Introduction to Banner Ads

If you have spent most of your time surfing the internet, then chances are you have encountered those small rectangular advertisements that appear on page. These are banner ads and they all share a basic function, regardless of their size or shape as they appear on a given website. The idea here is for the web users to click on the banner ads and they will be directed to the advertiser’s website.

It is a basic HTML code but their presence on the web is of immeasurable importance. After all, it is deemed by internet experts as one of the most effective forms of advertising on the internet. In fact, it has earned various website owners a respectable amount of revenue. The key reason that will increase the possibility of a web user clicking on the link is that they are automatically generated such that the links that appear on the page are contextually related to the content displayed on the web.

Types of Banner Ads

The main factor that differentiate banner ads is in terms of size and shape. There are up to 8 different banner sizes available to choose from and each vary based on the pixel dimensions:

1. 88 x 31 pixels
2. 120 x 60 pixels
3. 120 x 90 pixels
4. 125 x 125 pixels
5. 120 x 240 pixels
6. 234 x 60 pixels
7. 392 x 72 pixels
8. 486 x 60 pixels

Among all 8 types of banner ads, the full sized one is hands down the most popular choice among website owners. However, several websites that display these banner ads impose limitations on the size of ads placed on their page given that it adds up to the page’s total file size and can therefore cause the loading of the page to slow down immensely.

Tips for Choosing the Right Site

If you have chosen to use banner advertising on your website, it is important to allot enough time and effort to pick the best site to market your business. After all, you are investing your money on it, so you have to ensure that you can get return of investment from this form of advertising.

There are only two simple tips to keep in mind when choosing a site to place your banner ads, though. They are each discussed in brief below.

Watch Your Competition

Determine which sites your competition are placing their banner ads on. The least you’d want to happen is to use the same page for displaying your ads to that of your competitors. If you are going to invest on buying ad space on the internet at all, then you have to make sure that you can get the maximum possibility of the web user clicking on your link, instead of your closest rival. But still, you have to beat them out to the top websites you are eyeing on in your particular niche to bring in more traffic.

Email the Site Owners

If you have any doubts about a particular website, you can contact the site administrators directly. Discuss with them about issues that concern your ability to benefit from the advertising campaign using banner ads. Ask them to be upfront about the amount of traffic coming into their site. That way, you can carefully assess whether you are spending your money the right way.