Thanks to everyone for your input.
A few points/clarifications:
- We are not considering removing the page titles, just determining
whether it should be placed/weighted in such a manner that it is very
much obvious
- Our 'banners' are not ads, really. They are large graphics that
promote
Title! Title! Just as you said, title is what users are looking for to
ensure them they're in the right place. If users don't immediately see
the expected title when they click from some similarly labeled call to
action, uncertainty sets in. Did I click the right link? Am I in the
right place?
I think you can, and should, have both. The page title can be obvious and
clear to the user, while there can also be a clear call to action (your
marketing splash). Your title is not only the description of the page's
content, it's part of the navigational scent of the site, and as such is
can't
Have both but in a way where the user clearly sees the title and the
banner message. How about something like this:
title - top left
menu - top right
banner - right underneath title and menu
And have the banner be something the user can interact with, e.g. if
they click on a part of the banner, it
