When people talk of e-commerce, they're generally talking about setting up web shops, taking credit card numbers, and selling products over the web. However, there's another, wider aspect of e-commerce which affects a greater number of people. This aspect consists of the affiliate programs and web advertising done on personal sites. The tricky thing with a personal site is that one does not have too much control over the server. If you're like many small business persons and don't have much cash to throw around, you tend to stick with free servers. In such an instance, you have just about zero control over the server. Personal web commerce becomes a not-too-likely proposition. Chances are, if you're like most businesses, you don't have a T-1, but are still trying to slug away with a 56k modem. That's not all bad, mind you. The majority of users out there are on 56k (or slower). While it may stifle your creativity somewhat (because you can't look at everyone else's site right away), it will put you in better touch with the average user. (Note: That's a tip for you T-1 web designers: test your site with a real 56k modem, not some emulating program. You'll find that minute to download the site incredibly long). What does this mean for web advertising and affiliate programs? Graphics are the key! When choosing and advertising program (banner programs, etc.) keep in mind how long it will take for the image to download. Banner ads require that people load the whole image before they count it. It's even more important if you only make money by people clicking on the banner! An easy way to eliminate the download times it to use standardized graphics across your site. That way banners on other pages inside your site may load much faster. It may be good (if your program allows) to avoid banners on the first page and put them only on internal pages.

For affiliate programs, this becomes important in that, although it's tempting, it may not be a good idea to show a picture of every product for sale -- especially not on page one. People may decide it's too boring to wait for the picture and leave. You may want to try re-sampling the image to a smaller picture (or try cropping only the important parts). Good descriptions and great reviews work much better in the long run. Which would you prefer - a page with two pictures and great descriptions, or a page with 20 pictures and poor descriptions? Besides, for the majority of affiliate campaigns, a picture is shown after the customer clicks on the link anyway. Of course, the best way to know what's going on with your site is to check out what kind of people visit your site. You can set up a survey for them or monitor their statistics. Monitoring the stats is often a good idea, since you can tell where people log in from, what kind of browser they use, what their operating systems are, etc Remember, though, the best way to make money with a personal site isn't to sell lots of different items and put up lots of banner ads. The best way to make money is to offer content. You'll have to come up with that one your own!