Online advertising is a balancing act. On one hand, you want to capture the attention of your viewers, which is especially difficult given the large number of ads that the average person sees every day. Studies predict that UK online ad spend will overtake television advertising by the end of 2009.

On the other hand, if you are too aggressive, you may aggravate your potential customers, leaving them with a bad feeling toward your company. Here are some tips on what to do and what to avoid when placing online ads.

Online Advertising Do's:

• DO look for advertising on pages related to your business. Readers respond better to ads when they are on-topic.
• DO take pains to stand out from the crowd. Your message has to be quick, catchy, and effective.
• DO look for placement on websites where visitors are highly engaged and active. They are more likely to trust the advertisements when they trust the site where those ads appear than if they've just stopped by for the first time.
• DO create custom ads for high-traffic websites. The more targeted your offer, the more successful it will be.
• DO try to get your advertisements placed "above the fold" so that visitors don't have to scroll down to see them.
• DO test different media, designs, and placements to find the ones with the best return on investment for each site where your advertisements appear.

Online Advertising Don'ts:

• DON'T disrupt your potential customers by covering text or using annoying pop-up ads. Such approaches quickly create a negative opinion of your company.
• DON'T focus solely on websites that have little advertising competition. There's probably a good reason why more people aren't clamouring for that ad space.
• DON'T think that, just because an ad works, it's going to work forever. Test and revise as needed.
• DON'T put a heavy emphasis on sites where people go to get quick information before leaving again.
• DON'T get into a bidding war that causes you to buy advertisements that cost more than they are worth.
• DON'T lead your visitor to a generic page of your site. Create a custom landing page that reflects the look, the feel, and the offers of your advertisements.

More and more people are going online every day. In the UK alone, 32.5 million people use the internet, and spend an average of 16 hours a week viewing websites. That's a huge potential audience for your business, so take the time to create ads that convert, then place them properly to drive traffic to your company. If you would like to discuss how online advertising can help your business, please call 08452 579606.