Banner Blindness is the tendency of web visitors to ignore the banner ads on websites consciously or unconsciously. This was first highlighted in 1988 via study “Banner Blindness: Web Searchers often miss obvious links” which was conducted by Jan Benway & David Lane.
Factors causing Banner Blindness:
- The most obvious factor is the excessive amount of advertisements on websites which irritates and frustrates the users. More the ads lesser is the viewership.
- Irrelevant content: If the content on the ad has no relevancy with the web content then the ad is most likely to be ignored.
- User Behavior also plays a vital role. People often visit websites looking for some specific details and are not keen to look at any promotional ads or offers.
How can we combat this?
- Relevancy of Content: It is of utmost importance to understand the interest of your target audience. Ads must have content which is related to the content on the website. Native advertising results in increasing the CTR. We must make use of keywords matching the interest of audience.
- Ad Placement: Placing of the banner in usual conventional position is unlikely to bring in more viewership. One must think out of the box and should focus on placing the ad at unconventional places. User read from top left to right so try putting a banner at the top to seek maximum attention from visitor. You can also show the ad within the text.
- Design of Banner: Visitors wants to see something new and exciting. Choose non-traditional colors and formats while designing banner so as to catch more eye balls.
- Use Social Media: Social Media is the most powerful tool when you are aiming to reach out to large group of audience or for creating brand awareness. Use Facebook campaign for greater reachability. These campaigns can also be personalized if targeting specific group of audience.