Online Advertising & It’s Impact on Web Design

History Recapitulates Itself… THERE WAS A TIME WHEN Online @ds were often met with disapproval from visitors, and advertisers were unsure about their value or effectiveness. BUT In recent years, advertising has become a major revenue source for many websites Today, most visitors come JUST to expect @dvertisements on commercial websites, and advertisers have recognized the potential of various online ad opportunities.

ADVERTISEMENTS ARE BASED ON 3 BASIC W’s : @. Why do advertisers pay for ads? @. What are advertisers paying for? @. Why do websites or businesses publish ads?

Why do advertisers pay for ads? Obviously, advertisers buy ads to gain exposure and improve their bottom line. The goals vary from one campaign to the next. Some may be primarily concerned with brand recognition and general exposure, while others are only concerned with sales of products. Online advertisers may be looking for click-through visitors from their ads, but ultimately all advertisers look for a strengthened business as a result of their campaigns. Web designers can have some impact on this issue by their placement of ads. Of course, designers cannot completely sell products or services for advertisers, but ad placement is key to click-through rates and so has a sizeable impact on the success of an ad campaign

What are Advertisers paying for? Are advertisers paying for clicks by visitors? Are they paying for sales conversions? Are they paying simply for the screen space? Each of these is a possibility and depends on the situation. AdSense ads, for example, pay publishers per click. Affiliate ads pay per sale or per action. Direct ads, such as most banner sales, are generally sold at a set price for the screen space and location. Keeping the desires of advertisers in mind throughout the design process is critical if the website is going to be selling ads directly to other businesses. AdSense and affiliate ads can be placed just about anywhere on a website, although the results will vary, but direct ad revenue will depend on what advertisers feel they are getting for their money. If they are paying for prime on-screen real estate, that’s what they’ll expect.

Why do Websites or Businesses Publish Ads? Advertising can be very lucrative for websites with a large volume of traffic. Although there are other ways to monetize a website, ads are one of the few ways in which a website owner can quickly capitalize on existing traffic without any additional work, such as developing products or providing services. Bloggers publish ads because the revenue allows them to earn income and essentially pay themselves for the time it takes to write content and maintain the blog. News websites sell ads because they typically have large audiences and because their offline business models, such as for printed newspapers, aren’t able to produce as much ad revenue as they have in past years. As a growing number of consumers turn to online publications rather than the daily paper for their news, ad revenue will shift from print publications to online options. In most cases, ad revenue is critical to the success of the business. For this reason, it must be a priority during the design process. For a service-based business that uses a website to sell its services to visitors, the designer’s job includes creating a website that effectively promotes those services to visitors. The same thing can be said of websites and businesses that rely on ad income.

ADVERTISEMENTS AN IMPORTANT PART OF WEB - DESIGN

Websites with advertising revenue as their main source of income can be compared to e-commerce websites that depend on selling products in order to continue doing business. No designer is going to create an e-commerce website without making the placement of products, descriptions, and images in the layout a priority. Likewise, website businesses that require ad revenue cannot compromise on advertising space. Advertisements are also a significant part of the design process because of the impact on visitors. Although a website may rely on advertising income, visitors are a critical part of the equation. Without them, ad revenue disappears. The website owner and designer need to incorporate ads in a way that still allows for a positive visitor experience.

Conundrum of online ads While website businesses that sell advertisements want and need those ads to be noticed and appreciated by visitors, a delicate balance is required. Website owners and designers need to consider this issue during the design process so that the locations and sizes of ads are appropriate and so that the ads produce revenue with minimal negative impact on the website. Offline ad publishers don’t necessarily face the same dilemma. A magazine may run full-page ads throughout the publication, but when readers see an ad that interests them, they don’t necessarily stop reading and put down the magazine. In the online world, a click on an ad could result in a visitor not coming back. Ads can be set to open in a new window to prevent this, but that still doesn’t guarantee that the visitor will come back after clicking the ad.

ADVERTISEMENT’S IMPACT ON DESIGN OF A WEBSITE

Regardless of how much attention designers give to advertisements in the layout of a website, ads will in some way impact the design. Ideally, the designer has accounted for specific ad slots in the design and laid out the website accordingly. In this case, ads can be implemented on the website in a way that does not disrupt the flow of content or information and that gives the ads a specific and strategic location. On the other hand, if ads are not adequately considered during the design process, they can look very much out of place, which will disrupt the rest of the website. Layout and design decisions that were made without consideration for ads will rarely work well when ads are incorporated in the website. @.) LAYOUT AND SPACING @.) COLOUR AND ATTRACTION @.) FLOW

Layout and Spacing Advertisements can easily take up big chunks of space in the layout of a website. Whether it has one large banner ad or several smaller ones bunched together, the layout will be affected. Some websites will spread out various advertisements throughout the website, others will confine them to a specific area and leave the rest of the website ad-free. Colors Web designers can’t control the color or design of banner ads used on their websites, and definitely won’t be able to in future, but they can consider the possibilities when developing a color scheme for the design. Banner ads are often colorful and bright, for the purpose of grabbing the attention of the visitor. If a website is designed with lots of different colors and shades, it could look awkward and too busy with ads that are also full of color, especially when those colors don’t go together. Flow One of the challenges designers face with any type of website is to present the content so that the visitor’s eye is drawn to important information. The typical pattern of the eye’s movement on screen and the flow of content in the website’s layout can be influenced by ads. Website owners looking to maximize ad revenue will often include ads in locations where the eye is drawn to, because these locations tend to produce the best results and the most ad revenue.

What is the Designer’s Responsibility with Advertisements? 1. To understand the level of priority of advertising revenue. 2. To design a website that meets the needs of the clients. 3. To design an attractive and usable website that includes ad space.

Trends in Ads and Design

@) HEADER AD’S

@) AD’S ABOVE ALL CONTENT

@) MORE AD’S ON SECONG PAGE @) COMMON BANNER SIZES

BEST PRACTICES FOR DESIGNERS Design to meet the needs of the client Lay out the website so that ads are a part of the design Consider future needs Consider the impact on visitors

CREDITS: Ramandeep singh Redballoon advertisers