As I read domaining blogs and visit a variety of websites on more of a regular basis, I am used to seeing ads all over the place. That’s how many websites make their money. But as I take a look at almost every single ad, many are missing the essential basics of advertising.

There’s 5 essential basics that every advertisement should have.

The Header – Should be written in a serif font and attract the reader’s attention.

The Image – Something that goes along with your ad and would attract the reader’s attention.

The Copy – Where your selling message goes. What do you want the reader to do? This should be written in a sans-serif font.

The Slogan – Include your logo for branding and identity purposes.

The Signature – State where you are located (address, domain, etc.)

Most banners and advertisements are missing at least 2 of these 5 essential steps to making an advertisement. While I understand a 125×125 banner probably can’t fit in each of those 5 steps, a 120×600 banner or 160×600 banner should be able to.

Even forgetting the serif font and sans-serif font part can detract attention from your advertisement as the whole idea of the serif title is to attract attention and the idea of the sans-serif copy is to make it easy for the reader to read.

Big companies are forgetting these 5 steps, the very basics of marketing and advertising. In my opinion – it’s nonsense! I’d like to hear your opinion though, so make sure to comment below.