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January 2022
How to create banner ads that sell? Check out tips from IdoSell

How to create banner ads that sell? Check out tips from IdoSell

27 January 2022Ad

A web banner is a type of graphic advertisement that is placed on a website. Its purpose is to attract and encourage the recipient to read the message, i.e. the advertisement. Clicking on the banner takes the customer to the promoted page, for example, to a given product category or to a specific commodity. How to create banners that sell? Which banners are most often clicked on? What are good and bad practices for creating banners? You will find out in the article below.

A web banner is the virtual equivalent of a billboard. It can be a static graphic or a dynamic animation. Banners occur in various forms, including as a traditional banner (rectangular form of advertising placed at the beginning of the online shop), button (smaller banner, rectangle in the standard size of 120x60 pixels) or toplayer (pops above the content of the page, quite cumbersome for the user and hard to miss).

How to create effective banner ads?

Readability. It is imperative to avoid putting too many elements on your design. An overloaded banner will be unreadable and may overwhelm the potential viewer. So go for simple, rather minimalist designs that clearly communicate your message.
Use colours that will make the banner stand out from the page, but also match the overall design. Remember that a good web banner should be consistent with the overall visual identity of your shop. So make sure to use the font and colour scheme that you use in your other promotional materials, such as posters, business cards or social media graphics. This way you will be able to create a harmonious communication across all channels, and it will be much easier for recipients to remember the distinctive features of your company.
Animations catch the user's eye. Use a dynamic form of animation and draw the user's attention to your ad. Remember to keep things in moderation. Too many graphical elements can overwhelm your customer.
Visible CTA (call to action) button. Encourage the user to take action, i.e. to click on your ad. Highlight the CTA button on your banner.
Choose original and interesting solutions that break the monotony, e.g. use a catchy text or photo.
Focus on simplicity of message. Try to make it correctly understood by everyone. A good banner is one that also has an appropriate advertising slogan. Different techniques are used here. Slogans can be flashy, directly related to the advertised product, or even provocative. It all depends on what effect you want to achieve and which audience you want to target.

IdoSell tip: Prepare different banner widths, depending on the screen size of the device on which they will appear.

Which banners are clicked on most often?

When choosing a form of online advertising, pay attention to the subject matter, the purpose of the advertisement and the recipient, i.e. who the banner is supposed to reach. An important factor is the uniqueness and nature of the ad; these often determine its success.

Too much information is not advisable. It causes message fatigue and ultimately the opposite effect to that intended.

How can you structure your message? Remember about proportions, margins, space between paragraphs. Aesthetically pleasing banners naturally attract the eye and evoke positive impressions and trust.

Ad optimisation is not just about experimenting with the look of your banners, but also about targeting them appropriately. Think through issues such as target group selection (gender, age, location), keywords, destinations and topics.

If you want to design an effective banner that sells, take care of:

an intriguing slogan,
a visible button with a call to action such as: check out, buy now etc.
larger banners generally have higher click-through rates,
the fewer, the better. A simple message is the most readable.

What are bad habits, i.e. what not to do?

Check out the most common mistakes that marketers make when designing banners. Avoid badly designed banner ads in your online shop.

short display time,
invisible CTA button,
no version for different screen widths,
no redirection after clicking on the offer,
too much information,
too heavy banner (takes a long time to load).

CTA - how to do it right?

CTA (call to action) button must attract attention and be perfectly visible. It is worth, for example, increasing the font size, placing it in a contrasting, bright colour or adding it in the form of a button.

You can bet on simple and understandable slogans that encourage people to take a specific action, such as "Take part", "Buy now", "Call", "Check" and many others.

'Learn the role of banners in an online shop and what you gain from well-designed banners. Join the free IdoSell webinar and find out how to prepare and optimise your banners from the technical point of view and what information should be included on them. E-commerce experts will also explain how you can easily and quickly set up banners in the IdoSell system. Join us on February 3, 2022!