GDPUK remains free to join and to post on the forum. We have close to 9000 members and they love using the resource to keep upto date with all things dental and keep engaged with the dental community. Revenue for the site is generated from banner advertising. Our clients who advertise are predominantly from the dental trade.

Clients of GDPUK often ask us about designing banner ads for the site, so we thought we would put together this simple guide and let you know our thoughts on what makes up an effective banner ad. Obviously when creating a web banner ad, it is important to always look at it from the perspective of the viewers (or your potential customers).

1. Make sure it is correct size. If you are given details of a certain specification or size needed, you should follow the requirements, otherwise the banner ad won’t work.

2. Keep the file sizes to a minimum. Smaller files load faster and it increases the chance of being seen by visitors.

3. Good copy (like all advertising) is very important. Use of graphical elements is good, however, it's the copy that triggers people to find out more about your product. Banners that are effective are kept short and simple. Further info below

4. You want your potential customers to look at your ad, get interested, and click on it, then find out more info about your product on your website (preferably on a relevant landing page on your site). Don’t try to fit all the benefits of your product into that small space, it never looks rights and is ineffective. Simple and clear is the best method.

5. Over the years, the banners that have been the most effective, use an eye-catching hook. Headlines are what trigger people to read the story. Emphasising the benefits of your products more than the features of your products is the way to go.

6. By using a call to action graphic or text you make it very clear to the visitor what you want them to do. For example: For More Information; Download Info Now; Click Here to Purchase. This works with the earlier advice of being simple, clear and direct.

7. Animated GIFs work brilliantly on GDPUK but graphic designers always tell us that you need to avoid using photos and photo-like images on animated GIFs. Because of how GIFs work, the photos won’t look as nice and it will just make the file size huge. It is most likely you will be limited to having just one or two frames for the banner given the file size limits, plus as mentioned before, banners are more effective as a smaller file.

8. If you want to use photos in your ad (for websites only; not on our daily digest emails), consider creating it in Flash or HTML5. It will give you better return in terms of quality and file size.

9. Effective landing pages. We have mentioned this a number of times over the years! When people click on the banner, they should be presented with the relevant campaign or information immediately. They do not want to go to your homepage and be forced to hunt for the information that may exist on another page of your site. An effective landing page produces a great experience for your customer but also better results from your advertising campaigns.

Thanks for reading this guide to creating effective banner ads. We hope you find it useful and a simple blueprint to follow when looking to advertise online.

If you need further information or want to ask a question about this blog. Please get in touch.

Thanks

Jonny