what makes a good banner?

[basschick]

i was looking at banners for some programs i consider good programs, and some of the banners looked very nice. actually they looked like pics of guys with the site title on the pics.

here's the thing. over the years, i've tested this over and over, and so have other webmaster. telling people to click leads to a lot more clicks - 50% or more. in my lowest results ever, still 30%. so the ones who notice the banner and don't click? if they like it, they may type in the domain, or the banner may work as branding, which is good for the program but not necessarily the affiliate.

of course, just putting a big animated Click Here won't do it - it takes skillful design. having a hot guy AND a call to action on a banner is a handy thing!

[gaydemon]

I think relevant banners to the theme of the site is a must. If its fetish, then keep the banners a bit darker.. A flashing pink and green banner with flowers on it isnt going to attract a bondage fan.

One major thing seems to be the more corperate and polished the banners are the less clicks they get. So for example Topbucks or Platinum Bucks banners often gets far less clicks due to the glossy and over the top banners they seem to create.

Amateurs banners actually gets more clicks than really professional for some reason.

[barnkin]

For myself over the top flashing banners drive me away.
A hot model is worth more then words.

[Relentless]

Every banner on a surfer site should be custom made for that one surfer site. If they see the same banner in many places they are less likely to click it.

On webmaster sites it seems the opposite is true, I find having the same exact banner on many resource sites is better than different ones on each.