How To Make Web Banners
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Estimated Cost: FREE
Estimated Time: 1 hour preparation with immediate results.
Indie Guide Categories: Art & Graphics, Web Design & Management
What Do You Need to Do This
- graphics
- a designer if needed
Edit What's Needed View History
Directions
1. Prepare optimized graphics for your banners.
Optimized images means that the graphics are sized as small as possible while still looking good. Many sites will have a size limit for banners they will post and will appreciate you keeping your banner as small as possible. Try for 20K or smaller.
2. Use the same colors and fonts from your brand toolbox.
Stick to what is familiar, always consider your brand while making banners.
3. Save your banner in a web friendly format.
We recommend saving your files in GIF, JPG, or PNG format. Stay away from any other obscure formats.
4. Create banners in multiple popular sizes to give others options.
For other sites besides yours, you'll want to have a stable of banners ready, just in case. The IAB has a page of universal ad sizes, which includes 300 x 250 IMU - (Medium Rectangle), 180 x 150 IMU - (Rectangle), 728 x 90 IMU - (Leaderboard), and 160 x 600 IMU - (Wide Skyscraper). We also recommend tossing in 88 x 31 IMU - (Micro Bar) and 468 x 60 IMU - (Full Banner) for some additional flexibility. Click here to see the IAB page of universal ad sizes.
5. Be prepared for unusual size requests.
Some sites will request off sizes: be ready to accommodate them by keeping a "Master" banner file that you can resize and re-purpose at a moment's notice with Photoshop or GIMP.
6. Avoid Flash and use animation sparingly.
Some webmasters do not like Flash or don't support it, so even though it looks good it should be avoided for banners. Many people think that excessive animation draws more attention to their banners, but in most cases it is negative attention. Keep your banners clean and simple.
Next Steps
There is nothing to do after completing this.
References
There are no references for this.