Creating Simple Text Banners Tutorial

[Teli]

After coming across a couple merchants and websites that didn't provide their own creative, I decided to make my own text banners for some of them. Then I realized that others could benefit from the information as well.

It doesn't take very much time (about 10 minutes if you're proficient with Photoshop, a little bit longer if you're not). To fill the gap, I've written a quick tutorial called Creating Simple Text Banners Using Photoshop.

Enjoy and of course, please leave any comments if you have feedback or questions.

~ Teli

[Linda Buquet]

Awesome Teli. Very helpful info for affiliates to have!

[Teli]

Thanks Linda,
Glad I could help out and I hope you're enjoying your trip.

~ Teli

[ritche]

Being a little creative with your banners is the most effective way to create traffic and promote your online business effectively. It is from there where you can attract potential affiliates to join in with your program.

Banners are actually advertising 'shouts' that calls for attention to the prospective target market.

So be a li'l more creative and pushy with it!

[Teli]

I'll just add a small note to your comment ritche...

While I agree that creative banners can go a long way to increase the CTR, creative comes in many shapes and sizes. Getting too pushy with a banner may result in it not being approved by the webmaster/program or conveying the wrong message about the product/website it's intended to promote.

It's always a good idea to make good design decisions when creating banners of any size or type because, believe it or not, people make snap decisions and a poorly/overdone banner may convey the message of being cheap or shoddy.

Also, most tests show that while banners draw eyeballs, text links actually attract more click-throughs. It's a reason why the copy on the banner is important, as well as having a text link to go along with it.

~ Teli

[StephenR]

Nice job Teli. Very easy to follow. =)

[Idea Guy]

Thank you Teli..
This is a great help to everyone for sure..

[earner]

I never use graphics programs. I suck.
About 5 years ago I spent 10 hours trying to produce one set of simple buttons. All I had to do was pick a colour and a font and type in the words.
Did all that - they looked like something next door's dog had dropped out of his rear end.
I am completely "non creative garbage". Really!

If you are like me and just want a quick foolproof banner, then I've found AdDesigner.com - Design and download free banners in seconds! is great. Even I produced a banner in 2 minutes flat that I was more than happy with.

Yes - it is free.
Yes - it does have their name in the corner.
Yes - any fool can use this
Yes - they have a wide choice of good templates

All you have to do is type in the words you want.

[AffiliateGuild]

The other thing you can do is contact the Affiliate Manager of your affiliate program and have them create for you the type of banner you need. Most are more than happy to help you out.

[rifinder]

If you want your banner to have some blinking or changing text, you can import the file you make in Photoshop into ImageReady and make an animated gif. Check out Adobe ImageReady Animation for a tutorial on making animated gifs.