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Banner Design Tips
Another great challenge for today’s web design community is
how to get a maximum effectiveness from a advertising campaign. Banners
are generally a domain of the web site design industry. Some types
of banners are conventionally recognized to be standard in the web
design community and in most of the web site design companies ready
templates are widely offered. However there comes a time when the standard
ideas must step off and let progressive visions take their place. The
structure of the web design community becomes more complex brought
out by the tendency of the Internet occupying a greater place in our
lives. Banners are important advertising tools communicating the presence
of all new to the great audience of the web.
An effective banner design can make the difference between an unsuccessful
and successful banner ad campaign.
- Use animation.
A quick-to-download animation can greatly increase a banner's
CTR. Animation must be used very carefully since the purpose
of the animation is to attract visitors, not to irritate them.
- For animated banners, these general guidelines apply:
- The animation should be subtle enough to attract attention
but should not be so ostentatious as to interfere or clash
with the design of the web page you are advertising on.
- An animation that loops endlessly tends to irritate visitors.
Have the animation loop 7-10 times, leaving the main message
on the last animation frame.
- Conversely, some visitors will stop a web page from loading
before the banner animation has loaded, leaving only the first
frame. Thus, it might be a good idea to have your message
come across in your first frame if you know that the web page
you are advertising on has a long download time.
- Feature a call to action.
Placing a "Click here" or "Submit" graphic
image on your banner can significantly improve your CTR.
- Use bright colors.
Blue, yellow, and green banners have a higher CTR than black-and-white
banners. Use the color red sparingly.
- Use the word "Free" in your banner.
Depending on what's offered, the word "free" can
increase CTRs. For example, offering a free software demo
gets a good response. Offering free money arouses suspicion
since people will want to know what the catch is.
- Give a benefit for clicking on your banner.
For example, "Do you want more traffic?" or, "Need
help with taxes?" The answer to the question will be
on your web site.
- Keep the message short.
Simple banners have higher CTRs than unfocused, wordy banners.
- Link the banner to a specific page.
When people click on the banner, they want to go directly
to the web page that has the information they want. Your visitors
do not want to go to your home page and have to hunt for the
information.
- Refresh or change your banners frequently.
Studies have shown that CTRs drop significantly after 2 weeks.
The CTR usually increases when a new banner appears.
To find the most effective banner design for your business,
you must go through a period of testing. Testing means that
you run a banner over a period of time and measure the results
(i.e. CTRs and resulting sales). Then you change one thing
about the banner design, such as a color or a font change,
and run that banner over a period of time and measure the
results. The banner designs that result in the most sales
should be the types of banners you use for your banner campaigns.
Viaden Inc is one of the leading companies in contemporary web design
community and our banners sell themselves - experienced designers who
know what gets the click. We will bring brand name familiarity to all
who visit this site and this familiarity will stay with the viewer for
months. You can order a banner for yourself and select among the huge
variety we offer, if you click here.
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