Web site Banner Ads 101
April 20, 2005 - By Russ Cuthrell

Banner advertising is the most common method of online advertising. Banner ads come in all different sizes and types but the objective is the same; entice the web visitor to click on it to see what is on the “other side”. Banner ads can be static, just displaying a logo or tag line or they can be animated with graphics, text, and movement.

Static banners are what the name suggests. The content on the banner remains static until the web visitor visits another web page.

Animated banners are banners that move on a Web site. Animated banners are usually in GIF format and contain “frames” of graphics in one file that are displayed in a certain order for a certain length of time. You can even set the file to loop continuously or for a certain number of cycles to include stopping completely after only one complete cycle.

Rotating banners are banner ads that rotate among different web pages on the same site. They can rotate at a specific interval or they can rotate whenever a new visitor displays a page or when the page is refreshed by the same visitor.

When designing a banner you should look to achieve the following objectives:

• Make sure the banner loads quick. If not, the web visitor may leave the Web page before the banner displays without ever seeing it.
• Keep the banner simple. If the banner contains too much information the viewer will experience information overload and will not click on the banner.
• Make sure your banner ad can be viewed easily. Do not use hard to read fonts and be careful of what colors you use.
• Always use ALT tags (small piece of HTML code added to a Web site) so visitors that have their graphics turned off still receive the message of your banner ad only in text.
• Be sure your banner ad clicks to a link that is interesting and is present on the Web site. Nothing is more annoying than clicking on a link and receiving a “page not found” error.
• If you are using animated banners limit your animation to a reasonable number of frames.
• Test your banner ads with different browsers and different screen resolutions to be sure they are displaying as you want them to.
• If you know nothing about graphic design, do not try designing a banner on your own. If you do, it’s best to get a second and third opinion before you run your banner ad.

Before you purchase a banner ad you should consider the following:

• How closely aligned is the target market of the site you want to advertise on to your business?
• What banner sizes are allowed? Typically, the larger the banner the greater the cost.
• How many ads are on each page? The more ads per page, the lower the click-through rate will be for any particular ad on that page.
• How many sites are there like the one you are considering advertising on? Are there other sites that you could advertise on to reach the same market?
• What are the site’s competitors charging?
• Location, location, location. Where on the web page will your ad be placed – Top, left or right margins, bottom, etc.

There are ways to improve the effectiveness of banner advertising. One commonly overlooked method is having the banner link to specific information on your site. Banner advertisers often have their ads link to the home page of the site, where the user then has to look around and click through several pages in order to get to the information that they want. Most viewers won't go to the effort. If they don't see what they want right away, they will leave.

You should instead link the banner to the information that relates to that specific banner and that specific audience. The page should let them know exactly what they want and also let them know where they are within your site, so the Web visitor won't feel lost.

One more thing that you will want to consider is how the banner will print. Animated banners are a series of frames that together make a complete message. However, when you print these out, you can get a frame that is nonsense. It may be beneficial to make your banner so that when it prints it will print with a complete message, or at least include your web address or contact information. This will improve the effectiveness of the banner on printouts.

Russ Cuthrell is the owner of Spyder Byte Web Design, LLC and the Webmaster of MichiganSmallBiz.com. Russ can be reached at 877-571-4640 or via email at either info@spyderbytewebdesign.com or webmaster@michigansmallbiz.com. You can visit his Web Design site at www.spyderbytewebdesign.com.

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