9 Tips for Placing Yard Signs

Placing yard signs is pretty straight forward. Follow these simple tips and I can almost guarantee your success. The laws about placing yard and political signs may vary by your city, town or state. Be sure to look them up and keep off private property the best you can.

1. Keep Your Signs Low

Yard signs that are placed 12-18 inches above the ground are the most effective. I see signs all the time that are mounted to telephone poles and other high objects, not only is this usually illegal, but by the time the driver sees your 4-8 inch lettering, it's too high to safely read while moving or stopped below the sign.

2. Target Specific Traffic

Point your yard signs in a direction that targets one lane of traffic going one direction. Don't try to position your sign so all four directions of traffic can see your sign. This will make it hard to read for everyone and make your sign ineffective. Don't get greedy; the signs are cheap. Put one on each corner if you have to.

3. Stay 10 Feet Back

Naturally, the closer to the road you can get your sign, the better. Unfortunately most cities and townships have ordinances that require your sign to sit 10 feet from the road or more. If you are worried about getting a dreaded phone call from the local law enforcement agency, keep your signs 10 feet away from the road.

Generally, you cannot safely place your sign between the sidewalk and the road either, no matter what the distance.

4. An Angle on Angles

I see people trying to angle their yard signs 45 degrees or more into traffic to make it easier for the traffic to read. If this was truly an effective way to place signage, traffic signs (i.e. stop signs, speed limit signs etc.) would be angled in this way. The closer your sign is to 90 degrees to the road, the further away a person can start to read it. A three line sign needs to be seen for over 5 seconds for most people to comprehend it. Only angle your sign to target stopped traffic, and even this is rarely a good idea.

If you have a larger sign or a banner that you are placing a ways away from the traffic, consider making the banner parallel to the road to allow passengers or even wondering eyed drivers read your message.

5. Use Existing Structures

Now I'm not advocating you try to keep your signs up for length periods of time, but if a simple rule of placement gets you a couple more days, why not right?

If you place your sign (still using your sign stake as to avoid mounting directly to any city or utility property) against an existing structure, it will do two things for you: help support your sign in the wind, and help the mowers get around your sign. If they have to mow around the object anyway, they might leave your sign alone.

6. Well Maintained Means Well Maintained

Placing a sign near the front of offices that will have an owner or proactive manager open in the morning will only get the attention of that person. Don't place signs in an area you know will be pulled the next morning. It's a waste! Place your signs in lots or in common areas where no one is likely to take the initiative to remove your signs.

7. Target Your Customers!

If you knew your customers were 21-35 year old females (a night club for example), don't place your signs in industrial areas. Although the traffic mix in any given area may be hard to define, know your city. If you are targeting younger people or older females, place your signs near shopping centers. If you are targeting other business owners, place your signs near the back entrances of shopping centers, near office supply stores, or Sam's club and other wholesalers.

One well placed sign will generate more traffic than 10 poorly placed signs.

8. Don't worry about how long they last

Your yard sign advertising should generate results within 3 days of placement. A bright new yard sign on the old dull way to work is most effective. After a few days (if they even last that long through the wind or mowers) they begin to be forgotten or ignored by the regular drivers anyway. I have had signs stay in place for months, they loose 90% of their ad strength in one week or less.

Don't look at a yard sign as a prominent fixture for your message, look at it as a quick, disposable way to get a few thousand impressions in a day.

9. Clean Up After Yourself

Most people don't mind seeing a yard sign or two here and there. What usually irritates people is the litter that sign becomes when it blows over or gets pulled by a careless or lazy mower. Take the time to stop and pick up your signs if you see a fallen soldier. I also do my best to pick up other yards signs (signs that are not mine) in an area that I am stopping to keep things neat and tidy. It helps you out in the short run by eliminating clutter, and it helps our environment in the long.