Web banner design is all about developing a comprehensive, strategic approach to selling your products online. Many banners are optimized in some respect but fail in some crucial regard and don’t generate sales as a result. This is real waste because web banner campaigns can be expensive to run; the only really cheap part is the design itself so it really pays off to get that part right from the start. Let’s go over some of the best strategies for successful web banner design.

A successful web banner utilizes the minimal amount of space and time available to its advantage. Many designers make the mistake of trying to cram as much information about the product into the banner as possible. This might seem like a good strategy but it isn’t for a number of reasons, first of all by cramming a lot of information in you will make your banner less aesthetically appealing, secondly you give users less of a reason to click (they don’t need to click to get more information, thirdly by cramming the banner with a lot of information you are likely to slow it down from a technical perspective, finally your products will have less mystique.

Make sure you give your call-to-action the attention it deserves. A strong call-to-action is far more effective than reams of text about your product. Give your call-to-action an edge by allotting it its own distinct color and some exciting text to prompt a click, for example ‘Download Limited Edition Demo’

Users are inherently distrusting of new companies; if you ever seek to win their trust you need to be honest with them. Another good strategy is to include an effective ‘trust indicator’. Trust indicators are signals that let people know you can trust them; for example if you include a recognized seal of quality in your banner people are more likely to trust in your brand.

More than anything else potential customers want to be treated with respect. That’s not too surprising and yet many online businesses refuse to show customers respect in a number of ways. Some do not respect the customer’s right to ignore an advertisement that doesn’t interest them; these businesses make loud flashy banners and often don’t even include a close icon. In addition many businesses disrespect customers by giving them false or exaggerated information about their products, or in some cases even tricking them entirely by having a banner that’s completely unrelated to what’s on the landing page.

Good web banner design needs to be shrewd if it’s going to win customers over. It’s amazing how much our purchases are influenced by subconscious associations such as those related to color. Research different color combinations and the unconscious associations they are likely to arouse before you settle for one.

As most online customers are going to be wary of your unfamiliar brand you’ll have to work extra hard to earn their trust. Try including a few strong ‘trust indicators’ so people can see that you’re a reputable company. Good trust indicators include testimonials from well known industry figures, easily recognizable seals of quality from industry boards, or references to well known industry awards that your products might have won.

However these marketers are failing to comprehend the damage that a poor quality web banner design causes; this damage goes beyond lost sales, it affects the average customer’s overall perception of your business and your branding, and as such creates unpredictable and undesirable long term effects. Let’s consider some web banner quality guidelines.

Web banners are almost unique amongst advertising media in that they are interactive. This allows for a wide range of opportunities that other mediums can’t offer. However many marketers only see an opportunity for deception, slyly disguising their links as some kind of fun interactive media like a game or an experiment; of course the user is simply redirected to an unrelated landing page. This approach is successful in so far as it will often generate a high click-through-ratio; the only problem is that sales are more likely to fall than rise as a result.

Many designers underestimate the important role that color plays in informing us as to the nature of a product. As such they opt for the ‘coolest’ color combination without actually going to the trouble of understanding the unconscious associations that a particular combination suggests. This is a foolish mistake as utilizing the appropriate colors can increase sales considerably, for example purple is a soothing color that is often used to sell therapeutic products, using it to sell a motorbike would be highly ineffective.

A web banner design needs to excel form a technical stand-point as well. Do everything you can to cut dead weight and to see that your banner loads quickly and includes all the addition icons that customers could need.

The best web banners display a shrewd understanding of user habits and consumer psychology. Users usually require a number of icons in order to interact with a banner, for example an icon for closing the banner or the call-to-action (the icon which links to the advertiser’s landing page).

The former often gets left out by ‘clever’ marketers who think they can increase sales by removing the option to ignore a banner, in reality all they increase is resentment towards the company being advertised.

The latter often isn’t optimized or given the attention it deserves. A strong call-to-action is easily distinguished from the rest of the design on display. Two ways to make a call-to-action easily distinguishable are to give it a bright, distinct color and to make it big and centered right in the middle of your design.

Go easy on the lengthy product descriptions in your web banner design. Long descriptions get ignored more than brief, intriguing descriptions; they also take up a lot valuable space in your banner, both visually and in terms of coding.

Make sure you refine all the elements of your banner down so that it loads quickly. For example it’s better to include a short quote from an industry expert than a lengthy video which slows down the whole page.

Good banners usually utilize a psychologically effective color palette. However things are complicated by the fact that what constitutes a psychologically effective color palette varies from product to product. For example while bright pink is an effective color for selling Barbie dolls it’s unlikely to shift a lot of BMWs. The key to identifying the right colors is research and experimentation.

An effective web banner design recognizes that the call-to-action is the most important part of the banner. As such the call-to-action should be made distinct from the rest of the design and emphasized with strong color and lineation. In addition the text contained within a call-to-action can greatly affect the number of clicks it receives, as such it always better to use text that is compelling or exciting, for example ‘Download Demo Now!’. These adjustments should see your click-through-ratio improve significantly.

Web banners are a relatively data light form of advertizing. Web banners that contain a lot of data often load slowly; this is a major source of irritation for most customers. In addition web banners that contain a lot of text tend to be clicked far less than relatively simple, short messages.

Try to keep the overall look of your web banner in line with that of your landing page and other promotional materials. The reason for this is that it allows people to recognize they are dealing with the same company in each instance; it also reinforces the overall recognition of your branding.

Web banners are an inherently limited form of advertizing, they’re small, simple and they are often ignored by busy users. And yet many marketers try to deny these limitations rather than work around them; some of the worst banners out there are notable for being overloaded with boring text and load slowly as a result of poor coding and unnecessarily elaborate features. It is far more effective to pique people’s interest with a brief description of your product or its benefits, than overwhelm them with information.

Concentrate on the effectiveness of your call-to-action. Some marketers make the mistake of inserting a small call-to-action or failing make it stand out visually. The call-to-action is the one part of your web banner design that leads directly to the point of purchase, as such the effectiveness of a call-to-action and the resultant sales are directly linked. In order to maximize the efficiency of your call-to-action it’s important to fill it with a compelling command, for example ‘Visit Sale Now!’

Most web banners benefit immensely from a few trust indicators. One of the problems with online sales is how reluctant people are to hand over their credit card details to websites that are not established household names. One way to combat this is to include trust indicators in your design, make a reference to any well known awards your products may have won or any recognized seals of quality they may possess; and if you have access to expert endorsements you should definitely include them.

Web banner design benefits from an honest open approach. Don’t make your web banner look like anything other than an advertisement for products you legitimately provide, e.g. an amusing game, a solicitation from a girl, a quiz, etc. Make sure that any text you include is sincere and gets straight to the point. Large volumes of hyperbolic text are extremely off putting for most customers and are also a drain on file space (and thus can cause a banner to load slowly).

Some web banner designers make the mistake of relegating their call-to-action to a small corner of the banner or making it indistinct from the rest of the design. This is a real faux pas, in order to be effective a call-to-action should always be bigger than other elements in the banner, colored differently and filled with text that gives users a compelling reason to click.

Speaking of color it’s worth having an awareness of what different color combinations can mean. Colors generate unconscious associations that influence purchasing decisions. By understanding these associations you can design a more effective banner. For example the color yellow is bright and often associated with freshness or newness; accordingly it’s a good color for launching new products.

When working on a web banner design it’s important to consider how you would feel on encountering your banner, would you buy a product from you? This a good measuring stick of the success of your design.

Many marketers approach web banner design with a bad attitude from the beginning. They mistakenly believe that the goal of a web banner is to generate as many visits as possible to the landing page regardless of how they are attained. In reality the goal of a web banner is to generate sales and positive awareness, not visits. These marketers make their web banners ‘more successful’ by designing them in the form of some interesting media like a flash game or a message from a social network, only to link to the client’s unrelated landing page once clicked. This approach generally just generates resentment towards the company.

Keep you web banner in order from a technical standpoint. Lower the file size as much as possible by ditching data-heavy features such as live action video or sound. This will ensure that your banner loads swiftly without irritating the customer. Speaking of irritating the customer, it’s important that the customer can close your banner if they are simply uninterested, otherwise you’ll lose potential customers that are too busy to check out your products at a given time.

Maximize sales by utilizing a strong, distinct call-to-action. The call-to-action is the icon that functions as a hyperlink to your landing page, the most successful calls-to-action action take advantage of strong colors and exciting text.

An effective web banner design grabs attention and clicks by using colors appropriately. Each color produces subconsciously ingrained responses in those who view them. Bright pink? That product is probably for young girls. Black and gold? That product is probably high end and aimed at big spenders. Bright red? The product is trying to get you excited and probably refers to a sale or some other limited time only promotion. One of the best things you can do to improve a web banner is to do a little research and determine what is the optimal color combination for the product or service you are offering.

One good way to optimize your web banner is to draw particular attention to the call-to-action. The call-to-action is the icon that links users to the owner’s website, and as such it is the part of the banner that is directly responsible for sales. Make your call-to-action stand out by giving it a distinct color, making it big and placing it a prominent position (smack down in the middle of the banner is good).

Finally it’s of vital importance how you handle text in your banner. Don’t overload your banner with vast volumes of text, people simply won’t bother to read it and you’ll likely diminish some of the allure of your banner.

What these marketers fail to understand is that bad web banner design does more than just fail to generate sales; it tarnishes a company´s reputation and turns public perception against it. Let´s consider what some of the biggest culprits get wrong.

The worst thing a web banner can do is disrespect the customer; unfortunately many do just that in a wide variety of ways. The worst of the bunch are those banners that have nothing to do with the product being sold, many of these even go as far as ´tricking´ the customer into clicking, for example ´You´ve just won a million dollars! Click here to receive your prize!´ Of course the customer hasn´t really won a million dollars, they just get linked to some mediocre website selling mediocre products. It might sound obvious but if you want to grow a brand this approach is really ineffective.

There are some other ways to show respect to customers, firstly it´s a good idea to let them close a banner; don´t leave the icon out in the hope that forcing your banner on people will result in more clicks, and don’t make it too small to click either! Finally do everything you can to reduce the file size of the banner, this will allow it to load quickly without affecting the other information on the page.