So let’s say you’re ready to start advertising your company on various websites, or perhaps even an ad network.  Before we start discussing the best banner sizes, let’s first focus on the goals.  A web banner is a graphical ad and thus you must immediately strive for a comfortable and enticing visual.  Even if you are using a text only graphic, the colors and the font style should be eye grabbing and appropriate to both the website and your company.

What Are the Best Banner Sizes for Your Strategy?
Your strategy may also depend on whether you are using a CPM system or a CPC setup.  CPM refers to Cost-Per-Mile, and refers to how many impressions your website is getting—and thus how much you’re paying for every one thousand impressions (or mile).  This is a somewhat risky strategy, as you could be paying a lot of money for impressions that don’t lead anywhere.  CPC refers to Cost-Per-Click which means you only pay for the clicks your ads get.

Naturally, both of these systems and your ultimate success will depend on quality banners.  In general, it’s safe to say that banners need to feature catchy content and impressive imagery.  The colors and graphics should be appealing to the eye and match the background of the website.  Of course, unless you are creating a huge skyscraper banner, then it is best to keep text to a minimum.  You are not writing a text ad but a banner ad, which ideally consists of very short text and a picture that speaks a thousand words.

The Best Banner Sizes by Pixel Size
Another area of concern is that you as the advertiser must ensure that you are placing your ads on relevant pages and on color-coordinated pages.  The more related your message is to the website’s content the more likely visitors will click through to your landing page.  It is best to focus on one product or service per banner rather than simply announcing your store (unless of course the content is a perfect match).  Be sure to link the correct landing page so that you don’t waste the user’s time.

According to a recent study by Marketing Sherpa, the best banner sizes in terms of click response are 300 x 250 and 728 x 90.  Surprisingly, the default size of 468 x 60 proved to be one of the least successful sizes.  Larger ads proved more successful, and it was suggested that many users have trained their minds to ignore traditional banner sizes because of the ubiquity of these ads online.

Banner sizes are also partly determined by where on the page they are situated.  Most webmasters state that banner ads look better at the top of the page, rather than farther down, as this is where users are most likely to look and click.  There is clearly a debate among webmasters and designers as to whether bigger is better.  While audiences are not necessarily opposed to viewing large ads, loading times, color mismatches and irrelevant content are still a major issue.

Only you can determine the best banner sizes for advertising purposes, based on what you know about the website or network you are working with.

In web marketing, there are usually two main types of banners, GIF banners and Flash banners.  GIF banners tend to be simple banners, whereas Flash animated banners can feature various complex graphics and movement.  Both GIFs and Flash files can feature animation.

Are you trying to determine the best type of file or approach to use, either for a website or as an advertiser?  Then let’s first consider the appropriate flash banner size.

Tips on Banners from Programmers
When you ask programming experts they always reply with the advice to keep the Flash banner size small.  Flash animation is very strong and if the banner is too large, it can be visually assaulting.  It can even annoy the user by redirecting his or her attention.  Just think of how vexing those pop up or hijacking ads are!

Experts also recommend that you keep file size smaller if possible, and make sure colors and animations are kept to a minimum, or at least a cautious match of the website carrying the ad.  Statistically speaking, the most common Flash banner sizes or GIF sizes used are:

• 728 x 90
• 300 x 250
• 160 x 60
• 500 x 500 (floating)
• 640 x 480 (transitional)

Another thought to consider: what about animation time?  Standard GIF or Flash animation time is 15 seconds or less.  This is just enough time to make an impression, but not enough time to annoy your viewer and take him away from his train of thought.  You might also want to respect the site and its rules for protecting the audience—namely that no animation begin until six seconds (an approximate quote).

When it comes to adding video and audio, it is an industry standard to start the video but hold off on the audio until the user agrees.  Videos can be slightly longer than animation—about 30 seconds or less.  (Most animation file sizes should not exceed two megs)

Bear in mind that when discussing Flash banner size, opinions are voluble.  Some people believe GIF format is dated and makes web banners look junky.  And as flashy as Flash is, some people are afraid to use it because of potential blocking, incorrect display, bandwidth issues and other problems.  And let’s face it, if you can’t be sure your ad is displaying correctly, it could be a waste of money.

Non-Animated Banners
What if you simply want a non-animated banner?  Then you have the right to go bigger, as “still” banners do seem to be less threatening.  However, they must match the website well and not detract from the theme.  Remember that Flash banner size, despite the difference in style and technology, still has the same goal.  You must capture the attention of your audience using strong images, short and very effective copy, and communicate some type of incentive to the viewer.  Without these positive qualities, an ad is just a distraction, and an obnoxious one at that.  So always aim to target the banner to the website.

It’s time to talk about banner dimensions.  If your website has experienced a moderate to great amount of traffic as of late, then you’re probably thinking that now is the best time to start producing income.  And you are not alone in desiring to avoid text-based ads coming from Google Adsense and the like.  Many webmasters prefer banner ads, as they look sophisticated and give the audience a nice visual—something that helps both the advertiser and your professional and eye-catching website.

What is the Right Size When Creating Banner Dimensions?
The question is, what size of banner dimensions are appropriate for this task?  You must consider several points, not limited to but including:

• How your audience will respond to the ad
• How your advertisers will respond to your website
• How the ad affects the visual impact of your website
• Loading time
• Other colors and size issues

In general, banner dimensions are best when they are big—at least from the advertiser’s point of view.  The advertising party doesn’t really care about your content; all these people know is that your site has the right type of targeted traffic.  Therefore, they want as much web space as you will give them for the right price.  (And for the right numbers, in terms of traffic)

Most advertisers like large banner dimensions because they reason that “more people will look at my banner and click the link”—and they would be hard to prove wrong.  After all, recent studies from Marketing Sherpa suggested that the average Internet viewer is more inclined to choose large banners like 300 x 250 and even 728 x 90 a chance, even when compared to the default size.

Appropriateness and Site Integrity
However, you must base your decision on what size is appropriate for your site—which is run by you, and greatly influenced by your audience.  The bottom line is that your audience is not going to stick around (that is, continue to contribute towards your traffic totals) if the quality of your site suffers.  And we’re not just talking poor quality design or even poor content.  Even banner ads that clash with the theme of the website, or compromise visual appeal because of bad coloring, can be problematic.

You also have to consider CMS issues when looking over banner dimensions, provided that you work with a designer program like WordPress or Joomla.  Will the ad correctly display in the allotted space?  Overlapping the borders, or being too small in comparison to the rest of the page, may be a turn off to viewers expecting high quality visuals.

Last but not least, consider pixel size as it relates to the message of your service and the theme of the website.  A large banner ad (such as a full display ad) may detract from the message of the site.  Not only will this turn off viewers, who could easily believe that you’ve sold out the integrity of your website, but also turn away search crawlers, who now label your site a content farming, low quality site.

So use discretion and take on the perspective of an online viewer to make an informed decision regarding banner dimensions.

Are you interested in advertising your company or generating money from working with other advertisers?  Then it’s important to become acquainted with what we know as the modern day Internet banner.  In this article we are going to discuss web banner dimensions as well as other aspects of starting an online advertising campaign with banners.  Banner advertising is a direct form of online advertising, and involves webmasters embedding an advertisement into a web page.

The banner attracts viewers’ attention by showcasing an interesting image or block of text, and also provides a link to the website of the advertiser.  Banners can be simplistic (just a company name or logo) or involve Flash animation and even video or sound.  The typical banner is in GIF format, though Flash animation will be saved differently.  Practically all images you see from professional websites involve a high-aspect ratio shape.

Where We Get Web Banner Dimensions
Much of what we see from banner ads have been developed by an organization called the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which set out to standardize methods of online advertising.  To this day, the New York-based organization represents many prestigious media outlets.  So it is wise, even if you’re not in association with major media outlets, to follow the same standards as far as web banner dimensions, so that you will be taken seriously by viewers and media professionals who come across your site.

Typical web banner dimensions are as follows:

• 300 x 250
• 180 x 150
• 728 x 90
• 160 x 600
• 300 x 600
• 120 x 60
• 88 x 31

In addition, you might want to familiarize yourself with “de-listed” web banner dimensions, which are sizes that are going out of style and less frequently used.

• 250 x 250
• 240 x 400
• 336 x 280
• 300×100
• 720×300
• 468 x 60
• 234 x 60
• 120 x 90
• 120 x 240
• 125 x 125
• 120 x 600

Web Banner Size and Visibility
Because you have various different size options to choose from, it’s important to keep in mind that the size of your banner may have a direct effect on your success as an advertiser.  Different size banners fit in different areas of the website, which may or may not be seen, as often as other page areas by viewers. For instance, if your banner is a size that fits only in the footer of the website, it won’t be seen unless viewers scroll the entire length of the page.  Remember that size plays a large role in a banner’s visibility and you will also want to work with the websites you advertise on to ensure what size banner you get and the level of visibility that size banner will receive on their website.

These points are just the basics of web banner dimensions, but they will help you to decide how to plan your banner campaigns in the future.  One thing is for sure, web banners are an effective way to advertise, as they are the cyber-equivalent of cheap TV or radio ads.  They’re cheap, fast and very effective in online promotion.

What is the right banner size to use when you’re involved in a web project? This is not an easy question to answer, since the right answer depends on the question—as in “what are you trying to convey to the audience?” All right, so you reply with a simple answer: I want the banner to advertise my products. So what banner size is best?

Should You Choose the Default Size or Another Size?
Are you talking about the default banner size, the type you see at every website—and is your goal to look like every other website out there? Or do you want to draw attention immediately? A default banner size is usually 468 x 60, but a skyscraper banner, 120 x 600, is an effective distraction for viewers who are looking forward to scrolling up and down the page. There is also a wide skyscraper that has the same height but is twice as wide.

However, you might also have the right banner size with a half banner, which stands at 234 x 60 pixels. Still other companies find that using rectangle shapes (180 x 150) and even tiny micro bars (88 x 31) are effective. According to About.com, full display ad banners received low click-through rates in a recent study, as did the typical 468 x 60 size. The best performing banner sizes were 300 x 250 (medium rectangle) and 728 x 90, the leader board banner ad.

Pixel Size Matters in Banner Size!
Some experts suggest that traditional or default size banner ads may be unsuccessful because viewers have taught themselves to ignore traditional banner sizes. On the other hand, large banners could be popular nowadays because they are huge and commanding and draw instant attention to a seductive image.

The right banner size really depends on you—your goals, strategy and your product. What we suggest is that you design your banners in all standard formats and then compare the results. Create several banners and compare the visual results, as well as how they look on your website. All you have to do is simply set the values of your image to the right pixel format when creating a banner.

The right banner size can also be determined by considering what your purposes are for the ad. For example, do you control a website that wants to earn income through advertising? The trick here is to create a page that is not loaded down with banners, but which highlights an advertiser prominently. If you are creating a banner for your own company, you have to consider all relevant data, such as the landing page you have selected, the type of website you are advertising on and the color of the banner. (It should match the website itself) Obviously, you can imagine the worst-case scenario: your ad appears tasteless and runs contrary to the entire website’s theme and audience. The website looks bad and you look like a shameless company trying to sell cheap products.

So yes, it does take some effort to properly research right banner size.