Advertising Banner Creation
Peter Go.
Have you ever wondered why that banner, which took you quite a bit of time and effort to make, just isn't bringing in the hits to your site? While we don't profess to know the secret formula for making 100% successful banners, we surely can give you a roadmap to making a more effective one.
Seek Professional Help
This is the very first and basic rule we ourselves follow. If you don't know enough about making them yourselves, get help from someone who does. While we agree that there's nothing much more gratifying than accomplishing it yourself and using your very own resources, we also believe that some people are blessed with the skills for such tasks and some are just unfortunately all-thumbs. So before you start on that banner, think to yourself "Do I really have it?" or "Do I call 911?" We have a short list of qualified banner makers whom you might want to check out
or we can create one for you for a small fee.
Animate
An article published by ZDNet indicated a study that concluded, animated ads generate about 18-40% more click-through rates as opposed to static ones. Animated banners tend to get noticed more and therefore stand better chances of being clicked. We advise though to keep the animation within necessary limits. Remember that in some cases, too much animation can be become rather annoying.
Keywords: "Click Here" & "Free"
Another article we came across with indicated that banners bearing the words "Click Here" and "Free" get better response rates. Of course, if you have nothing free to offer, don't use the word "Free". We are definitely against misleading ads.
Choose Colors Wisely
This is a tricky area because it can either work for you or backfire. Some general rules to remember include:
- watch your color combinations - do not mix dark text with an equally dark background;
- simplicity - don't try to use all the colors available in your paint palette, limit it to 4-5 colors;
- boldness - bold colors like yellow and green tend to have better response rates than drab colors like brown and gray.
Change Your Ads Often
Again, there have been studies that indicated the effectiveness of frequently changed banners. You banner's response rates usually decrease by the second to third time someone sees it. We recommend that you rotate several versions of your banners at least every 2 weeks.
File Size
Keep you banner's file size down to a minimum. The faster it loads on someone else's site, the better chance of it being noticed. It takes some experience to be able to produce a high quality banner while at the same time having a low file size. Keep experimenting. Practice makes perfect.
