I’ve been thinking about storing all my sponsor banners in one cloud based location instead of on each of my individual blogs. This would make it easier to swap out banners. For example, if I have a banner I labeled “sean-cody-01.jpg” all I need to do is create another banner with the same name and replace it where I store the banners. Then the new image would show up on all my blogs at the same time. Right now I’d have to make the swap on dozens of blogs and a few hosting companies so storing them all in one place seems to be something I should have done long ago.
I was wondering if any of you do this and if so where do you store the banners? I thought about using one of my Google Drive accounts but could this be a security issue, possibly opening the door to a hacker? Dropbox is another option that came to mind. I suppose I could just store them in a folder on one of my hosting accounts but I think they may frown on that.
I even thought about creating a Tumblr site with just the banners (uploaded only as images without affiliate links) and hotlinking to them on my blogs but this is probably in violation of some Tumblr policy.
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
I store them on one domain and all my sites pull them from that location. Same with my jump script. When I need to change banners or sponsor URL’s, I only have to change them once.
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
I use KeyCDN (following the link gives me credit if you sign up). They have a good blend of technical advancements (e.g. they use Let’s Encrypt for free HTTPS support), and low prices, and good distribution of data centers around the world. I use another CDN (that’s even cheaper) for serving videos, but that one is just US and EU.
Well, for one, the URLs change on the images periodically.
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
Naked, as Jay wrote - they change the urls periodically. Also, they don’t allow hotlinking. But the most important thing is that they offer free service, so they could stop your site when they want. If you’re looking for cheap and quality service, check joesdatacenter.com. I host all my sites there and I’m more than satisfied.
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
I also have most of mine stored in a folder on one of my domains. I started that back when I was using a lot of free adult hosts and it was easiest to just bring in the pics from one source where I was paying for hosting. I had a banners folder and inside that I had a folder for every sponsor, and then folders for either by size and/or model name.
Just be sure to use a domain that you are going to keep until the day you die… if you decide to trim your portfolio you don’t want them to be on a domain you might not keep.
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
I again vote for either a CDN or a banners folder on a domain, dont bother with cheap style free options it only creates a LOT more work in the long run and that costs more than a few dollars and peace of mind…
On that note remember not to use a folder called /banners/ or using banner sizes in folders or titles or you increase adblocks chance to block your banners
Re: Affiliates, where do you store your sponsor banners?
On that note remember not to use a folder called /banners/ or using banner sizes in folders or titles or you increase adblocks chance to block your banners
Wow… I never thought about that. Great tip! I never really thought about how ad blockers work but will need to look into that!
Thanks for all the other tips everyone. I didn’t know Tumblr changed image links… sneaky of them!
And I’ll check out Jay’s CDN’s. One reason I didn’t want to use my own hosting service is because of the extra strain hosting dozens of banners being called up hundreds or thousands of times might impact the cheapo budget accounts I have!
