newsroomnext

Summary:

1. Most ads on Web sites are built in the same way as ads for non-Web publications.
2. They fail because they do not offer consumers useful information with which to make good buying decisions.
3. To improve, ads must clearly and objectively evaluate goods and services.
4. Look to the ever-expanding blogging community to produce useful ads in the form of temporary blogs focused on specific products and services. These bloggers will be paid to write objective evaluations of goods and services, not promotions. What if they produce a negative review? The company can respond in the comments.
5. Integrate links (with clear, informative headlines) to these blogs’ content with your news product. Sell the space displaying the headlines.

This course of action developed, in part, after reading these conclusions from usability expert Jakob Nielsen:

1. A Web site user is not on the Web to “get an experience” but to get something done.
2. The user is usually on the Web for a purpose and is not likely to be distracted from the goal by an advertisement.
3. The Web is not simply a “customer-oriented” medium; it’s a customer-dominated medium.
4. It is amazing how little most Web ads work at attracting clicks; they should recognize that they are one end of a hypertext link and that they have to create expectations as to the value of going to the other end of the link.
5. Users detested marketese, the promotional writing style with boastful subjective claims (”hottest ever”) that currently is prevalent on the Web. Web users are busy. They want to get the straight facts.
6. Users rarely look at display advertisements on websites.
7. Help customers buy; don’t try a hard sell.