All About Banners

 Everything you read pertaining to banners seems to concentrate on how to get your banners posted, and the various banner swap programs on the web. What seems to get overlooked and is just as important, especially to beginners, are the banners themselves. That's what this tip will cover.

*DESIGN*

o Designing your own banners has gotten much easier lately. Many retail software stores now offer inexpensive software packages dedicated solely to banner creation!

o If you prefer to get fancy on your own, check out this hot new tool, "Banner Show" by Web Genie. This new program allows you to create your own rotating banner show quickly and easily. http://www.webgenie.com/Software/Banner/

o If you'd like to design a few banners WITHOUT purchasing software, you can visit The Banner Generator by Coder.com. This excellent web resource is simple and fun to use! http://www.coder.com/creations/banner/

*TIPS*

o When designing your banners, try to keep them between 5K to 10K in size. The faster your banner loads, the more likely it is to be seen.

o Use short action phrases on your banners. Although more than a few net vets have been hammering banners that say "Click Here" or "Click on Over", the fact remains that these banners are more effective. Also, use animated banners when you can. They are more effective than static banners.

o Use the ALT attribute in the image tags of your banners. Many people surf the web with images turned off. The ALT attribute will describe the content of your banner and bring some of these people to your site! It's as simple as adding the following into your image tags... alt="Your Description" For an example of what your code will look like, visit http://www.bizweb2000.com/banners.htm and check the tags that go with my banners.

*FREE BANNERS*

o If you have neither the time nor inclination to design your own banners, here are five places to get FREE Banners for your business related web site...

o AAAA Banner Creation Service http://jeffrey.simplenet.com/banner/index.html Absolutely free for commercial and non-commercial sites. Only requirement is a link to their site using the code they provide.

o New Millennium Network http://newmillennium.net/nmn/banner/ Free banner creation service to Members of The Internet Link Exchange and SmartClicks.

o NIS Designs http://www.10mb.com/nis/features.html Offering FREE banners for businesses. Visit them and check out some samples. Nearly 100 various demonstrations.

o Rosemyst's Banner Creation http://www.geocities.com/Paris/9143/banners.html Free banner creation service, mainly for Link Exchange and Georewards members (but other requests are also welcome). Banners will be done in 2-3 days.

o Spacebar Solutions http://members.tripod.com/~spacebar/ Offering FREE banners for businesses related web sites. All they require is a link to their site.

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* This online marketing tip furnished by JDD Publishing, Home of "The BizWeb E-Gazette!" For a free subscription to the gazette, email Subscribe@JDD-Publishing.com. For information about their manual on low cost internet marketing, mailto:InfoFree@in foback.net You're also invited to their new Web Site, http://www.bizweb2000.com It's full of free help for anyone interested in online marketing!