Banner ads can be static or dynamic ads that are strategically positioned on a website to capture consumers’ attention. Through banner advertising, brands can promote their brand as well as encourage viewers to visit the brand’s website. Similar to other forms of online advertising, brands leverage banner advertising for a multitude of reasons. Whether a brand’s intention is to build brand awareness, generate more clicks, and/or drive traffic to the brand’s website, banner ads can be effective in fulfilling a brand’s business goals.

Banner ads are an impactful way to increase customer traffic, sell a product, and/or grab a customer’s attention. To determine whether banner advertising is effective, it is important to look at an ad’s CTR, or click-through-rate. The click-through-rate metric is defined as the number of clicks an ad receives divided by the number of times the ad was displayed, or the number of impressions the ad received. Therefore, the higher the CTR of a banner ad, the more effective that ad may be. Brands can look at their past campaign performance or other insights to improve click-through rate.

Different banner ad formats are used depending on the ad placement within a web page. Each banner ad format varies in ad size. Leaderboard ads are among the most common and best performing banner ads, with high impact due to its top-of-the-page placement. They have high ad viewability due to the positioning of the ad on the top of a web page.¹ Leaderboard ads are often seen by page viewers immediately, and if they are engaging enough, can entice users to click on the ad. On the other hand, skyscraper ads have a tall, thin shape that, hence its name. These ads are often found on the side of a web page, stretching from top to bottom. Brands may leverage skyscraper ads with intention to encourage visitors to see the banner ad for greater brand awareness or click on the ad to reach the brands’ own website.