What is banner blindness
The construction of a website responds to layout codes that must allow the Internet user to locate the content that interests them at first glance. But also not to break their navigation habits. Because of these constraints, the locations of the advertising banners appear often in the same places on the web pages. And consciously or not, the Internet users know it. By habit, they will therefore pay less and less attention to these locations and thus reduce the reach of display campaigns. This is banner blindness. Here are some pointers on what banner blindness is and how to manage it in your SEO strategy.
It is almost inevitable
The more content people produce, the harder it becomes to be heard or read. If we had to pay attention to everything around us on the Internet, we would be overwhelmed with information. And would not be able to grasp anything. While user interface elements such as banner ads appear to attract attention, users are becoming increasingly able to sort out what to pay attention to.
Find the right placement
While it may seem that banner blindness cannot disappear due to ever-changing behavior patterns, it can be minimized by understanding how users behave on your pages. Scientists have conducted several studies to understand typical reading patterns and eye movements of web users to identify the right placement for banner ads.
Proximity
Placing content close to or at least in the same region as an advertisement will often lead the Internet user. This, to consider this content as being also an advertisement. And they will not explore further. This is due in particular to the principle of grouping highlighted by Gestalt’s law of proximity. Objects that are close are part of the same group and therefore to fulfill the same function.
Attract more and more attention
Some people think that you have to force your way through with banners that are always more visible by playing on the color, the shape, the animation and offers that are always more attractive. Our advice: prioritize the quality of the content. Quality content allows you to attract Internet users but also to improve your natural referencing.
When learning what banner blindness is, remember: by understanding how humans read web pages, you can better optimize your banner ad campaigns to ensure that they hold people’s attention.