Pay-Per-Click Marketing Basics
We’ve all considered ourselves victims of pay-per-click marketing (or PPC) when a banner or pop up ads clutter our sites and block our content. What we don’t consider is how much time is put into their design. With limited space and limited time these ads are competing against a webpage already full of words. The select words chosen for the ads try to entice the viewer to click and visit the site. Here’s some fast facts when making an PPC ad.
A call to action, stating a limited sale or quantity, or a reminder of a pre-exisiting want are some of the most successful forms of messages.The pre-exisiting PPC message marketing is a popular tactic for Amazon. com. If you’ve ever been creeped-out by ads stalking you containing something you window-shopped for on Amazon.com you can thank the cookies placed on your device.
The colors of the ad must not brightly contrast the webpage otherwise they become automatically overlooked but they can’t be flush with the site either… they need to be noticed as separate but not foreign on the page. With a slight border the ad becomes a separate entity from the site but also not entirely a parasite.
The the photo or graphic in the ad must explain purpose or incite the viewer to click and also explain the purpose more than the text. Lastly, the website’s name should be included because as by reflex people do not randomly click advertisements where they do not know where they will lead them (in hopes of avoiding viruses.
As for the image on the advertisement, make sure the only designs leading off the image are decoration and not the product/service itself.
Happy Designing.
Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing An Hour a Day. David Szetela ;Joseph Kerschbaum. 2010
