A banner is an advertising advertisement.
Banner is a term that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). It is a concept in the English language that can be translated as “emblem” , “flag” or “ banner ” .
In our language, however, it is common to use the notion of banner with reference to an advertising format in an online publication . A banner is a space where, on a website, advertising is inserted. Images or posters with advertisements on the Internet are therefore known as banners.
Banner Examples
Banners can be images (in formats such as PNG , JPEG or GIF ) or animations (created with Adobe Flash , Java , etc.). They usually include a link to the advertiser's website . For example: in a digital sports newspaper, a store that sells NBA jerseys pays for its advertising to appear on the home page. When a reader clicks on the banner, they are immediately taken to the site of this company that sells the t-shirts.
There are also banners that fulfill a function similar to that of an advertisement in a printed medium (such as a newspaper or magazine ) or a billboard with advertising on a highway. These ads are not interactive, but rather allow the name, contact details or a message of a company to be spread to all visitors to a website.
A banner makes a call to action, usually to make a purchase.
The design
When designing a banner, it is necessary to take into account a series of very important recommendations:
- You have to opt for the most common formats on the Internet that the Internet user has “assimilated.”
- The company logo must appear and, of course, it must be a call to action for the recipient regarding the product or service that is being offered.
- It is also important that the banner is delimited and not confused with the rest of the web page. That is, it must have a highlighted and marked perimeter so that there can be no doubt about it.
- It must have a simple, elegant and clean design. This means that it is not “overloaded” or disordered because if so it will not be able to attract the Internet user.
- The texts they include must be clear, direct and concise. This without overlooking the fact that they have to be written taking into account the target audience to which the service or article in question is directed.
- It is also recommended that the banner have an image so that it can more quickly attract the attention of the Internet user.
- You have to choose the colors very well, because each one is associated with certain values and generates sensations and feelings in the recipient.
Printing a banner
Each display of the banner on a website is known as an impression . That is to say: when an individual accesses a site that presents an advertising banner, it is “printed” (virtually).
Then, if the visitor clicks on the banner in question, the English expression “click through” is used to name the action . In many advertising systems, the advertiser pays the site administrator only according to the number of impressions and click-throughs , and not a fixed amount.