Ten tips for making banners more effective

1. "Click here"

According to Infoseek, the magic phrase "Click Here" increases the number of clicks by 44%. In addition, it is proposed to use arrows, buttons and other means to increase interactivity.

This is one of the oldest tips of its kind, published as Double Click (lesson # 8, 15% increase in click ratio), and LinkExchange. As far as I know, the impact of the phrase "click here" on Russian viewers has not yet been studied, although the banner "well, click here, push" the pioneer of the Russian banner industry Lebedev Themes (which was originally produced by the theme for Tenet and then aimed at Zhurnal.Ru) - one of the most effective, judging by the WebList.

2. Delay the viewer's attention

Animated GIFs that increase the click ratio.

Corresponds to the lesson # 2 Double Click, which reported an increase in the click ratio by 25%. For the first time, if I'm not mistaken, this technique was recommended with great fanfare by C | Net . I, in addition, usually advise you to make the banner simple enough that it is understandable when viewed from afar.

3. Use interactive banners

Infoseek advises pull-down's, check boxes and other banners using FORM tags. This allows you to personalize messages, create interactivity.

Neither Double Click nor LinkExchange can advise this. Today, banner rotation with tag FORM can not be implemented in an ad network without the use of frames, although it is easy within individual sites with SSI-capabilities. This is an area where large sites, such as Infoseek, have an advantage over ad networks.

4. Advertise the brand in the right way

Banners do not create new trademarks. They extend the scope of the old to the new environment. Using the name of the company (for example, the newspaper "Pravda") in the bottom corner of the banner, you can inadvertently create a misconception about the online activities of the editorial board as propaganda for the CPSU, and indeed the real sense of the agency's activity is the sale of personalized news. It is more effective to advertise traditional services of well-known companies, especially those supplying cars, computers or providing financial services.

Double Click makes the main emphasis on the capabilities of its DART system, therefore puts this board at number 1.

5. Change banners more often

At Infoseek, the banner "becomes obsolete" after 200-400 thousand impressions. On sites with less traffic, "aging" should occur faster.

Corresponds to the lesson # 9 in the Double Click classification, which does not recommend showing the same banner to the same viewer more than 4 times.

6. The message on the banner should correspond to the target audience

In other words, place banners on the right sites.

Advertising of the product in response to a request for a product of this type is, of course, more effective than advertising "anywhere." This tip is similar to tip # 4 Double Click - place ads not so much on Home Page as on pages that match content.

7. Do not waste time organizing contests.

Infoseek analyzed 2000 banners and 500 million impressions and did not find an improvement in the click ratio when using banners calling for participation in the contest.

8. Sex and riddles work

The best price is "free".

The first of these tips, judging by the banners I observe, anyone learns without prompting. The second one also does not require special comments. Through the Internet, it's still good to sell free products. The advice to use questions corresponds to Lesson # 2 Double Click, advice to use cryptic messages - lesson # 8.

9. Less is better, but better

To be sure that the banner is shown, you should not make it more than 10-15 Kbytes. Most sites introduce exactly such restrictions. Use fewer colors! According to Infoseek, the probability of a banner being seen decreases exponentially with the size of the banner.

Of course, this advice contradicts the advice to use animation. You have to choose between a 44% improvement in response and the risk of "losing everything".

This is tip # 3 Double Click.

In my opinion, the well-known observation that "pure colors" improve the click ratio may be partly due to the size of the banners.

10. Change the parameters systematically

According to Infoseek, this is the most important rule! Vary systematically the parameters of the banner- site system:

picture
text
Sites where the banner is located
And try to understand what causes the changes in the responses.

There is an old simple rule of "coordinate-wise" descent: do not change more than one variable at a time.

And the last, the 11th council , corresponding to the tenth lesson of Double Click: note that not all clicks are future customers. New or irregular Internet users click more often. Therefore click ratio is higher on those sites where new users come. It is not clear, however, how many visitors will immediately click the "Back" button.

I hope that everyone who advertises their site using banners will take into account the advice of the largest search engine, more or less the same as the recommendations of the largest advertising network. In the domestic literature, the first tips for improving banners that focus on intrigue are published in the article by Yuri Kirillov " Banner is a functional thing". My advice on banners is as follows:

The above techniques are good and tested. Do not take into account someone else's experience is stupid. Use published results, learn from other people's mistakes.

No method will cause more useful clicks in the banner of a project focused on a narrow audience (for example, Web design) than in a banner that is interesting to a wide audience, such as advertising jokes, news, magazines about the Internet. (Of course, I do not consider direct deception, practiced sometimes by novice advertisers). The banner helps to measure the size of the target audience present at this site of the WWW, helps to assess the scale of the market.

Therefore, no less than a banner is a tool for studying and analyzing the size of your market, and not just a means of attracting customers.