2 Split Tests That Will Increase Your Click Through Rates

Earlier this year we got the chance to run extensive tests on banner ads.

I’m talking about tens of millions of impressions across several dozen different designs and ad copy angles.

Two of the split tests though changed the way I think about banner ad design and we haven’t designed our banners the same way since.

Fancy Banners vs. Plain Banners

Fancy banners have lost in our split tests almost every single time. The only time they won was
for web design related offers (obvious).

What we learned was that if you want REALLY good click through rates on your banner ads, make them NOT look like banner ads.

The winner here looks like a featured article when it’s on other sites. Which turns off the viewers natural resistance to advertising. It bypasses what’s called “Banner Blindness.”

In the image below the fancy banner had a CTR of .11% and the plain banner had a CTR of .34%, which is more than a 200% increase in click through rate.

Trick We Learned From Print Ads

We tested the black vs. white banner because one day I noticed while looking at classified ads in the back of a magazine, that the darker ads caught my eyes first.

Sure enough when we tested it the black banner pulled ahead of our winner. We believe it was because it stood out on the page and also did not look like an advertisement.

The white banner had a CTR of .34% and the black one did .48% which is almost a 50% increase.

Now that you have this information what will you do with it?

What is your opinion on these tests? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Will you change the way you design your banners or do you have a reason for still using traditional fancy designed banners?

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