Banner Adverts

Social media marketing has become one of the most prolific forms of marketing used in the modern world. An affordable, measurable and effective marketing medium it can increase brand and product awareness and help increase sales. We offer media packages including editorial reviews, newsletter marketing and banner adverts.  

Sadly banner advertising has had some bad press many websites show so many adverts customers become banner blind and zone out the entire advert section making the adverts ineffective and you are simply burning your marketing budget. 

We can offer you a marketing campaign for as little as £50 a month. If you do not have access to the technology for a modest fee our team can also create you a banner for you. Please contact us for more information.  

To avoid banner blindness we only show four banner adverts at any one time increasing customer interaction.  Banner design is important to be effective so we have drafted some guidelines to help you.

Banner Sizing

Google AdSense produce a guide to the most successful banner sizes and we use two of the top four sizes on our site :

  • 300×250 Medium Rectangle
  • 728×90 Leader board

Create Banner Video Links

A highly effective method of marketing is to link your banner to a short promotional YouTube video. Video engages more buyers and Google report smart phone users are more likely to interact with a video than a web link. Tip if you want 80% of your audience to watch the video to the end keep it 20 seconds or less.  

Essential Banner Content

Banner ads are designed to increase product or brand awareness and drive traffic to your website. Ideally they would include three main components.

  1. Your company logo: Your company logo should be included if you are trying to build brand awareness. Make sure that it’s visually dominant but not as dominant as the call to action.
  2. The value proposition: The value proposition highlights the service or product you are marketing including special offers and prices, i.e. "New" "High Quality" or "Free!" It should take up the most space in your ad and be the first thing that you viewers’ eyes are attracted to.
  3. The call to action: The call to action is usually made of text or a button with phrases like "Click Here”, “Learn More" It should be a standout focal point of the ad, prompting viewers to click on it.

Keep the Design Simple

Visitors may only glance at your advert for a second so keep the images and content simple to ensure they can take in the message in that second.

Use Buttons Sensibly

Depending on the type of banner ad, buttons are known to increase Click-through rate, or CTR. If you’re going to use them in your ad, place them after your copy, on the lower right side, in (tastefully) contrasting colours, and keep them looking consistent in all your adverts.

Frame your advert

People’s eyes are naturally drawn to a subject in a frame. So make sure your banner ads have a clearly defined frame by extending the graphic to all the edges of the box .

If your advert has a white background it is recommended to put a 1 pixel grey boarder around the advert to define it.

Make Text Readable

Do: Make headline and body copy different sizes.

Don’t: Use cursive fonts, extremely thin fonts, everything upper case or smaller than 10pt.

Branding Consistency

Ensure your banner advert links to the correct page or product promoted in your advert. Make sure the banner is consistent with the company’s branding and the page it links to so that it is clear to customers they are in the right location.

Correct File Formats

Please supply banner files in a JPEG, PNG or GIF format’s.

File Size

Keep your file size small according to Google AdWords files of 150kb or less are ideal so they download fast before the visitor scrolls past and misses the advert.  

Use Good Imagery and Only When You Need It

Only use quality images that directly relate to the product you are promoting. Avoid abstract images if you cannot provide a quality image discuss the matter with the manufacturer they will normally have a selection of quality images to support you. use photos or images in your ads.

It may not be necessary to use photos or images. Text ads with some killer content and nice typography can be just as effective.

Instil Some Urgency

Bring a sense of visual urgency to the text by using contrasting, bold colours. Web ads are not always meant to be subtle.

Select Appropriate Colours

Colours have associations and it is important to consider what emptions you want to evoke in the visitors. Colour is one of the first thing someone will notice.

It may be necessary to study your target audience when selecting a colour for your advert. Here are some colours that evoke a reaction in a western audience. Make sure you design your banner in RGB it is only going to be seem on-screen .

  • Red: associated with danger, passion, anger, excitement, speed, and love. The most powerful colour and attractive to all audiences, also known to stimulate appetite. Use in moderation.
  • Orange: associated with vitality, happiness. Not as overpowering as red and it energetic, inviting and friendly (it’s a great colour for a call to action button.)
  • Yellow: Associated with humour, sunshine, optimism, energy. Touches of yellow can capture a viewer’s attention and it’s even more energetic than orange and red and should be used judiciously – too much yellow is irritating to a viewer’s eyes because it reflects the most light of any colour.
  • Green: Associated with health, freshness, wealth, the environment, growth, nurturing, and new beginnings. It’s the easiest color on the eyes.
  • Blue: Associated with safety, trust, clarity, serenity, intellect, formality, elegance, truth, refreshment, coldness, masculinity.
  • Purple: Associated with luxury, royalty, extravagance, wisdom, magic, ambition, femininity, and creativity. It has a soothing, calming effect on a viewer.
  • Pink: Associated with love, sweetness, femininity, and babies. The most feminine colour.
  • Black: Associated with exclusivity, evil, mystery, power, prestige, grief, and formality. It’s traditional, and corporate and black text on a white background is the most readable colour combination.
  • White: Associated with purity, cleanliness, modernity, sterility, simplicity, honesty, innocence, virginity, goodness.
  • Brown: Associated with nature, wood, leather, and humility. Balances out stronger colours, and good for background colours and textures.
  • Grey: Associated with neutrality and practicality. When used as a background it intensifies other colours.

 Animated Adverts 

Animated ads can be very effective but they can have a negative effect on the page download speed for this reason we do not allow them on our website. 

Compliment the Host Site

If your advert compliments the site it is hosted it is more likely to earn a visitor’s trust. However, it’s a fine line to ensure it still stands out and is clickable.