Banner Design

What are good components of banner design?

[Jonathan_L]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so I'll start off by introducing myself. I'm not actually a webmaster (I know almost nothing about the technical end of things) but I do help manage online content, and also do some graphic-related web work, including banner design (which brings me to my question).

In the next few months I'll be designing a number of banners in a variety of sizes. I do primarily print design, so I've found the transition to banner design a bit difficult in terms of the extremely limited space available.

So, my question: What components are generally considered important in banner design? What types of banners generate a good CTR? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jonathan L.

[netguy]

Animated GIFs pull a little more, but most importantly is concise, compelling text. Also photos seem to work better for us than illustrations.

For the bigger programs, we leave nothing to chance. On day one of a 1 million impressions/day program, for example, we create 10 banners that rotate equally and monitor the CTR on each. 100,000 impressions is a nice sample size to determine what a particular site's audience likes and dislikes about each banner. Overnight we then select the top 2-3 banners (with the highest CTR) and run with it.

Steve

[kodaks]

Try to drift away from common banner design. Don't use those trick banners that make the user think a window has popped up.

[Jonathan_L]

Thanks, netguy and kodaks for the replies. I don't think I'll be doing anything as ambitious as 1 million impressions/day, but I imagine the idea of testing different banners would work even on smaller campaigns.

I'd be interested, Steve, in knowing what you consider to be a good CTR? I've tried to find statistics on what the overall Internet average is, but couldn't find anything definite. Around 1% or less seemed to be a common figure.

One other question: I've heard that having "Click Here" somewhere on the banner is a good idea that draws better response. Anyone know if that's true?

[kodaks]

Yes, it may make the viewer more inclined to click it.

[netguy]

Jonathan, better than CTR is what conversions you get on the other end.

Our larger campaigns are mostly ROS untargeted mass programs that are cheap to throw out there (well under a buck CPM), and our CTR range is 0.2 to 0.8 percent (some under a tenth of 1 percent).

It is important to be as informative as possible. Deceptive programs generally don't work. For example, you can throw up some pretty girls and get 2.0 - 3.0% CTR - but no sales. It is better to 'pre-qualify' the audience a bit by stating the true purpose of the offering, go for the lower CTR, and maximum conversion at the site.

We always track the conversions for each banner as well. So if possible, from testing, through to the formal campaign, try to monitor all aspects of the program.

As far as the 'Click Here,' we do both, but generally the call to action is worth it.

Steve

[Jonathan_L]

The banner advertising I'm involved in is very targeted to a specific audience, and I've been more or less pleased with the CTR. I agree with you though that sales are the ultimate yardstick of a campaign's success--clicks don't mean anything if the responder doesn't buy.

[monkeythumpa]

Here is what I try to put into every banner because I have found a formula that works and I try to stick to it. These elements are not compulsory and you may omit any of them if they are unneccesary.

Sex it up
Those sleazy spy camera (i won't plug them) ads got great click throughs. Put a pretty girl's face making eye contact in your ad. It will get noticed. It doesn't have to be sleazy though.

Call to action
This is a good idea for any design trying to sell and works for banner ads. "Click here" is one way, albeit generic. If you are selling plane tickets, make "Plan your vacation" emphasized and look "clickable".

Movement
Animated gifs catch your eye, but they are more important for conveying ideas that either are to nebulous to be conveyed in the marketing copy or can be conveyed better without words.

Fuscia
There was a study that showed Fuscia buttons got clicked on more than 5 times more than blue buttons. I am not saying fuschia is the key but red or orange catches your eye better than blues and blacks.

Design vs. Clickthroughs
A pretty banner is not always a good converter. Let's face it, ugly ads can be great money makers. I have a lot of ads that are not on my portfolio.

3-5% is a good click through rate, 1-3% is average, but all the click throughs in the world won't help you, it is conversion you need to focus on.

[thomask]

Click here works.. LOL

The first week my wife was online, she would go to disney's website, well, within a half dozen 'clicks' she found herself overwhelmed with popup's and porn.. :/

She figured 'click here' meant she had to...

LOL

Peace..

Thomask.

yes.. there are still some born every minute...

[stealthmag]

Try to build some functionality that connects your marketing message to interactivity within the banner.

for example, if you were a phone company that was offering competitive rates (and assuming you could get access to competitors' rates) you could take your banner in as sophisticated direction as having price comparison functionality within the actual banner.

EG: "Type your current monthly bill for phone service X"... "Click here to see how much you would save with COMPANY B"

This stuff can get a bit complicated but give it a go if your online campaign can work with an idea like this.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
- offers and promotions tend to get better click through rates
- make sure that whatever page is being clicked through to actually extends your campaign and doesn't just link to a generic page. if you need to create a sep micro site or landing page then do so
- use a combination of banner sizes and text links