Back in 1994 began the banner advertising. This is not simple alliteration. But it has been stale and not so exciting, that’s what many inside marketers feel. We all know the banner advertising has been on hopefully for the good sake only. And, if it is not then it must certainly be worked out for some gain.

1. Advertising, a Little Different

It is a mix of advertising + online marketing. Advertising is a little different genre from most other methods of online marketing. Let us know how it is different. Fred Allen says: “Advertising is 85% confusion and 15% commission.”

Are we trying to sell confusion? No, but yes.

This is because if you have seen any new advertisement on TV, magazine or online, you will know it first creates confusion that leads our curiosity to explore further what it is. Once we know we buy that thought.

Banner advertising falls too into that category. It is perhaps the easiest way to lure the traffic which scores page views for the site. So, the flow remains in its simplest form to understand:

Banner ad à Page view à Website traffic à Sales advertising

2. Banner Ad Dimensions

Google Adsense gives guidelines for most appropriate sizes of banner ads. The top performing ad sizes are:

1. Medium rectangle: 300×250 (Best when within text content or at the end of the article)

2. Large rectangle: 336×280 (Same as Medium rectangle)

3. Leaderboard: 728×90 (Best when above main content)

4. Wide skyscraper: 160×600 (Best when along sidebars of webpage)

Other supported banner ad sizes include different sizes like mother Leaderboard, banner, half banner, vertical banner, half page, square, button, skyscraper, etc. that fulfill specific purpose.

3. Quick Loading

Apart from the size type, the size of the banner ad is going to matter too. Smaller sizes will be preferred for quick loading. A good average size for a banner ad is 45 to 70 kb.

4. Attractive Design

Choose your banner design carefully. Look for successful designs on different sites. You will notice using a simple design works well for both static and animated banners. Here is a quick checklist for designing your banner ads.

1. Don’t overload animation. Let it not interfere with the message directly.

2. Use smaller file size like compressed JPEGs and GIF files.

3. Use bright colors like green, yellow, blue, etc.

4. Redo or revise your design after every 2 or 3 weeks.

5. Brand Logo

A logo is a personalized component of a brand, and it helps in easy brand recognition. Placing company logo with exact color, font and tag line is necessary. It should be visually dominant to enhance readability.

6. Images, but no piling

You must be thinking of adding images to your banner ads. Try using relevant images and graphics only that add to your message. While too many can smash the real message or confuse viewers, too few images will make it dull.

7. Nine Words or Less

The text makes the final goal. Use simple but interesting words to gain user’s attention like a special offer, deal, crack, gift, etc. Remember, use of unnecessary words makes the banner ads look cluttered. The ultimate goal is to take the viewers to the site page.

Viewers give a few seconds to look at banner ads. You must convey the message correctly and instantly. If the viewer doesn’t understand your message, he/she may not click on it.

8. Best Fonts

Select best fonts for your banner ads. Avoid any overuse. You should limit the number to just two or three, if necessary. Try taking fonts from different categories: serif, sans serif and decorative. Comic Sans, Script Fonts and Papyrus can be wrong choice. Banner specific good fonts include Copper Black, Impact, Stencil, Cancun, Times New Roman and Arial Black.

9. Color Synergy

Colors can brew to an extent of harming your product. The site where it is going to appear will impact the colors you are using for your banner ads. Make sure the colors don’t exchange blows with each other.

10. Call to Action

Most banner ad designs can be seen with “Click Now” button for a clear instruction. Call to action gives users clear instruction to click into it. Therefore, it should have a standout position on the banner.

11. Be Polished

Be resourceful while you present your banner ads for viewer seeing. Banner has to present in the best possible format. Avoiding any grammar or spelling mistakes, work on to give it distinction.

12. Highlight Benefits Not Attributes

You should highlight benefits for a better viewership. This is what visitors look at things in terms of real benefits. Therefore, it would be better to choose “Help you hit your target” in place of “We are into website marketing, local reliable hosting, etc.”

You can note the difference between the two. One statement speaks of direct benefits and the other talks about the attributes the company handles.

13. Be Close to Viewers

Viewer-centric approach is what going to work for the success of banner ads. How viewers interact with banner ads becomes the banner experience for the viewers. Here, my purpose is to advise on being around this banner experience.

Another important point stands for mobile online users. For such users, the already small size of banners has to be ticking on their mobile screens. It should be creative and attract users’ attention right away.

14. Testing

Gather click through rates for your ready banners. This will give clear insight about the effectiveness of your banners. Prepare banner ads with different size, style and message. Run each for some time and analyze the data.

15. Restate, Reshape, Replay

This comes as a top suggestion from my side. The above three REs play important. You must know brand promotion best results when: Advertising is all around. You may have the same product to present, but you should not chain it. You must promote it regularly by redoing it and remind people over and over. Give it a new look and make it visible for the users.

Summing Up

Banner ads are effective and measurable modes of online advertising. To generate greater engagement and build brand awareness, banner ads need to be designed with a clear advantage. Above, I have given you simple but unique guidelines for your brand advertising. Hope you can use them for better participation into banner advertising.

Written by Stephen Moyers: Stephen Moyers is an active tech-savvy blogger who loves to write about online marketing, Social media marketing and various technology topics. He is currently associated with Spinx Digital, a Los Angeles based Web Design Agency which provides a range of services like Social Media Marketing, Website Design & Development, Search Engine Optimization and many more. You can follow Stephen on Twitter.