Advertisers have been using banners to promote their products through online advertising. You can see banners that have strong sales messages and may guide you to click on them. But there are banners which don’t generate any click-through rate (CTR). Which parameters decide success in banner advertising? Let’s find out.

Size and type: Banners come in different sizes and types. They can be used in the positions like header, footer, side bar and can be placed in middle of page content. Based on their position these banners are named as Full banner, Half banner, Vertical banner, Skyscraper banner, Square banner etc. Depending on the graphics and content of your banner, the custom size of the banner should be chosen.

Illustration: Photos and illustrations make your business banner eye-catchy. Even static banners can draw attention if you use nice eye-popping graphics. Your graphics should carry the theme of your site you are promoting. If you use animation in your banner you can use multiple graphics and accommodate more text.

Text Content: Use of persuasive keywords like ‘free’, ‘game’, ‘prizes’, ‘click here’ etc. make more banner hits. There must be some strong call to action in the banner ads. Phrases like ‘Hurry!’, ‘Click Now!’, ‘Offer is valid for limited period’, ‘Sign Up Today’ drive the users for a strong call-to-action. The headline in your banner should have a punch. It can be a simple question or be a short catchy sentence. When the user thinks that something great is hidden behind that ad, he clicks on the banner.

Color: Color plays an effective part in the success of the banner. Bright color effects easily catch the attention of the eyes. The foreground color of font and illustration should contrast well with the background color. Color should bring freshness, creativity in your ad. The color of the banner will also depend on the niche for which it is created.

Font: No matter what fonts you use for your banner ads, they should be clearly readable by the visitors. Examples of some good fonts are Arial, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Verdana and some informal fonts are Comic Sans MS, Hanzel, Enview, etc. Your font size should be large for main heading. Sub-heading should contain a smaller but distinctly visible font. Use bold, italics or underline text formatting depending on importance of text in the ads.

Product and logos: If your product is really innovative and attractive you can place a small picture of it on the banner. Also use of logos can make visitors to identify your brand.

Repeated exposure: When the same banner ad is shown for a repeated time, the visitor’s memory is recalled about the brand. May be in the first exposure one does not click on the brand. But when it is shown repeatedly, the visitor may click on the banner ad. If banner display period is more it will generate more click-through rates.

If you can follow these above parameters properly, your banner ad will quickly grab limelight of success bringing more click-through rate for your business.

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