This answer varies depending on your business, location, & other factors. These guidelines will increase the effectiveness of YOUR sign:
• The best sign for your business is a sign which will attract the most customers & project the image you desire
• Your sign must be visible & easy to read for people who are driving & walking past your business
• Your sign must be attractive & appropriate for your type of business
• Your sign will remind existing customers of your business and location
• Your sign will provide prospects with a valuable visual indicator about the products or services you offer
• Your sign should be as large as allowable for your location

With a lighted sign, you have an opportunity to communicate with your existing & potential customers, even when your business is closed.
We no longer live in a 9 to 5 society - people will drive past your business 24 hours a day.
Large corporations create "top of the mind awareness" when they consistently present their name, corporate logo,
& products to ensure their name becomes a household word. Plus to ensure their corporate logos or graphics
become synonymous with the corporation's name. With a lighted sign on display 24 hours a day, the small business owner has the
opportunity to create a "top of mind awareness" in their local community.

A successful sign will communicate effectively & concisely. Here are some general guidelines:
• You sign should clearly communicate what you are selling in as few words as possible
• A picture of your product or service adds impact & clarity
• Use an image which will attract customers so they will stop, shop, & buy
• Determine the best sign type, size, colours, & placement, keeping in mind what the sign will look like from the street & sidewalk
• The proper design of your sign is critical to its effectiveness
• Crowding the sign with too many words or lines of text makes it impossible to read from a distance.
Use as few words as possible. No more than 5 to 7 words is good - 3 to 5 words is best
• Don't try to sell your customers with the sign - provide additional information when the enter your place of business
(brochures, show cards, banners, etc)
• Your sign will be viewed by people looking through a windshield in traffic, day & night, & in all types of weather.
A great sign will ensure your customers see & read your it with ease

As a business owner, one of the primary goals of your signage is to create "brand" recognition for your business in the community.
National companies use their signage, architecture, and logos in every type of advertising they do, thereby reinforcing their
corporate image and creating a "top-of-the-mind awareness" with consumers worldwide. To do this, use your company logo or graphic
on all of your signs, stationery, uniforms, company property, vehicles, etc. Repeated viewing of your company's logo, especially
on your sign, will help "brand" your business and location, and create "top-of-the-mind" awareness for your existing and potential customers.

Signage is the least expensive, yet most effective, form of advertising for independent and national retail businesses.
You pay for the sign once and it works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for years. Use of other media requires paying
month after month and you never have the benefit of ownership. You also have no assurance that you're reaching potential customers.
From a business owner's perspective, a sign should not be viewed as an expense, but as a capital investment. When you factor in your
return on investment, signs are not expensive. An effective sign will most likely pay for itself many times over.
The price for signage will vary greatly depending upon the size, design, style, manufacturer, and mounting type.

As with measuring a new sign's effectiveness, evaluating your existing signage will require assessing readership.
Most sign companies often offer this service, however you can also conduct simple "customer surveys" in which you
ask your customers a series of questions about your existing signage, such as the words, colours, and size, & whether
they can even recall what it looks like from memory. Open discussions like this, with your customers, will provide valuable insights.
You may discover that customers remember the graphic or image on the sign, but not the business name, or maybe it's the colour
that stands out in their memory. Listen closely and carefully, because these are answers that can help you determine not only
the effectiveness of your existing sign, but also suggestions about what you might do differently with a new sign.
Tip: Remember to thank your customers for their time and input after the survey with a tangible item that further
reinforces your business' product or service. You might extend a discount for future services, or present them with
a gift related to your business (a mouse pad from a computer store, a coupon for the daily special from your cafe, or similar).
Or if you’re a busy person and don’t have the necessary time in the research and development,
have a marketing professional deal with all the details.