The buying of advertising space on other websites

As the market place is in constant evolution and having a strategic approach to Internet advertising is required. Unlike traditional advertising space, the Internet does not benefit widely from independent audience audits. Traffic claims can be variable and you must ask for specific information - page impressions, from where specific information and pages are requested, etc - and make judgements on the effectiveness of an individual site against the site operator’s claims.

In line with your overall media communications strategy specialist agencies are best placed to carry out the following tasks for you:

• planning an internet advertising campaign using various sites and methods of reaching your target audience;
• negotiating the approved plan to ensure maximum value for money;
• implementing the approved plan to ensure that the adverts appear on time and in the right place, and
• optimising campaigns through identification of the most appropriate web pages to be used for advertising, analysis of page impressions and 'click through' and the published performance of individual sites.

This is a specialist area and you are advised to refer to the Guidance on the Work of the Government Information Service