Traffic Mansion Blog

How To Overcome Banner Blindness & Create Ads That (Actually) Convert

Are banner ads dead? 

Well, advertisers spent $126 billion on them last year, so if anything banner ads are alive & kicking. 

And means you’ll have to become more savvy and  sophisticated in your approach to increase the CTR for banner ads. 

But wait, let’s back up.  

Just in case you’re unfamiliar with banner ads, they are a form of digital advertising.  They work in the same way a banner announces/signposts an offer in a high street shop, for instance – only this is for online. 

Assuming you surf the net;  there is no doubt about it,  you would have come across a banner ad before. Display advertising can be found everywhere these days. 

From blogs and 3rd party sites to social networks and publishers… name an online source and banner ads are there. 

Some banner ads are so slick, so smooth in their approach that you may not even notice they are there.

 Other times,  they’re annoying, flashy and are a complete turn-off. 

Banner ads are created to increase brand awareness and influence users to engage with their product or service.  

When created correctly, banner ads are an amazing way to generate huuuge amounts of quality traffic.  

Therefore we are sure it probably comes as no surprise that creating adult banners ads are an essential part to what we do here at Traffic Mansion on a daily basis. 

In the background we analyse, test and optimize taking 100,000,000s of hits  so our affiliates don’t have to.

At Traffic Mansion, we are always on hand to give you extra tips to maximise your clicks, that said there are a few of you who prefer to go it alone… 

(and perfectly fine)

However after analysing your data we thought it would be useful to share our top tips on how to create A*  high-CTR banners. 

So with no further ado, keep reading to learn how to overcome banner blindness and create banners that (actually) convert. 

Elements you need to consider for a great, high-CTR banner.

  • Placement of your banner 
  • The design
  • Sizing & Formatting 
  • Copy/Typography
  • Colour 

Adult Banner Ads Format & Sizes 

Since the internet can be accessed using a variety of mediums, banner ads come in all shapes and sizes. Adult banners ads can be viewed on desktop, tablets and streamed on mobile.  

Generally speaking, the best place to place your ad is above the fold i.e at the top of a webpage to give your banner a higher chance of being seen. 

Formatting and size will also affect CTR for banner ads, so you’ll need to be aware of the different sizes and dimensions. 

Before you get designing, take the time to familiarise yourself with the banner sizes  you can upload onto different banner advertising platforms. 


Adult Banner Ads Formats

  • PNG: Quality image for internet use. Tend to be larger in size which can affect loading speed times
  • JPEG / JPG: HD images most commonly used on the internet 
  • GIF: Supports animated images.

Most Common Adult Banner Ads Sizes (By Device) 

  • 300x 250  Desktop, Mobile & Tablet
  • 315×300 Desktop. &Tablet 
  • 305×99 Mobile

How to Create A* High-CTR For Banners Ads

When creating your adult banners you will need to focus on six elements  to increase your CTR for banner ads. Keep reading and we will walk you through each one. 

Images 

First up is your banner image.

In a digital sea of adult banner ads, how do you make yours stand out and reach its intended user?  

In the space of 3-seconds your image needs to communicate visually, what your offer is. 

Therefore, you need to use a high quality image that is relevant to the offer you are promoting.

Copy

You cannot rely solely on your image.  It will certainly get your ad noticed, but it won’t necessarily result in a high CTR for your banner ad – which is what you want. 

High converting banners have one thing in common – copy. 

And not any old copy. Amazing copy.

Remember you have a 3-second window (maybe even less), so this means:

No time for cheesy sales talk, your mission statement, nor the features of your offer. 

At this point all the user wants to know is: What’s in it for them? 

So tell them. In a compelling and catchy way of course. 

Create copy that evokes curiosity. Use numbers, add urgency, use emotive language that resonates 

But.. 

don’t go overboard. 

Typography 

Another element and hugely important to the success of your banner ads (and landing pages) is the typography. Often overlooked, how you present the words visually will impact how your message is received. 

When creating your copy, make sure you consider:

  • Font
  • Point size
  • Color 
  • Line length

Keywords

Copy used on your adult banners ads must be relevant to your target audience. To truly connect and speak the language of your audience, your copy must incorporate relevant keywords. 

Given you have 3-seconds (or less), it is important you have done the work to get to know your ideal customer. If you haven’t , your CTR for banner ads will be hampered.  

Colors 

Another important element and one which your CTR for banner ads can be affected is color.  

We don’t want to get too deep, but colours have a powerful effect on our psyche in subtle and unconscious ways. 

For instance the colour red is associated with danger whilst green can be associated with money. 

Throw in countries and culture and this can change once again. 

The point is, if you want action from your ads, you will need to consider this element in the designing of your banner ads. 

We said earlier to design your banner ads smoothly, but not to the point where they’re not even seen. Did you know you are exposed to over 5000 banner ads a day? 

Probably not.

Here’s what you can do to make sure your adult ads are getting seen!  

Use contrasting colours to make sure your banners  stand out! 

Innovative (and Clear) Calls-To-Action

Important as they are for  the CTR of banner ads; calls-to action are often overlooked. Even with quality traffic, without clear and innovative instructions left for your visitor…

you will not make them click.

Think of your adult banner ad as a trailer similar to a blockbuster movie or a new game.

After successfully grabbing your reader’s attention with your knockout images and speaking-to-the-um copy.

They’re hungry for more. 

Now what?   

When creating your CTA,  remain consistent and direct for a seamless follow through.  Really think about your end result here and make sure you leave clear instructions for the user. 

What do you want the user to do? 

Split Testing Your Adult Banners Ads 

So what’s that one thing we at Traffic Mansion always bang on about? That’s right testing! Your adult banner ads are no different. 

A/B testing is the best way to gain higher CTR for your banners ads. After all, how else will you learn what works and what needs to go?

The measure of success here is learning which of these elements work and continually tweaking to improve your campaign over and over again.  So, it’s essential you create several variations of your banner ad. 

Raising your CTR for Banners Landing Pages 

As a leading traffic network we have seen some absolute train wrecks for landing pages. 

When you’ve worked your butt off to perfect everything from your image down to your CTA right, it would be a shame to lose out here. 

it is critical that you follow through with your promise. 

Since landing pages are monumental to raising your CTR for banner ads.  The natural progression for conversions is  to take users to the place they’re expecting the moment they click on your ad. 

Here is a checklist to ensure your landing page delivers high conversions. Every time. 

Test, test, test the link to your landing page – 

“Duh, of course we tested our URL” sounds obvious right? But when we consider how many error 404 screens we’ve seen in our time – Not obvious enough!

Keeping Landing Pages for your Adult Banner Ads Relevant 

Do you promise people the moon and then fall short and under-deliver?

Stop it!  

No one likes to feel misled and all you’re doing is hurting your brand. Make sure your landing page is relevant to your banner.

Otherwise seriously… what’s the point? 

Create Professional-Looking Landing pages for Adult Banner Ads

In the 21st century, no one has an excuse for creating below-par-inadequate-mediocre landing pages. Sorry, not sorry, there are too many tools and resources available . Notwithstanding gaining help from  affiliate managers 😉

Adult Banner Ad: Less is More 

Too much copy.  Stand out or flashing images. Too many CTA instructions saying “do this” or or do that. 

Stop! 

You really don’t need to go overboard when it comes to your landing pages. Your banner did it’s job, now let your landing page do the rest.

Less is definitely more here. Keep it short (and simple). 

Hone it on Your End Result 

When someone clicks your ad and winds up on your landing  page, what is it that you want them to do?

Your entire campaign should be guiding the user to this moment.  So don’t hedge or fudge now,  hone in on your end result and finish strong using your CTA. 

All information on your landing page must be presented seamlessly and coax (not bombard) the reader into the dating offer.  Therefore leave breadcrumbs giving a taste of what is to come and voila!  

Choose an Advertiser Offering You Exclusivity 

Last and by no means  least make sure your ad is placed on a platform that is relevant to your target audience.  Remember, the adult niche is broad, so to generate a high CTR for banner ads, look for an advertising network that offers you niche exclusivity. 

Final Thoughts

First thing first...know your audience and have an understanding of how and where to reach them. 

To gain a higher CTR for banner ads incorporate these tips when designing your banner to combat banner blindness and get noticed!

  • Seek help and tips from your AM to save time when optimising you banners 
  • Always split test your adult banner ads  to make sure you learn what is working and ditch what isn’t. 

Finally, place your ad using an advertiser with niche exclusivity. 

Or if you need any help please get in touch us and we’ll save you some extra time and money! 

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