How to Design a Great Ad

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Aren’t you bored with all the similar, ho-hum ads that you see on blogs? Do you plan to advertise you site through the purchase of some ad space on a blog? A boring, run of the mill ad just ends up being a bad investment, and considering that blog readers are increasingly ad blind, it’s important to put a good deal of thought into the design of your ad so that you maximize the money you’re spending to buy ad space. Here are some general principles to consider as you design your next ad:

1. Don’t just put the name of your site with maybe a nice little picture. Instead, give the reader a reason to click or a “call to action”. What valuable, not-to-be-missed product or service are they going to learn about on the other side of the ad? Just the name of your site is probably not compelling enough.

2. Don’t use the same colors everyone else is using, or even the same shape. Instead, check out the site(s) you’re considering placing ads on. What colors do the other ads use? Choose a main color that will pop out from the group of ads. Are all the other ads squares? Try rounding the corners, or even going with a more unusual shape.

3. Don’t overload the ad with text. Instead, keep it simple. Clear, concise messages are the best. You do not have much time to grab a reader’s attention as they glance over the ads on a page. Lots of text generally becomes too small to read at a glance, especially on a 125px ad.

4. Don’t bore the reader. Instead, make them curious, surprise them, amuse them, and do anything you can not to be just another average ad. The ad that Text Link Ads has been using that says “Easier than getting Arrington to link to your site” increased their click-thru rate by 1000%, despite the less than attractive picture they used.

5. Don’t put to many steps in the animation or make your ads too “blinky”. Instead, again, keep it simple. You have a reader’s eyes for a fraction of a second, so remember that if you must have animation in your ad. Two steps would be the max I would recommend. If you follow #4 and make them curious with a question, answer it in the next frame. I don’t even allow animated ads on my site, because blinking ads are hard to look at and are distracting as someone is trying to read my content. If a reader is annoyed by your blinking ad, there is little chance they are going to click on it.

What do you think?  Are you ad blind?  What kinds of ads actually get your attention?

Ready to Hire a Blog Designer? Read This First.

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The more popular blogging becomes, the more designers who specialize in blog design are in high demand. The best designers are scheduling work a month or two out, and have their choice of which clients they’d like to work with, and which they’d rather take a pass on. Particularly in the case of WordPress, there is more work these days than there are designers to do it.

When you decide you’d like to invest in a professional design, you’ll want to work with best designer you can for the money you have budgeted. Once you have arranged to work with someone, there are some things to remember if you want to maintain a great relationship, and to ensure that the designer will be willing to work with you again when you have future needs. To accomplish that, I have some tips, from a designer’s perspective on how to be a client that anyone would enjoy working with.

How to get the designer you want:

1. Be clear, concise, professional and friendly in your initial contact.

2. Explain your project in enough detail to pique the designer’s interest.

3. Give them adequate time to respond (at least 5 days). You can then follow up with an e-mail that quotes your original and reiterates your desire to work with them.

4. Understand if they aren’t able to begin your project right away. Someone in high demand obviously has other clients already in queue.

How to be a great client to work with:

1. Clearly define for the designer what you’re trying to accomplish with your site, what impression you’d like to give your visitors and what “brand image” you’d like to project.

2. Use lots of descriptive adjectives to help the designer understand what styles appeal to you. You can even provide some examples of sites that appeal to you to give further guidance.

3. Don’t say “I’m not sure what I want, so I leave the design completely up to your expertise” unless you really will be happy with whatever they create for you.

4. Don’t be afraid to provide constructive feedback about the design concept(s) presented to you. Designers know they’re not always going to hit on the perfect look for everyone on the first try, and expect feedback to help them ensure you’re perfectly satisfied with the outcome.

5. Expect to pay at least part of the design fee up front.

How to be a client they’ll want to work with again:

1. Be responsive and respectful of their time. A good designer will return the favor.

2. Recommend them to others. Write a post on your blog about your new design and link to the designer’s site.

3. Pay promptly.

Many of these tips seem like just common courtesy, don’t they? It’s surprising how common courtesy isn’t so common anymore. Being easy to work with is really not all that difficult, and you will definitely reap the benefits.

What sets you apart?

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What sets you apart from other bloggers? There are millions of bloggers out there, and there are tons of great ones no one has ever heard of. What is the thing that will cause you to be more successful than another blogger who is an equally good writer and has equally interesting content? It’s something you must think about if you’re at all ambitious for your blog to do more than muddle through in obscurity, never receiving the attention it deserves. Chris Garrett recently discussed this question, and suggests that aside from creating unique, innovative content, a writer with “charisma” will automatically stand out from the rest. I agree with Chris, and would like to suggest a few more things that will help your blog to get noticed.

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New Year’s Blog Resolutions

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Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I usually don’t because I find them so difficult to keep. But, as I we get close to 2008, I’ve been thinking about them as they relate to blogging. Here are some blog resolutions that should be easy to keep and that will go a long way towards ensuring a successful year:

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