Website Advertising Design

Let´s face it, website advertising is annoying. No matter how innovative the advertising design, an advertisement is not the reason why someone comes to your website. However, advertising is one of the best ways to make money on the Internet if you do not have a product to sell. And if you do have a product to sell, advertising is the way to draw traffic. So what is a web designer to do?

Internet Advertising: A Love/Hate Relationship

If you have ever had a pop-up ad scroll across the screen you are trying to read, then you know the great annoyance of Internet advertising. Website owners and designers know that their customers do not appreciate advertising, yet they still use it. Why? Because it is through advertising that they gain a large portion of their income.

Some of the cons that website owners face when placing ads are the fact that they interfere with navigation of the site. Many ads cover the information, and must be closed before the user can navigate the site. Not only that, but ads can often flash with animation that is annoying and distracting. The ad placement on the page can be awkward and disrupt the flow of information.

Internet users are frustrated with ads that blend in with the content, or even pretend to be part of the content. When they click on a link that they think will take them to more content, they are frustrated by finding themselves viewing an ad. This can diminish the overall site reputation and dilute its relevance in the eyes of users.

So, what are the Internet advertising pros? Well, Internet advertising is a great source of revenue for website owners. Ads are the best way to drive traffic to a site. And the fact is, Internet ads are here to stay. We are not going to get rid of them, so we might as well learn how to incorporate them into websites with less distraction and more effectiveness.

How to Effectively Integrate Ads on a Web Page

If you own a website, you will be faced with deciding how to best incorporate advertising on your site. The best Internet advertising will not detract from the site, but will rather help the site by bringing in more income. Here are some tips on how to increase Internet advertising effectiveness.

Wrapping the Ad

Wrapping the ad refers to identifying the advertisement as an ad. You put your advertisements in a box that identifies what is inside as advertising. When using a wrap, keep the design consistent throughout the page. This will help your readers know exactly what is content and what are ads. The best Internet ads will still draw clicks, even when wrapped.

Clustering Ads

Another way to show your users what are ads and what are not is to cluster your ads into one spot on the website. This creates essentially an "ad zone." Users know that other places on the site are content oriented. The best way to incorporate clustering is to have the ads show up in the same place on all of the pages of the site. The ads should not be in the center of the site. The downside to clustering is that you lose a large portion of the side of your site to the ads, and they can be distracting while they blink away next to your content.

Leaderboards

Leaderboards are another way to get around the problem of distracting ads. Leaderboards are 728 x 90 pixels, which is larger than the 468 x 60 banner ad. This is appealing to advertisers because it is a large space. Leaderboards, however, do not show up within the body of the page. They are placed at the top of the page, away from the content. This is a prime space for advertisers, without interfering with the content. It does move the content down the page a bit, and if too much of the content is pushed below the fold, this can be a drawback.

Continue to: Procedures to Place Best Internet Ads

Track Your Ad Dollars, Don´t Throw Them Away!
Basics of Website Banner Ads
Tools to Create Banner Ads that Work
Choosing an Online Network

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How Can I Integrate Ads Without Trashing My Site?

Internet Advertising: A Love/Hate Relationship

How to Effectively Integrate Ads on a Web Page

Wrapping the Ad

Clustering Ads

Leaderboards

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