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Banner Design
Banners are effective media materials that can make or break
a company's ad campaign. For web sites, along with the corporate
logo, the banner speaks of your message and what you want
to achieve for your corporate image and identity.
To help you with your banner design, we have compiled the
following tips and suggestions that have made other web sites
effective in terms of the amount of visitors and sales.
The Do's of Designing Your Banner
DO use animation. Especially animation that is quick to download.
Animations do attract the attention of your target audience,
but it should not take much time to download or else your
visitors would just click on to another site.
But remember to provide animation in the minimum. Too much
would not attract but irritate your visitors. It will also
overwhelm your page.
Grantastic Designs have provided the following general guidelines
for animated banners: �The animation should be subtle enough
to attract attention but should not be so ostentatious as
to interfere or clash with the design of the web page you
are advertising on. �An animation that loops endlessly tends
to irritate visitors. Have the animation loop 7-10 times,
leaving the main message on the last animation frame. �Conversely,
some visitors will stop a web page from loading before the
banner animation has loaded, leaving only the first frame.
Thus, it might be a good idea to have your message come across
in your first frame if you know that the web page you are
advertising on has a long download time.
DO provide features that call for some action. Images that
ask visitors to "click" or "submit" on your banner can improve
significantly the rate of visitors clicking on your web page.
Visitors are attracted to click on icons especially if you
offer them something in return.
DO provide "FREE" in your banner. Human nature provides for
attraction of anything that is offered "FREE". Depending on
what is being offered, the word "FREE" can increase the rate
of visitors clicking on your web site. Web sites usually offer
free demonstrations of new software. This often gets good
response from the target audience. Offering free money though
produces suspicion among the browsers since people tend to
question what the catch is.
DO use bright colors. Statistics show that the colors yellow,
green, and blue in banners produce a higher rate of visitors,
compared to those in black-and-white. Also, red should also
be used sparingly, as it suggests aggressiveness that seems
to repel many of the browsers.
DO provide a benefit for clicking on your banner. When you
have questions in your banner, be sure to provide the answer
on your web site. Make sure that the benefit you provide is
found in your web site. Or else, your visitors will never
go to your web site the second time. It's so hard to make
a good impression; but it takes only seconds to have a wrong
perception of your company. DO keep your message short and
concise. Simple banners get more attention than wordy and
unfocused ones. There's no need to give a lengthy description
of your web site. Any information that your visitors would
want to know they will be able to get from the pages of your
web site. DO link your banner to a particular page. Visitors
should be able to go directly to the appropriate page for
the information they want. When they click on your banner,
make sure that they don't have to go to your home page and
hunt for the information. You will lose visitors as fast as
you can say banner. We hope that we have helped you make your
banners more effective and efficient in providing you with
a tool to achieve success.
Author: Granny’s Mettle
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