Target your Web ads for maximum magic

Choose the right ads
We've come a long way from the infamous pop-up style ads, which hardly anyone uses anymore and most browsers block easily. Instead, think about banner ads, video ads, e-mail newsletter ads, wireless ads; many kinds of online ad products are available now. Try small ad buys, then do more of what works.

It's easy to get lost in all the sizes and types. One place to start is the Internet Advertising Bureau, which is helping set industry standards. Above all, don't get caught up in lots of glitz, unless that's what works best. Sometimes a simple text ad ("15% off this week!") can work wonders.

Pay only for the right audience
Use services such as Google AdWords to tie your ads to search result pages. This way when someone searches Google for "classic car parts," they'll find not just a list of Web sites, but also an ad that directly links to your antique car restoration business. It goes beyond a traditional banner ad because you're putting ads only in front of people who are actively searching for the products or services you offer, and you pay only if they click through to your Web site.

Plus, because the audience is already "qualified" (meaning interested in the topic), they're more likely to buy from you once they click through. Look into services such as TribalFusion and Yahoo Search Marketing for more pay-per-performance methods.

Pay-per-click isn't always the right solution. Some businesses want to build awareness and foot traffic, and some businesses won't get enough traffic from people searching relevant terms. But it can be a powerful tool if you want to home in on the right audience for your ads and get a strong idea of how well it's performing for the money you spend.

When prospects click through to your Web site, seize the opportunity
It goes without saying that you should have a Web site as a place for your Internet ads to link to. Once they land on your site, you should make sure you have a great chance of closing the sale.

Weber Chevrolet, a car dealer in Creve Coeur, Missouri, combines Web advertising with a sophisticated inventory tracking system.

"We post our dealer inventory on our Web site," said Mike Maher, the Internet sales manager. "Say we have a customer who is looking at a Chevrolet Cobalt. If we can get him to click on the banner, once he's on our Web site, now we have a captive audience. Now he's looking at our specific Cobalts, not our competitors' Cobalts."

Go where your customers are, geographically
If you sell nationally, for example via mail-order, advertising on far-reaching Web sites like the major news outlets could be profitable. But if your business primarily caters to a local market, target your ads accordingly.

"At first we tried all the big nationwide sites," said Weber's Maher. "We found that we were not really hitting the core of St. Louis. Then we honed in on St. Louis Today and KMOV (a local TV station) because they hit the local market compared to Auto Trader," Maher said.

Go where your customers are, on the Web
Some sites, such as CitySearch, are good at reaching tourists and diners. Other sites reach hobbyists or interest groups. You might want to buy some keywords on Google (as noted above). If you don't already know, ask your customers what Web sites they like to visit.

Zanzibar, a bar and lounge with 30 employees in New York City's theater district, advertises on both CitySearch and theater Web sites. It often uses small square ads known as "tiles."

"You can put a [regional] tile ad up that's directly linked to your Web site for as little as $400 per year," said Karen Carzo a PR representative for the bar. "A lot of times people go online to look for theater tickets and then look for places to go afterwards. It's like any other advertising; you have to know your audience and hit sites that appeal to that audience."

Change designs and promotions to bring in more customers
Zanzibar uses a graphic design firm to craft ads and send them to CitySearch.

New ads are crafted whenever Zanzibar runs a new promotion. "We can promote happy hour specials, or offer 15 percent off when booking holiday parties before October 1," said Carzo. "We change our ads to promote whatever we want."

Make your own
Zanzibar uses a graphic design firm to craft ads and send them to CitySearch.

Some Web sites offer standard banner ad graphics along with their advertising packages. You can take it a step further, however. Many small-business owners do their own ad design. If you're handy with your computer, a simple program such as Corel Paint Shop Pro X ($129.99) or Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 ($99.99) can be all the technology you need. Grab JPEG or GIF elements from your Web site, such as your site logo or a graphic from your home page, and use those to form the backbone of your ad design.

Increase the amount of Web advertising as you see results
"Small businesses are caught between Web ads and print ads," says Maher. "It's very hard for a businessowner to say 'OK, I'm going to take X dollars and put it to the Web.' They don't like to do it because it's scary; they know print works. In time, I see more and more businesses going to the Internet."

Carzo proves the point. "We definitely have moved more into Internet advertising over the past four years," she said. "Even radio; a lot of the stations are doing down-streaming on their Web sites, so we've gone into advertising with them. Right now our breakdown is about 30 percent print, 30 percent broadcast, and 40 percent Internet."