How to add a banner to your WordPress site

July 23. 2021

When designing a website people often wonder whether or not they should add a banner. Seeing properly designed websites with an adequate banner is reason enough to convince you to add one. But is your website actually suitable for a banner, and should you go through the trouble of adding it? Speaking of which, how are you supposed to add a banner to your WordPress site? Worry not. In this article, we will answer all of these questions.

Add a banner to your WordPress site

The process of adding a banner to a WordPress website is fairly straightforward. You only need to follow a couple of steps, and you can enjoy having the banner of your choosing.

While there are different plugins that you can use for adding a banner, we suggest that you start with the Simple Banner plugin. It is intuitive, easy to use and get the job done without too much trouble. The installation process is pretty self-explanatory, which is why we won’t go into details.

Once you’ve installed and activated the Simple Banner plugin, you should be able to open it through your dashboard. Even though it is called simple, this plugin has numerous options for you to choose from. So, don’t shy away from trying different things before you settle on a banner that serves you best.

Why adding a banner can be a good idea

Before you add a banner to your WordPress site it is worth mentioning that not all websites benefit from having a banner. For some, banners pose more of a nuisance as they draw attention away from the content. Good banners serve to either promote something related to the website. Or to give valuable information to the viewer. If they do neither, they are probably redundant, and you should avoid having them.

Which websites benefit from having a banner

Banners find the best use in e-commerce websites. Here you can use banners for promotional offers, as well as customer-oriented marketing. A seasonal offer is best shown through a banner, as they are both of interest and easy to notice. A well-made banner with a good offer can do wonders for your conversion rates, as your customers will naturally engage with it.

When it comes to customer-oriented marketing, you need to be careful when banner use. It might seem that you should try to predict what your customer wants and then show a banner with the desired product. But, this is actually a bad idea. In this case, the customer is likely to experience your banner as pushy, and might even abandon doing business with you.

Instead, your banner should show something related to your customer’s main need. Ideally, you should offer a product that naturally goes with the one they are currently viewing. That way, your banner is not only informative, but it also avoids being too pushy. If you time it properly, it will feel natural and well-intended which is always a plus.

What kind of image to use for your banner

The main point of having a banner is to draw attention away from your content for a short span of time. As such, you really ought to consider using images that help emphasize the message you want to convey. But, unfortunately, finding a good image for your banner is usually easier said than done.

The problem here is twofold. On the one hand, unlike the background image on your website, you want your banner image to stand out so that it will draw attention. But, on the other hand, you want it to be in line with your website so that it doesn’t stylistically clash. If it does, your entire website might look ugly, which is something that you definitely want to avoid.

The main idea here is to consider your branding and the core idea behind your website. By doing so, you can find the image that goes with the message of the banner, while being in line with your website. If you check out websites that clearly invest in their banners, you can clearly see that their branding is present, while not being overwhelming.

Animated banner – yes or no?

On paper, animated banners do seem like a good idea. If you have a static website, a bit of motion will naturally draw attention. And, if you carefully animate your banners, you can convey their message with surprising ease and clarity. But, there are certain downsides to consider before you go all-in with animated banners.

The first is that animated banners can be taxing. Every animation slows down the loading time of your website, especially if it is high quality. If you expect that your viewers will have a good internet connection, this might not be a problem. But, if you are trying to reach a wide audience, you should keep performance in mind. Modern viewers have grown to expect near-instant loading times. So, if your website is not optimized enough to sustain animated banners, we would advise against them.

Final thoughts about banner use on websites

As you can see, you can add a banner to your WordPress site with relative ease. The main question to ask yourself is whether or not doing so is a good idea. If you do so properly, banners can do wonders for your conversion rates as well as improve the overall user experience. But, you will have a hard time designing the right banner and finding the right time to show it. What we advise here is that you take your time and do some testing. Theorizing about banners is one thing, but doing some field tests is completely another. And seeing that changing banners is arguably easier the adding them, we suggest that you don’t shy away from experimentation.