Maximize Your Banner Ad Results

Banner ads are a common tool for generating leads, and one that I have not been a fan of. But after studying the numerous places to target your banner ads, I can see the effectiveness of these tools to generate leads for your business.

I'm in the midst of creating a product to teach you how to maximize your banner ad results. The first step is how to create the graphic image, what works, and what doesn't. At the end of this article is the beginning of a banner ad I am designing.

To create a banner ad, you can download Paint Shop Pro (free versions are everywhere, try http://www.tucows.com for an example) and simply create the text and graphics for your banner ad.

The key is to find out what works; a good site to judge this is Smart Clicks at:

http://www.smartclicks.com/resources/best_banners.html

They list their most effective banners, which taught me the following:

1. Don't use Fancy Graphics

Banner ads work when they immediately deliver a message and load quickly. Keep them as small as possible, 5-10K tops (that is file size). Forget using photographs or actual pictures. Focus on text, your headline, and keep the colors as simple as possible.

I suggest using four colors: Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Use black type and have your main headline, or main words, stand out in a different color. These four colors will allow you to save your images in the smallest format possible.

One last hint; be wary of having colors bleed into each other, or merge. Often you will be tempted to make colors transition into each other. This will make your files bigger; just keep your colors separate on your graphic, and you can really crunch them in any graphics program.

2. Make it familiar

Make it familiar and keep it small. Many banner ads are limited to small sizes -- 400X50, 480X60 (that's width versus height, measured in pixels...your average computer screen is 640 X 480 pixels). Your banner ad should be the size it is allowed to be, and the sizes listed here are fairly standard. Don't stray too far from these; the most successful banner ads follow these standards.

3. Use the Windows Interface

The most successful banner ads emulate a familiar computer behavior. If you visit the link at Smart Clicks, youll notice that the top banner ads look like the Windows interface. Pull down menus, OK/Cancel buttons, scrollable text, and check boxes dominate.

Please understand that none of these actually work in the window, you are just supposed to click on them. What they do is make people take an action they are familiar with. Since over 90% of your visitors use Windows PC's, they are used to clicking on these.

4. Use underlined words that look like links.

If you want to really increase response, under your headline words in blue. This makes them appear to be links. Links appear on your Web Pages, and people know to click on them.

See how we are simply mimicking behaviors they are used to?

5. Have a person staring out at you, make it personal

It is an old advertising trick to have a person, usually a woman, staring out from the banner ad (or print ad). Ever notice how a computer companies who want you to order via phone have an operator staring out at you?

The goal is to make it live, as if a living human being with a real identity is on the other end. I tried this at my Web Site and significantly increased response to one of my offers. I'll see how it does on my banner ads.

6. Use Click Here, OK buttons, and action words

The goal of a banner ad is to get them to act. Always include some action for them to do, like "Click Here". OK buttons work well, as do action words; Act Now, If you Want to Win, Click Here...you have to ask them to act.

7. Use "You" in your headline

The headline trick works in banner ads as well. I studied a Yahoo paper that measured banner ad results. The most successful ones used headlines with the word You or Your. Address your surfer directly to get them to click.

8. Use small animation

A small mouse moving over a banner ad, a blinking cursor, a blinking "Click here" button, and many small animations have proven to elicit clicks. Remember that the human eyes notices movement on a screen. Just make sure the movement is repeated a limited number of times, and let it stop. Don't let your animations keep going, it will get people queasy.

9. Send them to a Portal Page

Your banner ad should send the person who clicked to a specific page that has to do with that banner. Keep it limited to one product, and one offer. Remember that banner ads just create click throughs; it's a good idea to try and grab email addresses instead of selling people from banner ads.

Here's an example I'm working on; click on it and see where it takes you.

Be sure to hit your Back Button to Return.

10. Keep it Simple!