Who has not come across banner advertisements on Internet. After all, these ads are pretty difficult to miss due to their prominent featuring on a number of websites. They are, of course, generally not very subtle and often flash brightly in the face of anyone who comes across them. In a way, banner advertisements are the information super highways version of the flashing neon signs of 1977 Times Square. They are gaudy, but they definitely attract attention.
Part of the reason for the gaudiness of banner ads is that they are trying to attract attention. Unfortunately, some advertisers have taken this gaudy notion to the extreme and this has given banner ads somewhat of a bad name. In other words, people will generally become dismissive of banner advertisements. Now, what is the effect of this on those looking to place advertisements on the internet? Does this mean that banner advertisements are no longer the way to go? Not necessarily; in fact, success of failure with banner advertisements all depends on the way one opts to craft their banners.
Banner ads can drive traffic to a site as they definitely can attract the attention of a person surfing the net. Of course, the banner ad needs to be a solidly crafted one that makes the individual viewing take the item that is being marketed serious. While hyperbole can be helpful, it can also turn people off. As such, a solid illustrated banner ad that accurately describes the product while promoting the benefits of the product combined with decent advertising copy will prove to be a solid means of drawing in direct traffic to the site.
If there was one caveat that needs to be taken into consideration, it would be the fact that banner ads do not help search engine optimization. That is, when it comes to search engine placement it is exclusively text links that are what bumps a website up to the top of the rankings. Banner ads are not a factor in this, but they do attract attention can lead to direct ???clicks??? and traffic to the site.
The bottom line on banner advertisements is that they can be successful when properly utilized and embody a quality look. As such, banner advertisements should never be dismissed a viable form of online marketing.
In the next coming days, I do plan to put some banners strategically on this blog. I will seek your comments on them anyways
Srini Saripalli