to disable images, make sure your own ad doesn't have images, and you let advertisers know in your rules. Posting images should be enabled by default, but you might want to check the guest group and make sure it is enabled. Also, in general settings or security settings there is usually a setting for displaying images.
6. Make your font too small
This post explains this some. Some skins make the default size even smaller, so when people post in size 1 font, it looks like size .5 (and is unreadable). Just let the text be the default size. And some skinners will report you if you try to change the font size on your site (in other words, some admins don't have control over that if they want to use that skin). Changing font sizes on a skin can also get you banned from sites like IFSZ.

Essential rules:
*Don't post links on other sites' shoutboxes.
*Don't join a site to pm your link to members of that site. IF and other hosts can ban your site for this.

Other Relevant Threads (please do not rez/post to these threads - just read them)
Advertising Issues
Advertising
Advertising for All
Thinking Creatively about Advertising
Advertising More than Once
The Art of Advertising

Defiantly deserves a pin I would say ^_^. Good job Ros by compiling this, defiantly very helpful!

edit: oops, posted on teh wrong topic! *blush*

This is fantastical!

I had no idea so many people posted so many things about something that many dont give much thought =)

But very helpful in the longrun!

Wanted to add how much I hate when people disable images and don't state it anywhere. I end up changing my ads all up for like, a site or two. It's a real b****.

This is interesting. I have common senses, but even then, I'm surprised by the things I don't know. O_o; Thank god I read some tips here.

Thanks!

Thanks for the tips, had to rework my Link place to allow guests to post links though im not sure if it'd working lol, seems im the only one posting there lol

I allow people to post their ads on my site, however, they must have a place where I can post my ad back. I'm not asking them to post my ad, but I'd like to have a place where I can return the favor, so my forum gets attention as well. I'm also keeping it guest-friendly, so people don't have to sign up just to post an ad. These are things that highly annoy me when I'm advertising.

I completely agree with this. We've had this happen with us by a few people now, and it's not fun. It can be understandable if someone doesn't really know what they're doing, but if that's the case, they can contact the admin of the site, or just leave it for someone more experienced.

I realize we all have to start somewhere, and most of us out there are open to helping others out, which is great! But if it's constantly happening, and by the same people, it's not ok.

I agree with the others though, this is a brilliant post! :D

ugh, i hate it when someone advertises on your board, then you go to advertise on theirs and you have to register before doing so. also, the whole "post our ad" thing pisses me off. laaaaaaaaaaaazaaaaaaaaay.

my friend deletes their ad when this happens >.> i just complain lol

but this is a good list of do's and do not's, i agree with all that was said before me :D

Interesting, it makes you look at things a little different. I disagree with the form though. If its something stupid long with repetitive questions and doesn't help you advertise your site any then yeah it shouldn't be there. A lot of times though people aren't to sure what to put up to advertise or ask for affiliation and a form can be a quick and easy away of getting out the needed information. Its rare I see a form now a days that doesn't accomplish both advertisement and affiliation.

<span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'>Very good advise and things to think on when opening a new board! Thanks!</span>

As a newbie, compared to a lot of people on here, these are points I've come across so often. These things I hate :

1) When I've spent time with my ad and then have someone disable my picture just leaving aline of [img - url][*/img], and not even with it being a link drives me crazy. Then when you ask an admin in their cbox they just don't reply, and ignore you.

2) Asking for a form to be filled out. Personally, I can't see the reason for this on the main ad. I can with affiliates to some extent as more specific information is needed, but surely if your ad hasn't got the right information then it's up to you, and you alone. So often your site ad's picture has taken time to do and the ad has been worked on, so I think it's almost rude to ask for just a form to be filled in.

It's also very time consuming. As a new site, I like to advertise at as many sites as possible, and I don't always have the time to do it.

3) Now I understand why people do this, part way. When you have the 'real person' code, to post, that I can understand, but what I don't get is why it keeps asking me when I'm just trying to preview it before I post it.

4) The other thing is when you don't have a list for accepted ads, that if you want to look for a site, you have to go through all the first links and the link backs on a site. It would be easier, in my opinion to do this for anyone checking out possible sites from your board.

5) When there's a drop down button for all the affiliates instead of actually on the site itself.

Wow, I didn't think there'd be that many that bugged me. :lol: And remember this is just me personally, and I don't want to upset anyone with my opinions.

I really hate when you dont allow ads for your own fandom. I tried posting an ad on a tv show site rpg (which is the same tv show my rpg is for) but in their rules it says no (insert tv show) links. They are taking all the members from other rpg sites. Thats just rude.

I dislike it when people view other people's forums as being obligated in some way to provide a platform for them to advertise their own sites, rival or not. {Excluding sites that posted an ad on your forum first of course.} Posting anything on someone else's forum is a privilege, not a right. They worked hard to get where they are, and they don't owe anyone else anything. If they allow you to advertise, they're being generous, and if not, there are other places to advertise. Thousands of RPGs have guest boards with only minimal requirements, usually only that they be allowed to link back.

Recently we upped the requirements on our own ad board to eliminate having to link back because one too many ornery guests had a b****fest on our ad board because, whoops, I didn't notice the ad I'd posted there last July and posted a new one. Enough was enough, and we have now switched over to a button linking system instead {button being extremely small, smaller than an affiliate button though they're free to stick that up too}. Considering very few of our members even join through ads, we're being pretty charitable.

I have question:

For those forum that DON'T have an ad forum, and have a good handful of members, what is your secret?

We originally advertised to get those members. After a while, word of mouth has more power because more members are there to bring in their friends. Also, after a while, more of your pages get indexed by Google and other search engines, making them easier to find that way too. Search engines favour older sites over new ones because over time more content accumulates, and that's more content to get picked up by them.

Also, over time, sites network with each other, through affiliation or other means and the name of your site will become more well known in those circles over time.

Just don't make the mistake of resting on your laurels once you get to the top.

I don't mind posting ads on sites that sort them into types - I don't even mind sites that then alphabetise ads posted there. I object to sites that:

1. Require me to post their ad if I post mine. I just click the exit button right away when I see that.
2. Only allow IF or IF and PB boards. My board is neither, although the BBCode is practically the same as PB. If boards with that rule post their ads on mine, I trash their ads.
3. The virgins/whores thing is just tacky. What's wrong with First Links/Link Back?
4. People who can't preview their ads on my board. Yes, I know the buttons are the other way round, but you ought to be able to read. If I'm not sure, I'll preview my ad. Ads with faulty coding get the coding stripped out and are left with a plain link.
5. (And I can't believe anyone would do this, but it's happened more than once!) Ads with no link. I can't go Googling for boards, especially new ones, so ads without any link in them get trashed. Again, we do actually have a preview button!

Thanks for all the info, reading all the links now

I'm pretty glad I don't do this. >u>
This is awesome, by the way.