For the first time ever, the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce is opening its websites up to businesses looking for new promotional opportunities. 

With direction from the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors and the Technology Advocacy Committee, the Chamber’s new advertising program allows for its members to place static advertisements in three different spots on three of the SLO Chamber’s highly trafficked websites (visitslo.com, slochamber.org, and slo-business.com). 

"Studies show that when businesses are associated with Chambers of Commerce, people are more likely to think favorably of that business," said SLO Chamber President Dave Garth. "So this is a great opportunity for our members to not only gain exposure by advertising online, but to also further associate themselves with one of the most trusted brands in the country."

The only thing that hasn't changed is the Chamber’s policy of no advertisements on the homepages, with the exception of slo-business.com.

"We were very hesitant to make the sites too commercial looking," Garth said. "We still want our sites to offer useful information and a clean design without distracting visitors with ads that pop up or make a lot of noise. It’s important to drive traffic to member websites but it’s also important to keep the integrity of our own sites."

The online advertising program is tiered, with Tier 1 meaning an ad placed above the fold (near the top of each webpage), Tier 2 meaning an ad placed either slightly above or slightly below the fold, and Tier 3 meaning an ad placed at the bottom of each page.

Each advertising space will have an inventory of no more than 10 ads that rotate every time the page is viewed or refreshed, to allow for optimum exposure for each advertiser.

To view the SLO Chamber’s online advertising rate card, visit SloChamberAdRates.com.