A study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) uncovered some good and bad news about advertisements that appear on websites. The good news is that 96% of website visitors really do notice them. The bad news is that if your ad doesn’t trigger a response within 10 seconds, it probably never will. How can you create ads that capture attention and click-throughs in that blink of time? Here are some tips for effective online advertising:

Learn the secrets of online advertising from the editors of StepByStepMarketing.com by downloading your free copy of Internet Marketing: Online Advertising Tips for Business Growth without cost or obligation.

• Use classified newspaper ads as a template. They start with an appealing headline, tease with tempting copy, then provide a way to respond. (In your online ad, that’s a place to click or possibly a toll-free number to call.)

• Get to the point quickly. As the OPA study found, you have only seconds to win viewer attention. So don’t show a video clip or a wav file and expect viewers to wait to learn about your brand or offer. They won’t be watching that long.

• Use pictures of people in your ads. Most successful Internet ads, including all the 13 winners of the 2010 Web Marketing Association’s Internet Advertising Competition Awards, feature people prominently.

• Don’t hide key elements. Make sure that your brand, your offer, and a way to respond are always visible.

• Measure, measure, measure. You’ll never know if an ad is a masterpiece or a dud until you test the results it generates. Even better? Test several ads and use the one that works best.

Permalink: http://www.stepbystepmarketing.com/?p=8733