Banner Blindness: Web Searchers Often Miss "Obvious" Links

Suppose you are designing a web page where one particular link among many is likely to be the most used by visitors. For example, perhaps you have a web page for sending text messages to pagers. "Send a message" is likely to be a very popular link, and it is important that all users notice it. On a travel reservations page, "make a reservation" would be also very popular. Web guidelines usually recommend that to make one item on a page stand out, the important item should be near the top, and be large or brightly colored. For example, the Ameritech web design guidelines state: