Banners can be easily forgotten about, but including them in your advertising campaign can have great results! While they may not get clicked on as much as they used to, with traffic exchanges they are very visible in the surfbar. So even if it isn't clicked, the members viewing your banner are beginning to recognize your offer.

Here are a few tips for branding with banners:

• Use the same photo of yourself in banners and on the splash pages you are showing. Photos are a great way to brand as it brings personality into a dull computer world.
• Use the same slogans or headlines in your banners, especially if you can't put in your photo. The key here is to make the visitor be familiar with your offer when they view your splash page.
• Keep the banner simple. If you are going for branding, then you don't want tons of words or flashy images to get in the way. Everything you add to it should bring attention to you or your slogan, not disguise it.

It's difficult to track results when you are branding, so don't be discouraged if your CTR is low. That's ok, you aren't making these banners to get clicks, you are doing it for recognition. Any clicks you do get are a bonus!