Use just the right amount of words and images in your banner ads.

Your ad is on other websites. The objective? Draw traffic back to your site. So how do you do it? What's that magic combination of words and images that will get people to click on your ad?

With any web ad, you can do too little or too much-- and then there's just right. If you want visitors to click on your ad, your message needs to be clear, concise, and more attractive than the site's content. Give people a reason to click on your ad over anything else on the site.

Too little

Company: GCAP
Message: "The Future of Finance... GCAP"
Analysis: What exactly does "the future of finance" mean? Who exactly is the company addressing with that message? Are they talking about personal finance or corporate finance? What future are we talking about here? Is it the future of stocks, bonds, or funds? The future of your mortgage? If that's not confusing enough, the company has left out the answer to the greatest mystery of all-- what does GCAP stand for?

Sure, the message should be short, but there's got to be some substance to it. Who exactly does is the company trying to attract? If they want someone to click, they have to address an audience and send a more directed message.

Too much

Company: Sterling Commerce
Message: "Sterling Commerce, E-Business Integrating, E-Marketplaces, E-Consulting Solutions."
Analysis: Ugh! Too many corporate buzzwords. Does anyone know what any of that means? E-dull, e-vague, e-CLUNK. If your eyes glazed over, don't worry, that's the normal reaction.

Just right

Company: Quicken.com
Message: "Click here for a FREE step-by-step stock evaluation, Quicken.com."
Analysis: Why is this Web ad so good? Because it accomplishes the four most important things for any online ad:

  • It tells me who they are-- Quicken.com.
  • It identifies the target-- stock owners.
  • It tells me what the company is offering-- a stock evaluation.
  • It gives me an incentive to click-- it's free.


These are not hard-and-fast rules. There is some room for mystery. An enticing ad can get people to click even if they don't know what the ad is for. Remember the animated banner "punch the monkey" ad that appeared all over the Web about a year ago? Wouldn't you love it if your ad was the next "punch the monkey?" I'd love to tell you how to make such a catchy ad, but there are no rules for determining what will get people to click on your ad even when they don't know what it's for.

If you want to play it safe, follow the guidelines that Quicken.com followed. If you want to take a risk, and hopefully benefit from a huge click-through rate, create the next "punch the monkey." Remember-- unless your business requires addressing a very specific audience, don't get locked up in rules. Because for every rule of Web advertising, somebody's broken the rule and gotten lots of traffic.