Web Design For Advertising

June 15, 2005 | 9 Comments

I’ve recently begun work on a project that has a few requirements that deal with placement of advertising. In the main these are your typical, if some what awkwardly proportioned banner-type ads.

I’m finding this to be a bit more of a challenge than I’d expected. In my previous experiences with advertising we’ve just kind of slapped them in after the fact, or somehow crammed them into the design and not really worried about it.

If a design isn’t worked up with ads in mind there is only so much you can do. So this is the first time I’ve begun work on a project where I have the opportunity (if you can call it that) to design for ads from the beginning.

Ads as information

In Ogilvy on Advertising, David Olgivy said, “I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.”

Agree or disagree, it matters little, ads are here to stay and chances are if you work on many projects you’ll be designing either around them or for them. For my part I’d rather know up front and design for them.

Some strategies

First of all, knowing you’ll have ads is half the battle. If you’re doing client work, make sure you scope this out from the beginning. I’ve had a client spring ads on me mid-stream and I blamed myself for not accurately scoping the project.
Next up, read Planning for Ad Placement at Boxes & Arrows. It was written for Information Architects, but there is quite a bit in there that a Web designer can use.
Keep in mind the business goals of the ads. This will help in selecting placement and should help you strike that balance between the ads and the “real” content. It’s tricky, but there is a reason you’ve got to work with ads, make sure you don’t write that off.
Think of ads as ancillary content. Helps ward of the feeling of selling out. ;)
If you can, find out what types of ads, and as many specifics as possible, you’ll be dealing with.
Use real ads in your mockups. This really helped me get a better feel for how the ads will fit in. If you don’t have the actual ads you’ll be using, just grab some that fit, to the best of your knowledge, the project.
Go beyond 800×600. You’ll have problems fitting many popular ad sizes in comfortably. A common strategy, that worked well for me, is to expand the design (mainly for ad display, so it’s not a huge issue) a bit to accommodate the ads.
Argue against pop-ups and distracting Flash. If it’s your own site, don’t go there.

Ads in the future

I expect ads, and ad strategies, to become more sophisticated and targeted as time moves on. I hear a lot of talk about advertising in the mobile space and as traditional browser based Web design and mobile design converge you can bet advertising will be pretty heavy in the mix, and something many designers will have to be ready for.

Filed under: Web Design
Keyword Tags: web+design advertising

Comments

1. Oliver said:

I actually think ads will become more content based. There are many sites out there without ads. Why would a user want to view a site with ads rather than one without? Just like television, the ads have been embedded into the content of the material, which may become really annoying sometimes. While apparent ads are still very popular, the trend in its popular use is definitely dying.

Posted on June 15, 2005 11:01 AM | #

2. Hans said:

I agree with Oliver: Ads will *have* to become more content-oriented. Evolve or perish: users are savvy and the web is big. Traditionally to get user attention advertisers could just rachet the obnoxiousness and in-your-face style up a notch, but these days it’s easier than ever for users to shut you out. Unless you are offering something genuinely interesting to the user you are not going to get through to them. This is why Google ads (can sometimes) work while pop-under blinking Flash ads for Viagra are a losing proposition.

Posted on June 15, 2005 11:54 AM | #

3. Anon this time said:

The trouble with designing for ads is that the market is constantly undulating, making it difficult to know what type and size of creative are going to be in demand on the site.

Obviously 468x60 is always going to one of the standards for many situations, but you can bet your ass that a month after launch, some agency comes in offering 100k a month for a new large space on the home page.

That’s when the real fun starts.

Posted on June 15, 2005 03:01 PM | #

4. Angel said:

Tis is so ffreaken awsem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on June 15, 2005 03:56 PM | #

5. Angel said:

If you like me wright your email address and leave it on this comments card put for Angel!!!!!!!!!!

love Angel

Posted on June 15, 2005 03:59 PM | #

6. B. Adam said:

Wow. Keith, is Angel your first groupie?

Angel, honey, I like you a lot and my email address is 555-5555. Send me an email anytime.

I think it goes without saying ( well, almost ;) that you need to design a site that has banner ads with actual banner ads. It’s also a good idea, like “Anon this time” said, to do your best to make sure the design can accomodate a larger ad size in certain areas if need be. I’d almost guarantee you you’ll need it later on, when the sales rep can no longer afford to turn down that bigger, better paying ad size.

And then, when you get home from your dayjob, make sure to never use ads on your own sites because you’re smarter than that and can think of better, more useful ways to make money. Hehe, sorry Keith, I just couldn’t resist …

Posted on June 15, 2005 05:10 PM | #

7. Geoffrey said:

I just recently put together a site design aimed at 1024(950) resolution with all the real estate beyond 760 set aside for advertising. It’s the first time I’ve ever given advertising that much attention in a project and I think it’s made the whole design much better for it. Usually ads get tossed in at the last minute and for that reason they always seem out of place. Granted the far right is probably not the best place to get click-throughs, but ad revenue isn’t the major focus of this project.

Posted on June 15, 2005 05:25 PM | #

8. Keith said:

B Adam – Angel’s mine brother! ;)

Geoffrey – I’d love to see it. I’ll show you mine. ;)

Posted on June 15, 2005 09:21 PM | #

9. Kevin Tamura said:

I would also say look at the Internet Advertising Bureau standards and guidlines as well. They have the latest on the agreed upon ad sizes that all the leading sites use (MSN, Yahoo, AOL, …). As for someone who is in the middle of doing a huge ad campaign , it’s nice to have sizes nailed down and is much better then the arbitrary sizes used several years ago. Now if only they could agree upon whether they need borders and how to track click through with flash banners.

Posted on June 15, 2005 09:56 PM | #