After a long day at work, Mark sits down at his computer desk
to clear up some of his bills on the web. Just as he is about
to go offline, something catches his eye on the top of the web
page. "You Can Make THOUSANDS of Dollars Online Today. FREE Info!"
Curious, Mark moves his cursor cautiously over the banner and
thinks of all the things that he could do with an extra couple
hundred dollars. He then presses on the two most powerful words
in the business world today... "Click Here!"

Got Him.

From a marketer's point of view this story ends on a happy note
but in the real world this is not always the case. The average
click through rate (CTR) for a web banner is 1-2% and even less
for banners of poor design. The lower the CTR of a banner, the
less traffic your site recieves. Without traffic you lose money
on the web.

Are your banners designed as effectively as possible? Check and
see for yourself. Below are 10 rules you should follow when
designing a web banner for a higher CTR.

- Keep your banner design as simple as possible. Avoid using
excessive font and color choices, as they tend to make banners
look busy and cluttered.
- Make sure the information matches the content of your site.
There is nothing worse than clicking on a banner that takes you
somewhere you don't want to go. Make sure that the general idea
is clear in the sense of where the banner leads. This can be
accomplished through imagery or text.
- Keep you banner as large as possible. Studies suggest that larger
banners have higher CTR's. Depending on the application, try to get
your banner to 468x60 pixels, which is standard size for large banners.
- Keep your file size as small as you can. Creating banners that are of
large file size is just asking for trouble. At optimum, a banner
should be between 10-12k
- Use action words. Invoke action from your prospects by using powerful
words such as "Get It Now!" or "Click Here!" Tell them what to do to
make them do it.
- Animate your banner. Animated banners have a higher CTR than
non-animated ones.
Give your banner design pizzazz by adding some simple animation.
- Create a sense of urgency. The key to successful banner design is getting
the readers to act now. Text such as "One Time Special" or "Limited Time
Offer"
gives the sense that if they don't act now they miss out.
- Try to use the Word "FREE!" Everybody loves FREE stuff. Try to incorporate
a free offer into your banner design to lure visitors to your site such as
"FREE Report!" or "FREE Info"
- Use italic type. Italic type, used sparingly, has been known to increases
CTR. Less is more in this particular application.
- Rotate your banner design. Try to keep your banner fresh and exciting.
As a general rule change up your design every 500,000 exposures.

By keeping these important rules in mind you can greatly increase the CTR
of your banner designs and increase online profits.

Sound like a lot of work for one person to handle? At Worldprofit these
rules have become second nature to our design team. Let us design your banner
and take the weight off your shoulders.
Email us at mailto:customerservice@worldprofit.com
We would love to hear from you and offer a no-obligation quote on any of our
design services.
Just getting started? Get our free design instruction series at
http://www.worldprofit.com/autoresponse


About the Author
Colin Eyo is a key member of
Worldprofit's design team. Our team is standing by NOW to
design your site, your banners, your global
image online. Contact mailto:customerservice@worldprofit.com