For display ads to be effective, viewers have to see them. Unfortunately, this is not happening for the majority of ads. Research completed by Google shows that nearly 50% of ads are not viewable on the pages that they are placed on. This is a major problem as it means that your audience is not seeing all of or any of your ads. In this article, we discuss how to overcome viewability problems for your display ads and video ads.
Viewability Problems
Viewability is a measure of how people see ads when they are placed on a page. It can be affected by how the ad is placed, what device it is served to, how your audience views the page, and other potential factors. Google’s research shows that ads are being designed, placed, and served in a way that hurts their viewability.
For you, this means that your ads may not be performing as well as they should be. You’ll have to overcome this if you want your ads and your business to be successful. The key is determining why your ads have low viewability.
Tip #1: Place Ads Above the Fold
To improve the viewability of your ads, the first thing you should do is change their placement. Placement plays a big part in whether or not an ad is viewable. The best place to put your ad is above the fold. That means that it should be visible without your audience having to scroll down to find it. This gives it the best chance to be seen since it will be visible right when the page loads.
There is one misconception that is hurting viewability though that you should watch for. Place your ads directly above the fold, not at the top of the page. The same research study found that putting ads at the top of the page made them more likely to be ignored. For your most important ads, try to place them in ad spots that will appear above the fold, but near the bottom of that screen.
Tip #2: Design Vertical Ads When Possible
Research also shows that ads with a vertical format are more successful than ads that are horizontal or square. This may be due to the fact that they take up space like a sidebar and are less likely to be ignored that way. Essentially, they fill screen space without being in the way.
Designing verticle ads may be counter-intuitive for a lot of business owners. People tend to see things horizontally rather than vertically. However, using a digital ad maker may help with the process and increasing sales online by making more effective ads.
Tip #3: Focus on Mobile
Mobile ads have a significantly higher viewability score than just about any other system. One reason for this may be that mobile ads appear in different ways. Many of those ads appear as overlays or full-screen ads before pages load, which almost require users to see them and interact with them even if their action is to close them. If you want to get the most out of your ads, use a business ad maker to design ads that work on both mobile and desktop setups.
Tip #4: Focus on Video Ads
One surprising find from the study was that video ads outperformed other formats. This is likely because they appear in full-screen video displays and become the focal point for what is onscreen, like how they appear on YouTube. Investing in video-based ads for those platforms can significantly increase your overall ad viewability since they will likely be seen longer and more completely.
Tip #5: Focus on Leading Platforms
The final tip for increasing viewability is to focus your efforts on the platforms with the best viewability scores. These platforms are designed in ways that make your ads more viewable. Facebook and YouTube were at the top of the list of high-performing platforms, so they are your best investment for creating viewable ads.
Design for Multiple Platforms
To get the most out of your ads, you’ll need to incorporate all of these tips. Use an ad template maker, like Ad2Cart, to speed up the process of creating high-performing apps for different platforms and uses.
