Banner advertising is
one of the most widely used marketing medium on the Internet.
Though banner click-throughs have decreased to less than 1.0%
in the past year, it is still possible to achieve reasonably
good click-through of 3.0% and above.
Below are 10 effective steps that I have successfully used
to help my clients boost click-throughs on their banner campaigns.

1. Employ Action Words
Use action words like "FREE" and "Click Here"
in your banners.
Offering something "FREE" in your message attracts
the reader to click on your banner. Banners with "Click
Here" teasers and similar action phrases also increase
click-through.

2. Use Short and Punchy Headlines
A short and punchy banner headline makes a difference. Always
load your headline with benefit statements - offer solutions
to the challenges that your customers face. If you sell diet
products, try "Lose 10 pounds in four weeks!". Work
on a winning combination of text and graphics in your banner
ad.

3. Animated Banners vs. Static Banners
Animated banners usually outperform their static counterparts
by more than 100%. Surfers are more likely to notice banners
that are animated. Example: If you have the words "Click
Here" flashing in your banner, it will perform better
than a static version.

4. Adopt Better Designs
Many of us are not graphic artists. We can create simple
banners but it is hard to match the work of a professional
graphic artist. You should engage a professional banner ad
designer to create your banners. Expect to invest $80 per
banner.
The standard sizes for banner ads are 400x40 pixels or 468x60
pixels. I recommend that you design a 468x60 banner. With
the clutter of graphics on most webpages, a larger banner
has a higher chance of getting noticed.

5. Try Trick Banners
These banners resemble Windows dialog boxes, scroll bars,
submit buttons or blue-colored underlined hyperlinks. They
attract you to click on the dialog boxes and scroll bars -
which you are already accustomed to doing with the Windows
operating system. If you use trick banners with short and
punchy headlines, you can get click-throughs above 10.0%!

6. Reduce Your Banner File Sizes
Reduce your banner file size to less than 15k. The last thing
a surfer wants is a slow-loading webpage. Most websites and
banner exchanges do not allow excessively large banners.
Create a fast-loading banner right from the start. Optimize
your banner file size through your graphic software or an
online graphic optimizer.

7. Rotate Your Banners Regularly
Always have 2 or more banners to promote each product. A
banner usually burns out after a surfer has seen it 3 times.
They will ignore (if not hate) banners which they see repeatedly.
If your click-through is steadily declining, then it is time
to rotate your banners.

8. Target Your Banners
Place your banners on websites visited by your potential
customers. If you promote gourmet coffees, place your banners
on sites targeted at gourmet coffee drinkers. The quality
of leads generated are higher, and more likely to result in
sales.
Running your banners on targeted sites generally yield higher
click-throughs and return-on-investment (ROI). You are reaching
people who are most interested in what you have to offer.
Of course, you can try websites with general audience if they
generate substantial ROI.

9. Monitor Your Banners' Performance
Make it a point to check on your banners' performance every
few days. Monitor the click-through rate. The click-through
tells you how well your banner performs. Most banners fetch
a click-through of between 0.8% to 2.0%. If your banner gets
more than 2.0%, it is doing a pretty good job.
By monitoring your banners' performance, you can kill under-performing
banners before they waste away your advertising dollars.

10. Do Your Mathematics
Do your mathematics for each banner advertising campaign.
Calculate the cost-per-visitor, cost-per-sale and return-on-investment
ratios.
For example: If a website charges you $20 per thousand impressions
($20/CPM), and you get a 2.0% click-through (20 visitors),
your cost-per-visitor is $1.00 ($20 / 20 visitors).
And if 1 in every 10 visitors buys your product, your cost-per-sale
is $10.00 ($20 / 2 sales).
So if each sale of your product produces a gross profit of
$15, then your net profit per-sale will be $5.00 ($15 gross
profit - $10 cost-per-sale).
Your return-on-investment (ROI), before non-marketing expenses,
is 50.0% ($10.00 total net profits / $20 investment). This
campaign is profitable!
Try advertising on different sites or using different banners.
Find the winning combination(s) that can yield the highest
ROI. Comparing Deal A which yields an ROI of 20% to Deal B
that yields 60%, your advertising dollars work three times
harder (and profitable) with Deal B!

Sumber : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[/size]