Understanding web stats Year Pageviews 2006 129,467 2007 608,125 2008 1,572,794 2009 3,698,281 Projected 2010 8,000,000 AmazingRibs.com is growing rapidly, more than doubling in readership each year. Peak season is May-September, peak month is July. Pageviews, which are about the same as impressions in print and broadcast media, are the most important and valid measurement of web usage. They count how many pages were viewed. Just as in magazines or TV, impressions are the count of how many times a prospect sees your ad and how many opportunities a prospect has to click on your ad. That's what really matters. Hits are a misleading stat. Hits are the number of objects sent from the website's server to the viewer's browser, so a page with a block of text, four graphics, and your ad counts as six hits. Hits doesn't tell you anything meaningful. If someone is trying to sell you an ad based on hits, run. Her's an example: In July 2009, AmazingRibs.com had 9,508,281 hits on 531,448 pageviews. Visits is also a misleading stat. Some visits are one pageview and seeya. Other visitors look at many pages. Some never come back. Some come back several times. What does that tell you? What matters is how many times do they see your ad. That's pageviews. For more info on the subject of understanding web stats, click here.

Advertising on AmazingRibs.com: Pageviews More Than Double Every Year!

Advertising on AmazingRibs.com is a great way to build your brand and make direct sales. There are three ways to buy ads on this site:

Sponsorships. These are banner ads that can be purchased directly from me, Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn. They are sold on a pageview and size basis (see rates below).

Transactions. When a transaction, such as a sign-up or purchase, occurs you pay a commission or bounty. These ads are sold and tracked by the Google Affiliates Network (more info below).

Clickthroughs. On the right side of each page there are ads placed by the Google AdWords program. If you are a member you can specify that your ads appear on my pages (more info below).

Here is more info about each program.

Sponsorships based
on pageviews

Above is a chart of pageviews for my site since it opened in 2006. As you can see, usage has been growing rapidly. That is partially due to word of mouth, and partially do the the fact that AmazingRibs.com is listed first when you search on "BBQ Ribs" on Google and several other search engines. The site also ranks high on other barbecue related keywords on all search engines.

Peak months are May, June, July, and August. Over the past two years each month's pageviews have increased more than 200% over the same month for the previous year.

Qualified prospective advertisers can contact me and I can substantiate these figures with reports direct from Google Analytics, the leading source for website usage data.

All sponsorship ads are run-of-site. This means they appear on every page of the site in the same location to insure maximum visibility and impact. I cannot place ads on specific pages at this time. Because I do not have a bookkeeping department or ad staff, all sponsorship contracts are for 12 months paid in advance.

Pending availability, I offer you space on the top of every page and on the right hand side. Each page is 900 pixels wide. Here are the rates based on a guaranteed 2.5 million pageviews for the next 12 months. Based on past performance, pageviews should surpass 3 million pageviews. The rate will not change if pageviews are more or less. There are no refunds. Other size options may be available upon special request.

Top of the page leaderboard
900 pixels wide x 90 pixels high @ $6/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $15,000/12 months
728 x 90 @ $5/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $12,500/12 months
468 x 90 @ $4/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $10,500/12 months
312 x 90 @ $3/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $7,500/12 months
234 x 90 @ $2/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $5,000/12 months
120 x 90 @ $1/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $2,500/12 months

Righthand column skyscraper
200 x 600 @ $6/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $15,000/12 months
200 x 400 @ $4/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $10,000/12 months
200 x 200 @ $2/1000 pageviews x 2.5 million = $5,000/12 months

General terms. Your site must be informative, accurate, original, well maintained, and well-designed.

The identity of the author/owner/webmaster/seller or other persons in control must be clear and plain, and contacting him or her must be simple.

You should conspicuously post your privacy policy on your web site and make it available to all visitors. Your privacy policy must comply with all laws and accurately disclose your collection and use of visitor information.

Your ad may include motion or animation so long as I do not consider it annoying. No popup or popunder ads.

Your site or your advertisers must not include or promote pornography, hate, bigotry, libel, violence, discrimination, or illegal activity.

All ads are subject to my approval. I reserve the right to reject any ads that I wish at my discretion without explanation.

Transaction based ads as sold by Google Affiliates Network

I often use ads from the Google Affiliates Network. With this system I select ads I think will perform well and place them where I please depending on availability of space. Each time you make a sale or get signup or consummate the deal of your choice, Google charges you a fee and pays me a commission. If you are already a member of the Google Affiliates Network and would like your ad on my pages, let me know and I will consider placing your ad on this site. If you are not a member, I recommend you consider it. This is a good way to get your ads on a variety of sites. Please note that if your ads do not perform, I may chose to replace them with another ad.

Clickthrough based ads as sold by Google AdWords

These ads are placed in the space in the right side column under Google's name by the Google AdWords program. If you are not familiar with the system, advertisers bid for inclusion and position on the list and pay according to their bid each time someone clicks on their ad.

Questions?

If you have any questions, contact me via email or call 708-485-3761 from 9-5 Chicago time.