Steve's top 5 web banner tips
Bit short on time today but I just had to rush out a banner for a client. While doing it I thought I’d jot down 5 quick tips that might help you with your banner designs.
Give a reason to click using targeted messages.
If you are trying to drive traffic to your site, don’t stick all the information the user needs to know in the banner. Why would you click on a banner if you know all there is to know. You need to entice the users to click. Many designers say that a great design will get people clicking, but it’s not really true. A great message will get more people clicking. Think about the site you are advertising on. Determine why people are on that site, what are they interested in and how can your brand fulfil their needs. Then determine what message will make want to them click to come to your site. You need to give the user a reason to click on the banner!
Flashing content
Don’t have anything that you want people to read flashing. You can have content flashing to get people’s attention that is fine. But trying to read flashing text is going to give users an epileptic fit. Get their attention by all and any means, and then hit them with a clear, readable brand message or call to action.
Landing page
Make sure the page that your banner is linking to a landing page that reflects the message that was in your banner. If you have a computer deal for $899, then make sure that deal is the first thing you see when the page opens up. Don’t just dump people on your home page. You can further optimise this page as well for more targeted search results.
Include your URL
This is a battle I have with a lot of customers. DoubleClick have surveyed that many users like to ”view through” ads, meaning they will take note of the banner, but instead of clicking the banner, will manually visit the site in question after viewing an ad at a more convenient time. This can cause a bit of havoc with your metrics and is another reason where a specific landing page is very helpful. If your URL is not on your ad, how can people view through at a later date?
Brand Continuity
Your banner design should reflect the page it is directed to. It helps reaffirm your brand message, and doesn’t confuse the user by throwing up a completely different set of visual cues. I’ve been the user in a few such scenarios myself. I’ve had several browser windows open (as always), clicked on a banner, been distracted (as always), and later came back to the page that had no resemblance to the banner I had clicked. I didn’t recognise the page so I just closed the window. It only occurred to me later on what the page was. Too late – I was onto something else (as always). Once again, this is another endorsement for a custom landing page.
