Many SEO managers have pumped the internet full of misleading, and often untrue, SEO tricks and information. One reason is to make it sound like they have insider information no one else is privy too. Another is to avoid projects they don't like doing, or do not know how to do like they are smarter than other web gurus.



Unfortunately, this has left many ecommerce and work at home professionals avoiding, or neglecting some effective marketing tools. One of these is the banner ad. Many marketers have stopped using banner ads because they have been told that they do not work.

This myth was born at the peak of the banner ad fad when websites were trying to jam as many ads as possible into a 10 second view. Some of these sites believed that three or four seconds was all the visitor needed to click. Of course, many of the old computers were slow, so most banner ads disappeared before the visitor clicked the ad.

Google also helped give birth to this myth when they introduced their Pay Per Click scheme. It worked on the same concept as the banner ad, but your ad didn't rotate. This appealed to many advertisers who saw a new way to put an ad on a webpage, without the rotation.

The truth is, banner ads do work, and still produce a significant amount of traffic. The best sort of banner is the 'invisible banner' that was popularized by Scott Covert. This banner had a direct response type, benefit laden headline that blends in and looks like a part of the webpage.

This type of ad works for all advertising, including PPC. The banner ad should choose words carefully. Emotional services and impulse buys should use strong words to hook the reader like scorching, starving, sizzling, powerful, etc.. Professional services and products should be straight forward, and succinct.

Do not lie. If the banner states that you have a guaranteed way to win customers for free, don't lead them to a page that sells a package on free marketing.

The message on the banner should do more than offer a benefit. To really work, it should solve a problem. The trick is to lead the visitor to a page with the same banner, and that works to continue solving the problem. Never, lead a visitor to a buy now page.

One of the biggest mistakes is leading visitors to buy now pages instead of landing pages. The second biggest mistake is focusing on how great the product is, or how wonderful the provider is. Instead, everything should focus on the visitor, their needs, and their wants. The landing page should lead the visitor to other pages that continue to solve their problem. This is where forums and blogs come in handy. Last, once the website has hooked the visitor, then it is time to show them where the buy-now page is, but don't trick them to click to the buy-now page. Instead, tell them clearly where to find the product.

One way to attract people is to offer something for free, but not an ebook. Instead of an ebook, offer an ecourse, or an audio course, or a teleconference.

It is also important to tell people to click the banner ad. Surprising as it may seem, but only a few million people are comfortable with computers. Millions of people, even in America, are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with computers. If you don't tell them to click, they may not know they 'have' to click.

It is also smart to test banners. Each product has a 'target audience' who are most likely to buy the product. Finding this target audience improves the buy-rate on the website. However, not all banners will perform the same. One style of banner may attract 1000 click through visits a day, but only 1 sale. Another may attract 500 clicks, and 4 sales.