3 rules to maximizing your profit from banner ads

I came across this fairly decent article this morning, i've pasted it below, I forgot where I found it now

The 3 Rules to Maximizing Profits From Banner Ads
By: Derek Arnold, May 28, 2005

Placing those ads on your site are designed to do just one thing, make you and the advertiser money. No it’s not rocket science but there is a science to doing it right.

There are 3 simple rules to follow and you will convert those ads into the revenue you intended them to be when you decided to place them in the first place.
Don’t sell Viagra to pregnant women! – Basically what this means is that each page on your site probably offers something different than all the other pages on your site, otherwise you would have terrible redundancy on your site and that would be bad, but that’s for another discussion. Let’s say you have a site offers travel services, and this particular page is about a certain destination that you offer. Then your ads should fit the page, an offer such as “Home Loans”, or “Grocery Coupons” would be what is know as “Shotgun Marketing”, which basically means that you are just firing an ad at there and praying that someone who sees it will be interested. This click and buy ratio will prove to be VERY disappointing. A proper ad such as “discount air tickets”, or “Travel Insurance” will produce a much higher, click and buy ratio, this is what is referred to as “Target Marketing”. Remember, the internet is a spontaneous buying medium, so when the visitor is on that particular page, this is when the interest in this particular subject is at it’s peak! They are already thinking travel, you are offering them the “Up sell”, meaning you not changing the visitors train of thought, your offer is just blending in.


Put the steak in the middle, and leave the salad on the side! – Where do you place you banners? On the side? At the bottom of the page? Somewhere between the “I’m offering this for free” and “Look at my fancy graphics” area of the page? Obviously the most profitable place to set the banner is on the top of the page, and is highly recommended if that space is available! Most of the time website owners have reserved that spot for they’re own offers and the like. The second best place on a page is just before your start the page content. An animated 468 x 60 banner should be centered and placed just before you begin your page content. Remember these banners are what pay you money to keep your site going, and if all goes right, some change in your pocket. Move other items on your site to the side and make room for those banners. Banners placed inside the test of the page content (not at the end) would be the third option.


I don’t read the fine print, do you?- What size banners do you use? DO NOT waste your time placing small banners on your site (unless they are for banner exchange partners)! Small banners are a waste of space, first of all, how much information can the seller fit into such a small area? How noticeable will it be to your site visitor? If you’re trying to sell something, then SELL IT! Ad size should be 468 x 60 or larger, and centered on the page, this ad WILL NOT be missed by the roving eye of your potential buyer. Although they may have not elected to click on it, odds are they certainly did not miss it, because it was big enough to at least catch they’re eye.

Hope it helps! I'm not sure how informative it is, but it's certainly interesting.

Thanks for sharing, helped a lot

Really good depthful article, cheers robson, has cleared a few things up

Very good article. Thanks Pretty much everything you said is common sense stuff that most people don't think about.

It’s a nice article but I don’t agree with some of the points it makes…

Obviously the most profitable place to set the banner is on the top of the page

That is 100% totally un-true. It’s a proven fact that you get a higher CTR when banners are at the bottom of pages with content on. People will read the content and then look for somewhere else to go. You banner will be right in front of them.

Having the banner at the top of the page means the user would have to click off your page before they have even looked at it (generally). If a user is on your page, they are there for a reason. They are not just going to click the first banner they see.

DO NOT waste your time placing small banners on your site! Small banners are a waste of space

Again, that is totally un-true. Small banners have there place. If they didn’t no one would use them. Small banners are perfect for “branding” your website or product. Although you wont get such a high CTR than larger banners (obviously). People are still becoming aware of your website or product.

Just look at the “Spread Firefox” campaign. Firefox now controls over 10% of the internet browser market share. This is largely thanks to the small “Spread firefox” banners.

Originally Posted by jon It’s a nice article but I don’t agree with some of the points it makes… That is 100% totally un-true. It’s a proven fact that you get a higher CTR when banners are at the bottom of pages with content on. People will read the content and then look for somewhere else to go. You banner will be right in front of them. Having the banner at the top of the page means the user would have to click off your page before they have even looked at it (generally). If a user is on your page, they are there for a reason. They are not just going to click the first banner they see. Again, that is totally un-true. Small banners have there place. If they didn’t no one would use them. Small banners are perfect for “branding” your website or product. Although you wont get such a high CTR than larger banners (obviously). People are still becoming aware of your website or product. Just look at the “Spread Firefox” campaign. Firefox now controls over 10% of the internet browser market share. This is largely thanks to the small “Spread firefox” banners.

You always have an interesting business prespective on things. Always happy to see your posts on this kind of thing.