Recieving Your Ad Creative

What you must check before adding your new ad creative…

1. Ad Format

The most common image formats for banner ads are GIF, JPG/JPEG, and PNG files. Other image formats should be converted to a more suitable format to reduce the file size. The file extension for Flash ads should be SWF. If the source file is FLA, it needs to be exported to SWF.  If there are no clear instructions then you need to request clarification from the agency.

2. Ad Dimensions

Ad dimensions are measured by width and height in pixels. Make sure that your banner fits in the corresponding ad placement. You need to make sure your incoming ad file has that exact dimension because an ad can be excluded from rotation just because it is out by one pixel. An important difference is 728 x 90 versus 720 x 90, or 468 x 60 versus 460 x 60. These sizes can easily be overlooked when they are actually very different dimensions.

3. Ad File Size

You want your visitors to  see the ad contents instantly. The smaller the file size, the faster the banner will load. A regular banner should be less than 30Kbytes per file while Flash or interactive contents should be less than 60Kbytes.  If your ad is large, you can use an advanced concept that loads your banner in two phases. The first load is small and the second load contains the main content.

4. Ad Animation and Audio

File formats that support animation (GIF and SWF files) and interactive contents (SWF files)  is more attractive, offers more details and offers a better overall visitor experience. However fast sequencse of images with bright flashing colors can be very distracting. You should always balance aesthetic factors with content so that visitors stay engaged enough to click on your ads.

5. Landing Pages

The landing page is the page where your visitors go to when they click on your ad. It is important that the landing page URL is valid and goes to a working page. Broken links on your website offer your visitors a bad experience.  ALWAYS Always check your links yourself!