Display advertising reaches people while they are actively browsing the web, which gives it a timing advantage that traditional formats like print or billboards simply cannot match. Someone who sees a compelling ad while reading an article online is in a far better position to act on it than someone who passes a sign on the highway. At FirstPage Marketing, we run display advertising campaigns for businesses across a range of industries, and the difference between campaigns that convert and ones that generate impressions without results almost always comes down to the same set of display advertising best practices.
Why Display Advertising Delivers Results
Compared to many traditional advertising formats, display ads are cost-effective and highly trackable. Performance can be measured in real time, budgets can be adjusted based on what the data shows, and ads can be modified quickly when something is not working. For businesses that want to reach a specific audience across a large network of websites and apps, display advertising offers a level of precision and accountability that broadcast channels rarely provide.
A well-designed, well-targeted display ad drives action: a click, a visit, a conversion. Keeping that outcome in view from the start is what separates display campaigns that contribute to business growth from those that simply consume budget.
Understand Your Audience First
Before designing a single ad, get clear on who you are trying to reach. What are their interests? What problems are they trying to solve? What would motivate them to investigate further?
Answers to these questions should come from actual data. Analytics tools can segment your existing audience and reveal behavioural patterns that inform both targeting and creative decisions. The more specifically you understand your audience, the more relevant and effective your ads will be. Generic messaging directed at broad audiences tends to produce generic results.
Design for Impact
Visuals, Colour, and Clarity
High-quality images and a cohesive colour scheme that aligns with your brand identity are the foundation of effective display ad design. The ad needs to be immediately readable and visually appealing, even at a glance. A clear call-to-action tells viewers exactly what to do next, and typography that supports the visual keeps the message clean and scannable.
Space is a design element too. An uncluttered layout guides the eye naturally toward the most important elements, while a crowded ad overwhelms the viewer before they have processed anything.
Balance Attention-Grabbing with Restraint
A common mistake is confusing intrusive with effective. An ad that fills the screen, autoplays audio, or is difficult to close grabs attention, but not in a way that creates positive associations with the brand. The goal is to be memorable without being annoying. An attractive video, a well-designed image carousel, a thought-provoking question, or a genuinely interesting one-liner can stay with a viewer long after they have moved on, and that kind of lingering impression is far more likely to produce a conversion than disruption.
Display Ad Formats and Dimensions
Selecting the right format for your campaign goals is as important as the creative work itself.
- Banner ads are the most commonly used format and appear across a wide range of websites. Standard dimensions include 728×90 pixels (leaderboard), 300×250 pixels (medium rectangle), and 160×600 pixels (wide skyscraper).
- Leaderboard ads run across the top of web pages, positioning them where viewers’ eyes arrive first.
- Skyscraper ads occupy page sidebars. They work well for delivering a more detailed message without interrupting the reading experience.
- Rich media and interactive ads incorporate video, audio, or dynamic elements to engage viewers more deeply. Dimensions vary depending on the content and platform.
- Native ads blend with the surrounding page content, mimicking its look and feel rather than standing apart as obvious advertising. Dimensions are not fixed and should complement the layout of the hosting page.
What to Avoid in Display Ads
Knowing what not to include is as important as knowing what to include. The following issues consistently undermine display ad performance:
- Misleading content erodes trust and can create legal exposure. Ads should accurately reflect the product or service being offered without exaggerated claims.
- Excessive animation is distracting rather than engaging. Keep movement subtle and purposeful, and make sure it does not distract from the core message.
- Too much text clutters the ad and reduces readability. Text coverage should stay well under a fifth of the ad’s total area.
- Autoplaying audio is almost universally unwelcome. If sound is part of the creative, trigger it on user interaction rather than on page load.
- Excessive capitalization makes ads look aggressive and cheapens the impression. Use caps sparingly.
- Pop-up-style formats that are difficult to dismiss frustrate users and produce high bounce rates.
- Non-compliance with platform guidelines can result in ads being rejected or pulled down after launch, wasting both production effort and budget.
Optimize for All Devices
More browsing now happens on mobile devices than on desktop, which makes mobile optimization non-negotiable. An ad designed only for desktop will display poorly on the majority of the audience it is meant to reach. Responsive ads adapt their layout and sizing to the screen they are displayed on, ensuring a consistent experience across devices. Load time matters here as well: ads that are slow to render on mobile connections lose viewers before the creative has even appeared.
Targeting Techniques That Sharpen Results
Advanced targeting is what separates broad exposure from efficient spend. Two approaches worth understanding are:
- Contextual targeting places ads on pages whose content is relevant to the product or service being advertised. A user reading an article about home renovation is a far more receptive audience for a hardware store ad than a general web user browsing on an unrelated topic.
- Behavioural targeting serves ads based on a user’s past browsing behaviour. Someone who has previously visited pages related to your product category is much more likely to respond to your ad than someone with no demonstrated interest.
Combining these approaches with demographic and geographic parameters produces a targeting profile that directs budget toward the audience most likely to act.
Learn how to create a successful retargeting ad.
Google Smart Display Campaigns
The Google Display Network reaches across millions of websites, apps, and platforms, giving advertisers access to audiences at virtually every stage of the buying cycle. Smart Display Campaigns automate the most complex elements of running display ads across that network, making them a practical option for businesses that want strong reach without dedicating significant time to manual management.
What Smart Campaigns Handle Automatically
Smart Display Campaigns manage targeting, bidding, and ad assembly automatically. You supply the building blocks: headlines, descriptions, images, and logos. Google’s system then tests combinations of those assets across the network, identifies which pairings perform best, and prioritizes them accordingly. Bids are adjusted in real time to maximize conversions within the budget and target cost per action (CPA) you set.
What You Still Control
Automation does not mean handing over all control. Campaign budget can be scaled up or down based on performance and business needs. If the system’s initial CPA target is not meeting expectations, it can be adjusted downward. Ad assets should be reviewed regularly to identify underperforming headlines or images so they can be replaced with stronger alternatives. While you cannot select individual websites for placement, excluding specific sites or apps that are producing poor results redirects that spend toward higher-performing placements.
Monitor, Test, and Adjust Continuously
Display campaigns require active management after launch, not just setup. Review performance metrics regularly: click-through rates and conversion data both reveal whether the campaign is achieving its goals. A/B testing different creative approaches and calls-to-action gives you data on what resonates most with the audience, and the insights from one campaign inform the next.
Conditions change, audiences evolve, and what works well in one period may underperform in another. Building regular performance reviews into the campaign process is what keeps results moving in the right direction rather than drifting without correction.
Running display advertising that genuinely drives results takes expertise in both creative and technical execution. If you would like support setting up, running, or optimizing your display campaigns, our team is ready to help. Give us a call at 604-866-2230 and we can get started on a campaign strategy built around your specific goals.
