Banner blindness and how to design against it
Banner blindness is a behavior that was first identified among internet users in 1997. It describes the ability of users to ignore page elements perceived (correctly or incorrectly) to be ads.
While webpage patterns and advertisement design have changed during the last thirty years, banner blindness is still prevalent. People’s attention is limited and they direct it only to the items they believe can help them achieve their goals.
Banner blindness is a defense mechanism evolved in users due to the traditional methods of marketing. That is, historically, B2B and B2C marketing used one-way communication: a business talking to somebody to achieve the business’s goal and largely ignoring that of the reader.
What triggers banner blindness?
Banner blindness is compounded by several factors: location, design and proximity of the content to advertisements.
1. Location
Ignoring ads is a learned behavior, just like looking for the navigation menu on a homepage. Because ads usually appear at the top or at the right rail of the page people automatically ignore these areas. They focus their attention in the middle and upper sections of the page.
2. Design and visual difference
An ad doesn’t need to be at the top or right rail of the page to be ignored though. People seeking text will usually ignore images, and vice versa. Think about how you behave when you are searching for detailed information – you look for bodies of text. But, when you are shopping online, you look for images. In fact, people will ignore everything that looks different to the content they intend to see.
People generally associate advertisements with fancy formatting, square shapes, and vibrant backgrounds. When they notice these features on a page, they tend to skim past them.
3. Proximity to ads
Content placed in the same part of the website as an ad is often considered to be an ad and so is ignored. It happens because of the law of proximity: items that are close are considered part of the same group. As people browse a website they quickly build a mental model, which usually results in them ignoring the ad-heavy right rails. If there is valuable content placed to the right, it will be ignored as well. People aren’t carefully sifting when they skim or read a website.
How can you prevent banner blindness from hurting your business?
1. Align your content with the visitors’ goals.
Permission marketing reverses the traditional direction of marketing – with users inviting the marketing into their lives, rather than being force-fed it. Users should only be prompted with the content and ads they request. If users see what they’re actively looking for, there is a higher probability that they’ll engage.
TheCubicle leverages the power of non-intrusive onsite notifications to deliver their messages. The notifications are revealed only when users request them by clicking on the bell with the red dot in the top bar. Most people are familiar with the use of red dots to indicate that a new message is waiting. Many people are curious to discover what’s hidden beneath the tempting red dot and so these notifications have a high engagement rate. In fact, visitors who interact with these notifications view 173% more pages than visitors who don’t interact with the notifications.
2. Place important pieces of content on the left side of your website. As discussed, ads can cause users to look away from an area and not return to it again. This 2009 study by Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) reveals this effect applies not only to a particular website but also to any other websites users browse. Web users assume that the same type of content will always appear in that same location on other pages.
Nytimes.com articles utilize the right rail for a secondary goal – engagement with additional content. The readers are not being distracted from their original intent of reading the main article, but unfortunately this secondary content is most likely going to be ignored.
Patagonia targets their left side pop-slides at visitors who land on a foreign version of a page, offering to redirect them to the page for their region. This makes the message highly aligned with visitors’ shopping goals. Placing the pop-slide on the left and making it look like the rest of the page makes for the best possible experience.
3. Have your promos look the same as the original content.
Placing an ad on a text-heavy article? Try using text-only ads. Since users expect the content to be plain text they will often ignore anything too fancy. Grist.org achieves 6.8% CVR with their sign up campaign that seamlessly blends with the rest of the content.
YouTube embeds video ads in-between other videos, seamlessly blending them and making them nearly impossible to ignore. Ethical issues aside, it is undoubtedly effective.
4. Avoid flashy animations and contrasting backgrounds.
Did you know that in order to attract users’ attention ads need to stand out from the surroundings? Guess what: your users know that as well. And that’s why they now ignore them.
Hidden Scotland uses a minimalistic bottom banner to promote their magazine. This converts 2.2% of visitors into readers. Not bad for a bar that blends with the rest of the design.
SassySpud uses popups that follow the same visual guidelines as the rest of the website. While it’s clearly an ad, it does not trigger banner blindness and helps to build their mailing list.
Summary
Banner blindness is best avoided by making your ads feel like a continuity of the users’ experience on your website. If you don’t want your original content to fall victim to banner blindness as well make sure it stays out of the right rail of your website. Once you’ve got users’ attention you should offer them what they want, when they want it.
