The efficacy of banner ads is on a downward trend. The majority of internet users can identify banner ads and have conditioned themselves to disregard them. To address this issue, a collaborative effort between website owners and advertisers is crucial. Despite the billions of dollars spent on website promotion, with over 75% allocated to banner ads, only a small fraction of small businesses know how to fully utilize banner ads.
The design of a webpage and the placement of banner ads are critical for achieving a higher click-through rate. If you're using banner ads, it's essential to integrate them into your site design to maximize benefits.
Banner ads positioned within the initial screen view tend to perform better than those placed further down a webpage. However, most banners at the top of a page are overlooked. Banners placed a third down the page or on the lower right side of the screen (near the scroll bar) are more effective.
Avoid letting banners divert your customers from your pages. Instead, have them open a new window to the banner site using the 'target="_blank"' attribute in the link tag.
Pop-up banners can be irritating. As an alternative, consider using 'Pop Under Banners'. By using JavaScript to open the banner in the main window and including 'self.focus();', the main window remains on top, and the viewer eventually sees your banner with less annoyance.
If you're using banners for reciprocal linking, offer webpage owners a selection of banners and sizes that suit their site and preferences.
Experiment with personalized ad text with affiliate buttons to boost click-through rates.
Branding banners can contribute to long-term brand awareness. Although they may not generate an immediate click-through response, they are a crucial part of an overall online brand-building strategy.
You have a few seconds to capture your visitors' attention. This is one reason why large banners are ineffective. Visitors won't wait for them to load. Keep the banner size under 10k.
If you're using animation, incorporate horizontal movement. The human eye is naturally sensitive to horizontal motion.
Interactive features, if available, can pique curiosity. For instance, the FreeLotto banner that allows you to scrape the tickets is an excellent interactive banner.
Including text like "click here" on your banner clarifies what the viewer is supposed to do. Try a blue border, implying the entire banner is clickable.
The word "FREE" is powerful in advertising. "Final Offer" or other time-dependent phrases may prompt users to click immediately.
Ask a question in your banner. For example, 'Can Ginko Biloba increase my memory potential? Visit Stacy's Herbal Shop to find out!' This sparks interest, and the visitor will click the banner for the answer.
Use the ALT attribute in the image tags of your banners. Many people surf with images turned off. The ALT attribute will describe the content of the banner and can bring people to your site, even if they can't see the image!
Target your banner to similar websites. Your banner will perform better when associated with appropriately keyworded websites.
If you want antique shoppers to visit your site, choose a banner exchange for antiques. If the banner implies an offer, product, or service presented within a specific and targeted context, that banner will get clicked more often.
A secret to try... make banners that don't look like banners. Make a promise with your banner ad, and deliver. Your visitor will not be irritated by being "fooled" so long as they ultimately get what was promised.
Banners that look like internet interface elements (drop-down menus and other elements customers are accustomed to clicking on) are known to generate high click-through rates.
Change your banners often. After a few hundred thousand impressions, a banner becomes stale, and its click-through rate will drop. Be systematic. Track your banners constantly.
You need to know what works and what doesn't, and that this can change daily. Keep those banners that work well so as to rotate them back at a later date.
Banners take up valuable web real estate. Do you have high traffic pages you are failing to place ads on? What are your CGI 'on the fly' pages doing? Your search pages are prime also.
You are not limited to banners. Use your favorite search engine to find button exchanges and link exchanges as well. Check out these sites for free exchanges.
123buttons Go2mypage Up4u Popunder Buttonxchange Tulipxchange Linkbuddies Ban-x
Let's not leave without a few tools to make our banners with. These tools can be used for other applications as well. Be creative.
MS Gif Animator 3D GIF Designer Harm's Tiles Web Paint
While the potency of banners is diminishing, haven't you seen banners and buttons that caught your eye? The limitation to using banners is yourself, but isn't this true of anything.
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