Banner Design Principles

Posted Posted in Banner Design, Blog     

Almost everyone has heard of the “KISS” principle – Keep It Simple Stupid.  When designing banner ads, this is still one of the best rule of thumb to keep in mind because it still generates good business.  There are a number of principle elements of banner ads that can help design the banner ads much more effective because they all revolve around the “KISS” principle.

There are assorted principle elements for banner design that includes the following:

High-quality copy:  Keep the banner ad clear-cut and succinct with strong text that captures the visitor’s attention and makes them want to learn more.  Information should be concise but catchy enough so that the visitor is motivated to respond to the call-to-action.

Relevant images:  Make sure that all images are relevant to the product or service and complements the landing page.  Grab their attention with the image of a product the visitor is seeking to entice them to continue to the web site.

Appropriate Call-to-Action:  Remember no one is going to buy the product immediately upon seeing the banner ad; they want more information about the product before they buy.  However, offering an incentive that gets the user to travel to the website is often a more effective Call-to-Action.  These could be such things as “Free Trial”, “Movie tickets”, or even “Free t-shirt” as an incentive to continue onto the website and learn more about the product or service.

Use Animation Wisely:  Animation is fun and gets attention, but too much animation is distracting, and drives potential visitors away.  Avoid overkill in the animation because it also causes the banner to load comparably slower.  Static ads load faster, but generates a third fewer clicks than the flash banners.  It’s a balancing act to determine when it’s best to use a static banner and when animation is more effective.

Concise text:  Make sure that text on the banner design is kept to a minimum, but that it accurately describes the product or service that is being offered.  Concise wording that catches their interest and makes the visitor want to continue further.

Coordinated Colors:  Make sure the banner design is vibrant by using flashy colors that grab attention.  Be aware of the colors that are used for the background and the text because the text needs to stand out so that it’s easy to read.  White text on a yellow background can be just as difficult to read as red text on a blue background.  Complementary colors such as yellow on a dark red background, or blue on a yellow background makes the words easy to read and catches attention of the guest.

Engaging Punch line:  This should have minimal words, be catchy, and relevant to the product to grab the visitor’s attention and persuade them to go further to the website.

Logo and Website:  These should help identify the brand and the business.

There are several principle elements of banner design that with some great attention can make the banner ad very effective and help route more traffic to the well-designed landing page.