So, you’ve been paying for SEO experts to get your name higher in the search engines. In the interim, you’re paying search engines to be in their pay-per-click program to show up on page one. What else is there? Have you ever looked at online banner ads? Here are a few reasons to check out this relatively old technology that’s underutilized by most local advertisers.

Where search engine marketing will help people who are really looking for you to find you, banner ads will help connect people to you that aren’t specifically searching for you. Think of it this way. If someone wants to buy a certain brand of handbag, but have no idea who in the area sells them, they will likely use a search engine to find out. However, all the people reading the online version of a style magazine aren’t searching for anything – but they’re engaged in a message you should be a part of. These readers may not even know your product exists, it’s name, or even what it looks like. Enter the banner ad. Placed right next to that online style article can give you more visibility than all that search engine work you’ve been doing. Local jewelry stores, boutique stores, salon & spas, and even cosmetic surgery companies can be right here, too.

Another big area local businesses might overlook for banner advertising in the real estate world. If you’re a home builder – you could be advertising next to empty lot listings. If you’re a home inspector, next to home listings. Real Estate Attorneys can be all over this one as well. Home improvement companies can advertise their ability to increase the value of your home before a planned sale, home stagers, decorators, the list goes on and on. Stocks and business news? Banks for sure, financial planners, insurance companies, business attorneys — you get the point, right? What about career counselors? Local job board websites that offer banner ads might be a great place to start.

Online banner ads get the word out about your product to potential clients who are not necessarily searching for it.

Now that you know why banner ads are a good thing, here are a few things to think about as you get started.

• The smaller, the better. You really can’t experiment (inexpensively) with a huge website with millions of page views and hundreds of thousands of unique visitors. The best place to start is a small niche blogger. Failing that, you can at least target your banner ad to a niche section of a larger website. Just remember to really think about where on their site your potential clients are likely to be.
• Find a local blogger. If someone in your local community has a following with good potential clients for you, sponsor their blog! Most bloggers write for fun, so sponsoring it might be really inexpensive. A good rule of thumb is to ask them for a price, don’t offer one.
• Local business sites. If you’re a home inspector, I bet you know a few real estate agents, title attorneys, home builders, or mortgage brokers that have a website. Offer to trade some ad space on your site with theirs and cross-promote. You’ve seen cross-promotion at work for other businesses – now you just need to make it work for you.
• Don’t expect a mad rush of customers. Banner ads are traditionally more for brand recognition. Certainly a decent offer might bring in more potential customers, but just be aware that, like SEO, this isn’t going to empty your store’s shelves overnight. It’s just one more way to get your name out there.
• If you’re paying for it, it’s trackable (or should be). You can know how may times your ad was displayed and how many visitors that ad brought to your website. If you’re paying by the number of ad displays (CPM) and your ad doesn’t get shown as much as it should have, you can ask for a make-good and potentially run the next month for free.