- What
code do I need to place on my Web page?
The
code that you will place within your Web page(s) will be similar to
what is shown below, with the exception of the user ID, which will
use your own Banner Exchange ID (as noted in blue):
<NOBR> <CENTER><A HREF="http://www.website-designs.com/cgi-bin/be_click.cgi?ID=1"
TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://www.website-designs.com/cgi-bin/be_display.cgi?ID=1"
WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="60" BORDER="1"></A><BR><MAP
NAME="wd"> <AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="326,1,468,21"
TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.website-designs.com/"></MAP><IMG
SRC="http://www.website-designs.com/be/images/belog.gif"
BORDER=0 WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=21 USEMAP="#wd"> </CENTER>
</NOBR>
- How
do I insert the HTML code?
To insert
the code into your HTML page(s), use a text editor, such as Windows
Notepad to open the page source. Make sure that if you use the HTML
source editor from a WYSIWYG page editor, that it does not modify
the page code after you enter it. This is the case with Microsoft's
FrontPage®, which will change the code to be in-line with FrontPage®
specifications, but will later cause an error, after the page has
been saved and uploaded to the Internet.
After
opening the HTML source, find the position on the page where you would
like to insert the code, and paste the code into this position. Make
sure that you paste it into a position with is within the <BODY>
tags of the HTML source. If you are not very familiar with editing
HTML source, we would highly recommend that you first make a back-up
copy of any pages you plan on changing, before you edit the source.
This will avoid having to totally re-create pages due to any error
which may occur when editing the HTML source. We would also recommend
that you read over the C|Net article "HTML
For Beginners" as a source for better understanding how
HTML work (warning: link will open in a new window).
- How
do I place the code on more than one page?
To display
a banner on more than one page of your site, you must make a minor
modification to the code that was given to you, when you joined the
Banner Exchange.
The
normal user ID within the code would look something like this:
be_click.cgi?ID=1"
be_display.cgi?ID=1"
In order
to place the banner on more than one page, and to have it track accurately,
you must change to code to look like this example:
be_click.cgi?ID=1&page=1"
be_display.cgi?ID=1&page=1"
For
each new page you add a banner to, you must increase the last number
in the two lines of code, incrementally. So that the second banner
page would instead have &page=2,
and the third page being &page=3,
etc.
Important:
Please keep in mind that you may only place one banner per page.
Any sites found in violation of this will be removed from the Banner
Exchange.
- How
can I reduce the size (Kb) of my banner?
One
of the most important aspects of the GIF image is the fact that size
is highly dependent on how many colours are contained within the image.
This is the reason why that non-photographic images in GIF format
are usually only a fraction of the size of a comparable JPG image.
If possible, keep the colours used within the image to a minimum.
If you
are using an animated banner, you should only be using the parts of
the image that change within the banner. This means that if only the
right half of your banner changes on the second frame, then the second
image's width dimensions will only be half that of the first one.
This will greatly reduce the file size.
- What
are statistics and my profile used for?
Your
statistics show you how many times that your banner has been displayed
on another site, as well as how many times people have clicked through
the banner to reach your site. It will also show you the percentage
rates for these items.
Your
profile is the information you provided when you became a member of
WebSite Designs' Banner Exchange, and includes information about yourself,
your site location, and your banner.
- How
do I check statistics and update my profile?
By accessing
the Member Page, and entering your
login information that was was assigned to you, when you became a
member, you can access both of these features.
If you
encounter any error during the login process, please try again, making
sure that you supplied the correct login information. If you have
any further problems, please contact us,
stating the nature of the problem, and when it occurred.
- Any
more general tips?
Try
to state as much information as possible, when creating a banner advertisement.
Web surfers will be more likely to visit a site that they know interests
them, instead of having to explore around. Banner advertisements should
contain enough information to give a basic overview of what the site
is about, and if necessary, highlight any special features that are
offered. It's a tall order to fit onto only 468 x 60 pixels of space,
but can be done. Take a look at the professional banners that are
advertised on sites like Yahoo! and Excite to gain some ideas about
how to make the most use of the real estate you have available to
you.
Place
banners on all of your main pages. Since visitors often come into
a site through places other than the intro page, a banner placed there
doesn't always get the attention that it should. Make sure to take
advantage of every page you can. The more people who click banners
located on your site, the more times your banner is shown on other
sites. By helping others, you'll also be helping yourself.
