Since the Web is not only
about information but also speed, banner advertising has created its own
myth. I am referring to free banner exchanges as well as paid banner
advertising.
The top of the
page always takes preference whether it meant a better free banner exchange
ratio or a higher price for a premium position on a Web page.
Before I go on
with our test marketing results, I will prove why the top placement of
banners is not as effective as other areas of a Web page from simple common
sense. Then I will show you with the facts!
When you go to a
search engine for example and type in your keywords then hit the submit button,
what is the next thing you do? Of course, if you are like the other ninety
something percent, the answer will be the same. As soon as the page starts to
pull up, you scroll down the page immediately to view the results, never
even noticing the top of the page. You came to the Site with one thing in mind,
finding the information you are seeking and finding it fast.
The same holds
true once you click on a link from the search engine results. You are looking
for the exact information you came to search for, not the banners nor the logo
of a said Web page.
Now the facts...
I setup two
identical banner rotation scripts on a high traffic free classifieds site,
http://MonsterMall.net/classifieds to enable tracking that I followed weekly and
monthly as well for the total of three months. I placed one script on the top of
each page, while the second on the bottom of each page. The banners were
displayed randomly so as sometimes the same banners were displayed on both the
top and bottom of each page, however, more frequently, approximately 80% of the
time, different banners were listed on each page view from top to bottom. There
were a total of 5 different banners used, identically the same on top and bottom
scripts, each with a 20% exposure rate.
The overall
averages of click throughs were 3:1being the bottom banners were clicked
on three times as many as the top banners.
What is even
more surprising, the bottom banners on one of the weeks had actually reached as
high as 13:1 ratio, being the bottom banners were clicked on 13 times
as many as the top banners!
So next time you
plan to place banner advertising, remember, the top seat is not the most
effective for you and your business!
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