How To Create An Efficient Advertising Banner

A proper size allows using the purchased advertising space to maximum effect. Also, it influences the perception of the content by the visitors. Ideally, a banner should be noticeable, but not annoying.

As this advertising element has been used for a long time, there are some standard banner sizes. Mainly one of the standard typical sizes is used.

Also known as leaderboard because it is usually located on the top of the page. This makes it noticeable for sure.

This element is not used in the middle of the text because this distracts from reading the text so most likely the user will skip it.

Less frequently leaderboards are located at the end of the page. This depends on the scroll depth - if it is 50-60%, most users won't see it.

A medium-sized rectangle is one of the most popular banner types. It is often integrated into the text, it is not annoying and looks organically.

This element can be located in any part of the page. Usually, this type of banners is used at the top of the page as the visitor's response to it is more likely.

On mobile devices these banners are also used for organic text separation.

Also banners of different types are combined. E.g., leaderboards do not hinder the perception of an inline rectangle so this does not worsen the usability. The picture above serves as an example of using of two types of banners on one page.

A rather bulky banner. Due to its size, it is not integrated into the text. Usually, it is located in the right/left from the text.

Don't forget to use good photos or animation so that the banner field would not look empty. Don't forget about call-to-action as the offer should be clear for the website visitor.

Above you can see an example of pretty good design. The upper banner part includes the product image, the animation shows the offer and the lower part is the call to action. Surely, the banner will not be confused with a mere picture and its clickability can be also seen.

This banner is not suitable for smartphones.

It is similar to the previous banner type, but the skyscraper is twice as narrow. The use principle is the same as for the mid-page ad - the skyscraper is located in the upper side part of the website.

The wide skyscraper is not suitable for smartphones as it can not be integrated into the text without affecting the usability. It should not be also located aside the text considering the screen area.

The wide skyscraper is used when there is free space aside, but no room for the mid-page ad.

One of the drawbacks of standard banner view is that page visitors instinctively filter them as definitely useless. This phenomenon is called "banner blindness".
Use of pop-ups guarantees that the visitor will pay attention to the advertising banner. They are used: for showing very important information (e.g., current discounts and promo campaigns):

The advantage of the pop-ups is that the advertising banner is not shown on the website all the time. Sometimes the user can not interact with the website until s/he responds to the pop-up. This is both an advantage and a drawback.

There is a middle ground - an unobtrusive notification about a discount or promo campaign.

You can set up its impression depending on the:

• device used for visiting the website (mobile or PC);
• time (e.g., show at the end of the month only;
• page scroll (e.g., the pop-up appears after scrolling 50% of the page);
• visitor's action (e.g., when opening a page of the certain category on an online store website).

There is no need to involve a programmer for using pop-ups. Plerdy offers a designer for adding the intelligent forms to the website yourself.

Below you can find some examples of successful use of these elements for collecting contacts and notifying about important events:

When visiting Aliexpress home page you see a banner with a last-minute offer:

On eBay we can see a similar approach - in the sections with game consoles we see a recommendation to make fast payments with a card:

On Joom when you open any category page you see a pop-up offering a 10% discount:

Banggod.com collects contact information. When opening the homepage a pop-pop with offering 20 discount coupons. For getting them you need to sign in leaving your e-mail:

These elements are used on other top web-resources. They are efficient, but they should be thoroughly designed and should not affect the website usability.

Banners are advertising elements used since 1994. They still provide a good inflow of new customers. In 2014 Google Media Lab performed a banner advertising efficiency test. 82% of the respondents used banners. This method is also used in Google, Corporation; thus, in the second half of 2014, the frequency of Android Wear brand references on the Internet was increased by 15.8% due to creative banners.

Successful companies use these elements in advertising in two ways:

Banner ads are suitable both for owners of successful businesses and for beginners who have not attracted a large audience yet. But they should be creative and catch the customer's mood.