5 Tips for Effective Online Advertising
Advertising can sometimes be a necessary evil…
but who said it had to be evil? Advertisements, just like any other interface
element, make up a user experience. And a user experience is made good or bad
based on how we meet user needs. So here's five tips for effectively advertising
on the web. Tip #1: Be polite. Pretend your advertisements are uninvited
dinner guests. [indistinct chatter] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I believe one of you has a browser history that indicates
you are interested in the world's best humidifier.
You've got ten hours of the best, nonstop,
deep, wonderful breathing! [deep inhale, obnoxious exhale] [awkward silence] You wouldn't want to barge into
somebody's dinner with a prepared speech and interrupt what everyone is doing
just so you can say what you need to say. Instead, just let your guests, or in this case, your users,
continue to browse the site and get some value. And when they're ready, they'll take a look,
and hopefully engage with your ads. Tip #2: Don't delay the delivery of content. Users have come to your site to accomplish
a task. Don't get in the way of that task.
The user is going to know– even if you have some type of gateway advertisement that says,
"Click here in order to access content" Either way, you're adding an extra step in the process,
and users are going to see right through that.
So instead, just put your content in a place
where users expect it: off into the right rail, or add to the footer, when the user
has already engaged with content, and now has the opportunity to look into
more interesting and related content. Tip #3: Prioritize the real estate on your
site for high-value interactions… … and that doesn't mean putting a giant advertisement
on the front page. If you do things like that, like interrupt content in the
middle of the page with an advertisement, it might put forward the message
that the company values profits over the user. We want the user to feel confident that they're in the right place, and that the company has their best interests at heart. Tip #4: Limit any unwelcomed surprises. Sometimes, the designers, in an effort to do something
creative will do something unconventional, maybe something avante garde or cutting edge;
something that nobody else is doing. While that definitely might win some design
awards, it won't always go well with users. When users come to a site they're looking
for answers to their questions. And if they see something that's unexpected
or jarring, something out of context, they're not going to necessarily want to proceed further.
They might look at another company to do their
business. Instead, don't reinvent the wheel. Stick to conventions and strategies that are
backed by data. Lastly, tip #5: Don't compete with the primary
content. Enhance it. If your user is reading an article on your
website, and they get to the bottom of your website, you can pretty much guarantee the
user is interested in this content. So, what would make more sense? Giving the user an ad for a bag they shopped
for maybe a week ago? Or…
show them an advertisement for something
related to what they're reading right now? Give the user something they can act on. That would be a lot more effective. So when you're considering different advertisement
strategies, use these five tips, and see if they can help you make a better user experience..
