Outfitters and other outdoor related businesses can benefit with advertising on Paddle Planner.com. The average visitor spends over 7 minutes on the site. The graph below gives an idea of how much traffic Paddle Planner receives. Traffic levels on the website vary with the season, but it does receive a steady stream of visitors year-round. (If you would like more detailed statistics, please contact us.)
Outfitter Membership Package (For Outfitters Only)
For $49.99 per year, an outfitter can receive:
- Expedition Leader Membership ($49.99 value)
- Customized icon on the interactive map(s) with a direct link to your website
- Listed ahead of non-sponsoring outfitters and highlighted on all outfitter lists on Paddle Planner
- Ability to send customers links to Paddle Planner that show only your ads
- All links on Paddle Planner go directly to your website
- Rotating ad on the home page and the interactive map (see Ads on Home Page and Interactive Map)
- Embedded maps on your blog or website have your logo and name instead of Paddle Planner's
To take advantage of this offer, contact us to get directions on sending your logos and icons. We will make sure everything is set up correctly. Then upgrade to the outfitter version to make your ads and icons active on the site.
The customized icon on the map is 16x16 pixels. An example is shown above and to the left. The icon will provide a direct link to your website in the popup window. (If you do not have a website, you will receive an enhanced listing on Paddle Planner.com.) If you need help designing your icon, just contact us for free help.
There are a few places on Paddle Planner that list outfitters, including the outfitter database, entry point database, and entry point details and Route Finder results on the interactive maps. Your listing will be placed ahead of non-sponsoring outfitters, be slightly highlighted, can have an icon next to it, and the link will go directly to your website.
As a subscriber to the outfitter membership package, you also are included in the ad rotation on the home page and one interactive map region. How much will your ad be seen if you purchase just the outfitter premium package? This depends on how many advertising slots are available that month and how many premium outfitters subscribe to Paddle Planner. Details are found in the "Ads on Home Page and Interactive Map" section, but a basic illustration will be given here. On the home page and the interactive maps, the ad shown rotates between different "slots." The number of slots available varies by month based on traffic on the website. All of the premium outfitters share one slot. The rest of the slots are available for purchase. For illustration purposes, let's say that there are 4 slots available for purchase and 1 slot for the premium outfitters, making 5 slots in all. When the home page is viewed, one of the 5 slots is chosen randomly, so each slot should be seen about 20% of the time. If the "premium outfitter" slot is chosen to be shown, one of the premium outfitters' ads is randomly selected. Therefore, if there are 10 premium outfitters, your ad will be viewed 10% of the time that the premium outfitter slot is shown, or about 2% of the time overall. This is just the portion that comes with the premium outfitter package. You can purchase additional advertising slots if they are available.
For $9.99 per month, your advertisement can be viewed on the home page and one of the interactive map regions.
Advertising Slots - Available/Total| Month | Algonquin | Apostle Islands | BWCA/Quetico | Everglades | MB-ON Wilderness | Other | Sylvania | Voyageurs | Wabakimi | Yellowstone |
|---|
| September 2023 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/13 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 4/4 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 1/1 |
| October 2023 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/11 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 4/4 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 1/1 |
| November 2023 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/10 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 4/4 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 1/1 |
How do I get started?
Contact us to make arrangements to have your advertisement on the map and home page. If you do not have an ad readily available, we can help design one.
How many ads are shown? Why does the number of slots available vary?
The number of advertising slots varies by month. The number of slots is determined by the number of pageviews on a region's interactive map during the same month the previous year. One slot is given for every 1,000 pageviews. For example, if the BWCA/Quetico map had 6,000 pageviews the previous July, then 6 advertising slots will be available the next July. As long as the number of website visitors stays the same or increases over the previous year, each advertising slot will receive at least 1,000 views.
At least one advertising slot is assigned to each area, whether or not it receives 1,000 pageviews. On these maps, the advertisement may not reach 1,000 views. The ad, though, will be shown on the home page as well as the interactive map, so it will get some exposure whether or not the interactive map is viewed at all that month.
One advertising slot is reserved for the outfitter members. (See the Outfitter Premium Package section.) This reserved slot is not shown in the table above.
How large is each ad?
On the home page, each ad can be up to 250x250 pixels. You can have a rectangular ad, but you will be giving up space available to you. The same ad is shown on the maps, but it is shrunk to 150x150 pixels. The best ads show up well at both sizes.
How much will your ad be seen?
As long as the traffic stays the same or increases over the prior year, each advertising slot will receive at least 1,000 views per month. The number of views, though, could be more if not all the slots are taken and/or the website traffic increases. Here is an illustration:
Example
Let's say that there are four BWCA/Quetico advertising slots available in April. There would be four slots because the BWCA/Quetico map received at least 4,000 pageviews the previous April. There is also one slot for the outfitter members' ads.
Since there are 5 advertising slots, each slot will be shown 20% of the time on the BWCA/Quetico map. If traffic remains exactly the same as the previous year, each ad will receive 800 views on the map.
The ads are also shown on the home page. However, the BWCA/Quetico slots also rotate with the other regions. This example assumes all the other regions have one slot each.
With the addition of the other areas, 9 slots rotate on the home page. Each slot will receive about 11% of the traffic. The home page is viewed more than the individual maps, but for simplicity, let's assume the same 4,000 people also viewed the home page. Each slot will be viewed about 440 times on the home page.
In this example, between the interactive map and the home page, each BWCA/Quetico advertising slot will receive over 1,200 views during the month. This could be more since, as is often the case, not all of the slots may have been purchased for the month. Unfilled advertising slots are ignored, so the percentage of time every other slot is shown increases.
Can I change my ad?
Yes, it is very easy for us to change which ads are showing. If you would like to change your ad, just contact us.
Can I purchase more than one slot?
Yes.
Free Listing
All outfitters that service the areas covered by Paddle Planner can have a free listing in our outfitter database. If your business is not listed yet or you would like to have information corrected or updated, please contact us.
Other Opportunities
Since we are a small organization, we can be flexible in working with our advertisers. The following are some examples of how we could work with you.
While we haven't started it yet, Paddle Planner plans on hosting a monthly photo contest. From the winners, we will make a calendar that will be sold/distributed at the end of the year. Sponsoring a contest would mean providing the prize or providing the funds to purchase a prize for the winner. By being a sponsor of the contest, you can have your business displayed on the photo contest page and in the calendar. If you are interested in sponsoring a photo contest, please contact us.
Paddle Planner will also host other contests such as quizzes and trip report contests. If you are interested in sponsoring a contest or have an idea for one, please contact us.
If you would like to sponsor a specific page other than the home page or the maps, please contact us so we can discuss it. Sponsoring specific pages will be on a case by case basis.
Trade Advertising
Instead of paying for advertising, we are open to trading. If you advertise this site, we are willing to give you a map sponsorship or an outfitter membership package. There are several things you can do to advertise this site - have flyers or brochures in your place of business (we can provide the flyers), links on your website, etc.
