Once You Have a Banner – How to Make it Work Effectively For You

The main reason banners fail is broken links – check relatively frequently that the banner would take a customer who clicks it where you and they want to go, particularly if you change the banner often. Ensure it takes them to a specific product, if that is what you are advertising. There is nothing worse than seeing a product you want to take a closer look at, clicking the link then spending time hunting it down on an unfamiliar website – and no guarantee that customers will bother to do so.

Another reason banners become ineffective is age – they need to be updated every now and then. This keeps interest in the product or service and different approaches to advertising will bring in different customers. You can see this in TV adverts for products, which get changed frequently to hold interest. Some adverts follow storylines or use recurring characters to build familiarity.
Ensure the banner highlights your branding or your brand image – you need customers to know what they are clicking on and build brand familiarity. Having a logo is a large part of this – essential.

If you can get a banner which moves, has flash animation or stands out to grab customers attention this is a great idea in the right situation (not all situations – a classy banner for more expensive items promotes a better image than a flashing banner on some occasions!) – as you need the customer to see the banner and decide whether or not they want to visit your site, rather than not see the banner at all by screening it out automatically (also known as ‘banner blindness’). It’s important to judge the situation where the banner will be shown and plan your banner accordingly.{joscommentenable}