How to Create Best Web Banners.

Useful Tips for Creating Web Banners

1. Find out an eye-catching punch-line for the banner. Spending a lot of time in creating a catchy phrase is not a waste of time, a phrase that will arouse the interest of the visitors and force them to click on the banner. The punch line need not be a big one, a small phrase with a few words and visually appealing with correct usage of colors and fonts will do the trick.

2. A good banner has an excellent copy. So spending ample time to think about what would interest the surfer becomes essential. Make the copy short and simple. The text must be informative and practical and must support the banner punch line. It should make the viewer curious or bringing out a smile. The copy might end with the same catchy phrase as on the website unless the banner punch line is the same.

3. See that the banners contain relevant contents. Ensure that the images displayed in the banners are relevant to the products or the service offered in the web site. A pretty young girl in a glamorous outfit might attract the attention of male viewers, but if the site sells electronic goods, the visitor will definitely leave the sight before making a purchase, thus ending up with high –click thru and very low sales.

4. Including logo and website URL in banners is advisable if the ad campaign is a brand building exercise. For other types of banners, the two might be added, but confirm that they do not dilute the banner punch line or the copy. In these cases the logo and the URL together are better displayed either on the right or left side of the banner with the logo made small and the URL in a very small font size.

5. It has been shown that the best call to action on a web banner is the magic phrase ‘Click here’ the presence of which increases the click-thru rate. This magic phrase should be exhibited for a long time, say 2-3 seconds, that too in the last frame of an animated banner. The phrase ‘click here’ itself could be animated by making it to blink or change color.

6. Keep the size of the banner file to a minimum. As the banner is usually displayed at the top of the web page, it should load before the navigator can get a chance to scroll down grabbing immediately. If the file size is decreased it will lead to tradeoffs in animation and the number of colors used in animated GIF banners. Size of the Banner file depends on various factors such as the length of the animation- in case of Flash, the amount of animation, physical size of the banner etc.

7. Ensure that the banners have a professional look. A professional looking banner has its images very clear, not blurred or pixilated and the line art is very sharp. Also ascertain that the banner displayed has the same height and width values as their original size. For example, if a banner of the size 468x60 pixels is displayed at larger or smaller dimensions (even if the width: height ratio is kept the same), it leads to pixilation.

Second Opinion On Tips For An Effective And Successful Online Web Banners

1. Know your competitors
It is very important to know your competitors. Make a list of all your competitor websites. Save the banners of your competitors. The basic idea is that you need to create a banner which stands absolutely different from others. Also just see whether the content and pictures you are using goes well with the concept of your banner. Do not follow what others have created. Think differently and create something different which would help you later.

2. Number of the banners
The idea of number of banners depends upon the budget of your campaign.

3. Banner guide
The banner service or website which you are planning to use would provide you with the banner guide. The guide would help you to know the various aspects of the banner, for example length, banner size, border attributes, number of the loops, lengths of the animation etc. you can send the banner style to designers in order to get the banners remain to the policy of ad service.

4. Banner type
There cannot be an appropriate answer for what type of banner would be best for the campaign. It depends on the various factors for example, the purpose of your campaign and where (what website) you are going to display the banner.

5. Size of your banner
Choose the standard size of your banner. You can get the sizes in many possible standard sizes.

6. Using static or animated banners
Animated banners are either created as GIF files or flash movies. You would need the animated gif version also, if you are planning to use flash banners.

7. The animation should run for long?
For the animated banners, we must know about the duration of animation run.

8. Colors
If you are not having ample number of banners than the color of your banner should signify a color of your website. It should actually look like a part of your site. So it depends on the color of the website where you are looking to advertise.

9. Design and image preferences
Do not fool your visitors by using images which do not go along with your products and services you provide. Use the images which match with the product. If you see some good banners you can save them and send them to your designer. Obviously you can ask your interactive agency not to copy the design and style. This would help the interactive designer to understand your designing preferences.