If you’re a business owner who advertise online you are probably aware of the sea of competition that your messages are floating in. You can learn great lessons from the past.

If your business has been running ads, search through your arsenal and see how many of these common mistakes you can find.

1. Does your ad contain words like “our,” “I” or other personal pronouns? They are poor communicators, try using “you” and “yours.”

2. Is the ad uninteresting to look at overall? It may be balanced too formally. Try using an odd rather than even number of illustrations to help achieve informal balance.

3. Does your company have a logo? Develop one so the name is not just set in the same type as the rest of the ad.

4. Has your layout allowed the reader’s eye to stray from the preferred gaze-motion path? If your invitation to the eye causes readers to leave your ad, you will not get them back.

5. Is your logo in the upper left corner or the lower right corner of the ad? Those are the two best spots for it.

6. Does your headline promise the reader a benefit?

7. Is your copy clear, crisp and concise? Be sure to use the product points that make the benefits you promised believable.

8. Have you used a headline in capital letters? Don’t!

9. Have you told the reader what each item costs? It is very difficult to reach a buying decision until the question “How much is it?” is answered.

10. Does your ad contain any misleading statements? Any attempt to misinform or mislead the reader may NOT lead to a sale. Remember, Honesty is still the best policy.

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