Why is nobody clicking on my ads?
Your girl’s vision may be 20/20 but she’s got a bad case of ‘banner blindness’
Ever scrolled through a website and completely ignored the ads without even realising it?
Back in the earlier days of the internet, it was common for a website to be absolutely covered in ads either side of the screen. If I saw a website that looked like this today, I would probably assume they were viruses or scams.
Lately, most ads don’t look like this because we know about a phenomenon called ‘Banner Blindness’.
What is Banner Blindness?
Banner blindness is the tendency to ignore anything that looks like an ad. Users’ eyes have become trained to skip over these elements to avoid disruption — which means nobody is looking at your ads! To make matters worse, if your notifications and calls to action look like ads, they will get ignored too.
3 ways to use this theory to solve your design problems
- Instead of placing your important messages in typical banner spaces, integrate them within the main content. By blending the ad content naturally, users are more likely to see and engage with it.
- Advertise using user generated content (UGC). When you’re being sold something by someone you already trust, you’re more likely to pay attention.
- Use targeted advertising timed to your user needs. Learn more about your users and tailor your messaging to reach them when it means the most. This is particularly important for any important notifications or calls to action that you need to cut through the noise!
Anyway, I’m off to get my eyes checked.
