[cowboysfan]

Every once in awhile, I get emails from advertisers asking for my "rate card". I just have two questions -- what are advertisers looking to see on a rate card? and of course, what the heck is a rate card?

Admittedly, I never filled out one before..but I want to make sure I get them the information they are looking for so I don't look like a fool.

Any ideas?

[Marsha Liebert]

Hi cowbysfan!

A rate-card is basically a listing of any available placements/real-estate on your site along with price quotes. The advertisers are looking to find out what opportunities there are to spend more money on your site and gain added exposure.

If you don't have one, you may want to think about compiling one together for the future, but it's ok to respond and say you don't have one and start the conversation with the advertiser about what they can do to gain more traffic from you.

[cowboysfan]

Thanks Marsha for the feedback. I've always worked on commssions, but I'd be willing to sell some real estate on my website for the right price. Is it better to charge yearly? monthly? and what is a fair rate to ask for? I'm assuming of course the popularly of your site helps....

[Marsha Liebert]

if it's the first time you're selling space like that, I'd suggest monthly. Most advertisers will go for that especially if it's a reasonable rate. Maybe start by seeing what your average earnings are on a certain spot and start there.

[kse]

cowbysfan, its fine to sell Ad Space on your site but you should put "NoFollow" on all paid listing if not Google may pinalize your site. Also If the merchants who wants to buy space has an affiliate program I would think you should consider putting up an affiliate link rather then a paid listing.

[Chuck Hamrick]

Take a look at the Advertising link at the top of the page for a layout on a rate card. It used to refer to something that was mailed for say magazine or newspaper advertising. For a comparison look at the list of iNet sites at the bottom of the page. Web Hosting Talk has the most traffic so expect those rates to be highest.

If you need help with an advertising script Burgerboy had a discussion about that earlier this year.

[Heidi9771]

Hi cowboysfan,
If you have a subscriber list for email, you may consider including that too in your list of sponsorships. Many advertisers will pay more to be featured in a contextual way within your email newsletter, etc. Good luck!

[Convergence]

On the bottom of nearly all our websites we have a link for merchants that includes:

• Banner Advertising Rates
• PPC Rates
• Product Inclusion Requests with and without Featured product listings

First two merchants can sign up by themselves and third one is by quotation only...

[markymark]

Regarding scripts for advertising, I can thoroughly recommend AdPeeps. It offers a self-service advertising platform you can run on your server. It's $99 or at least it was when I bought it.

If you are using Wordpress, another good option is OIOPublisher. I've used both of these and they work well.

[cowboysfan]

Thanks for your feedback everyone! Lots of great info, I appreciate it...