Online Business

What Makes a Good Slide Banner?

Nike Slide Banner Screenshot

Screenshot of Nike’s Slide Banner.

One of the best ways to attract customers to your products or services is with proper banner design and placement. Banner advertisements are one of the most relevant ways to market on the Internet. To get business online, you need to make potential customers react in some way.

Why a Slide Banner?

To get more clicks, do not create a static banner. Studies show that banners that slide, or move in some form of animation attract much more attention than a static one. Create an engaging banner ad that grabs your potential customers and forces them to click on one the images of your products or services.

1. Images

The images that you include in your slide banner should be of a high quality and resolution. No one is going to click on the images of the products or services you are trying to market if they are pixelated and distorted. Ultimately, you want to put your best foot forward and really show off what you are selling. Nike’s webpage slide banner features a nice use of color and high quality images that draw attention. Within the slide banner, each of the images are very visually appealing and load quickly.

2. Content

Another important element that is necessary in creating a successful slide banner is the content that goes with your images. Even though banners are not necessary text ads, you still need to have good copy. It is very important that you make sure your content is grammatically sound and error free. The copy that you include, if done right, will improve your company’s credibility. Finally, your content needs to relate to your intended target audience. Make sure you eliminate the fluff and get to the point, because most people visiting your site will already know a little about your company.

 3. Headline

Just like the images that you include, the headlines within your slide banners need to be sound. If done effectively, your headlines will also attract customers and grab attention. These headlines are the first piece of copy that your customers will see, so make sure it is free of errors and grammatically sound. Understand that your headline makes up a large amount of your success.

To create a successful headline, it needs to answer the questions a viewer might have. Take into consideration: Who? What? When? Where? How? These questions are important and questions that people will want answered.

4. Call to Action

Within your slide banner, you want create a call to action for your potential customers or clients. To do this, make it very clear in how to proceed from the banner to a checkout area of your website. Most retail sites use a button for a user to click. In this case, Adidas does a great job of placing a button that is clearly visible. Their button is very easy to see, and entices you to click on it. Finally, on the button, include text to make it into an action, like the word “Now.”

5. Font

Make sure the font and its style are readable! This is very important if you are going to successfully market and promote your products and services to potential customers and clients. If they can’t read what you are trying to say, why would they give you their business? Thus, make sure you choose legible and readable fonts and avoid overly fancy or complex fonts when making your design decisions. Finally, make sure a nice contrast is made between your font decisions and color choices.

An Analysis of These Elements at Work

Here is an example of a complete slide banner that includes all of the elements discussed earlier well. This site effectively uses a slide banner that promotes and markets their dental services successfully. First, the images that they use are of high quality and a high resolution. The images that they chose helps market their dental services, because everyone is smiling and showing off their white teeth!

Next, comes the headlines and content of each the images. The headlines are effective because, like the images, they also grab attention. The headline, “Achieve the perfect smile!” does a great job of leading to the copy, which is well written and free of grammatical errors. Their slide banner also includes fonts that are readable and legible, and also visually appealing. Finally, the slide banner includes a call to action for potential customers, where they can easily click a button and be directed to page to schedule an appointment.

The next time you are thinking about creating a slide banner for your website, remember to consult this guide to make a great one. By including the elements above, you create a successful and effective slide banner that will better promote and market your company’s products or services.

Would you like to receive similar articles by email?

Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *