However, in this day and age, one might wonder why use banner ads at all? I have several reasons:
- Professionalism. A site with good-quality banner ads still comes across a bit more professional, I think. Key of course is ‘good quality’.
- Advertise other products. If you have multiple sites with multiple products, you can advertise on each of these other sites, benefiting from some cross-over traffic.
- Testing. If you came up with a banner with a 10% click-through, would you run it? Of course. But testing to get that could be very painful (and expensive) – unless your traffic is free. Ergo, test your banners on your own site – and possibly come up with that ideal banner.
- Soothe everyone. Perhaps I’m a pessimist, but these days when I visit a site, I find myself asking – ‘what’s the catch’? Most (if not all) business sites are out to sell something online, so by putting a banner up you’re answering that unasked question – and providing a comfort level.
Agree or disagree, banners do have more benefits than outright sales – so consider whether your site would benefit from one – or more…
