Website Promotion
Graphics
Craft Site Medic offers a number of
promotional services which utilize standard size
graphics to highlight your website link. These
may include Banners, Avatar
Buttons, and possibly
Plugs.
On
this page we have provided sample graphics for
you to view. We also have provided information on
how to obtain the graphics, how to determine
their size, how to store them, and we answer a
few frequently asked questions. We hope you will
benefit from the information we
present.
Graphics used by Craft Site Medic in our
website advertising & promotional packages
must meet certain physical size and file size
requirements as explained below. We also can only
use graphics created in a "jpg" or "gif" file
format - the internet standards.
If you need to have custom
graphics created for your website, check out the
list of designers shown further down this
page.
Please note - you need NOT have your
graphics available before ordering any of our
promotional services. Most clients provide them once we
actually start working on their advertising. If
you have questions, we are happy to
help.
Banner Graphics
Banners are the most recognized
graphic type. You see these all over the
internet, and most conform to a universal size
standard: 468 x 60 pixels. There are 100 pixels
to the inch, so a banner graphic is
approximately 4 1/2 inches by 1/2
inch.
There also is a file size associated with
graphics which is measured in bytes. We require
all banners to be 30,000 bytes (30k) or less. Why
a size limit? Large files take longer to
download. Most sites display multiple graphics,
and if they are all large in file size, it will
take forever for the page to display on your web
browser. This "load time" issue is most
troublesome for surfers with slow internet access
such as dialup modems. Internet users will not
wait a long time for a page to appear on their
screen, and many will simply go elsewhere. Google
reportedly will soon begin factoring in page load
time when calculating search engine keyword
position. Slow pages will rank lower. Thus the
reason for file size
limitations.
Sample
animated banner graphic created by
Craftisan
Web Studio
Some banners are animated - they display
multiple "frames". Although they are often quite
"attention grabbing", they also can lead to large
file sizes since your essentially are displaying
multiple banners.
Sample Button
Graphics
Avatar buttons are the latest and greatest
advertising image. They are quickly approaching
the popularity of regular banners, Avatar button
are square graphics normally measuring 125 x 125
pixels. Some avatars are 150 x 150 pixels, but
Craft Site Medic programs only use the smaller
125 x 125 version. The 25 pixel
difference makes for a whopping 44% increase in
file size, thus most sites now use the 125 x 125
version. We also require buttons to be 20,000
bytes (20k) or less in file
size. Buttons may be animated, but you
need to keep an eye on the file
size.
Suggestion:
Button graphics should
attract attention AND tell something about your
product line. Buttons which include a photo or
graphic of your product along with your site
title work VERY WELL. Of
the four buttons displayed above, which ones grab
your attention AND tell you something about the
site?
Plug Graphics
Many sites now feature
plugboards - a neat system where mini-graphic
links are displayed in a grid. To see an example,
please visit our Crafty
Plugboard.
Plug
graphics are
88 X 31 pixels in size. we ask that all plugs
used with our promotional packages be 10,000
bytes (10k) or less. Most plug graphics are
animated, but that is certainly
optional.
Frequently Asked
Questions
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Question:
How can I
determine the physical and file size
of my offline
graphic?
If
your graphic is stored on your local
computer (offline), load the image
into Window's Paint program. Select
"image", then "attributes". A window
will open which displays the size
parameters (red circle)
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Question:
How can I
determine the physical and file size
of my online
graphic?
If
you have your graphic displayed
online, navigate to the page where it
is shown. Place your mouse cursor
over the image, and "right click". A
window will open. Select "properties"
from the bottom of the list. Another
window will open which displays the
size parameters (red
circle).
Try it
out! - Place you mouse
over the image to the right. Right
click. Select
"properties".
You
should see a window open which shows
the following information about this
graphic:
Dimensions: 301 X 357
pixels
Size: 25083 bytes
Caveat:
Some web design
programs allow you to resize the
image display. Using the method
above, you will see the size specs of
the displayed image, not the actual
image.
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Question:
How can I determine
the web address (url) of my
image?
This is really easy IF you
have your graphic already displayed on your web
page (online). Simply follow the instructions
mentioned above. The url of the image will be
shown in the popup window (blue
box).
If you did the "Try
It Our" exercise mentioned above, you will see
the url of the image to be: URL:
http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss266/craftmed/windows1.jpg
Want to make sure you have the
correct web address (url) of the
image? Just
click on the image url, or copy it into the
address bar of your browser. You should be
taken to the graphic - not a page - just the
graphic. If it does not work, you have the url
wrong.
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Question: My web
site host will not allow me to add or
store images on my site. What can I
do?
There are free and paid image
hosting services online. One of the
most popular is Photobucket,
an easy to use and FREE service. Many
of the graphics shown on this page
are stored on PhotoBucket.
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Sources for
Graphics
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Question: Where can
I get graphics?
The
least expensive method is to do it
yourself. Basic graphic
programs such as Window's Paint can
do a good job for simple
graphics.
More
advanced graphic programs will allow
layering, animation, and other neat
tricks.
If
you had someone design your website
or you used a graphics set, check
with the designer to see if they can
make custom
graphics.
For
standard banners (468 x 60), there is
a nice free banner making tool
located at Addesigner.
However, once you make a banner, it
must be saved to your own server.
Addesigner
will delete the image from their
files after a short time - they will
not host the image for
you.
Graphic designers can create nice
looking images quickly, and prices
are almost always very
reasonable.
To
the right is a list of designers we
are familiar with. If you have them
create an image for you, please make
absolutely certain they understand
the size parameters involved. There
is no need to pay someone to make a
custom graphic that is five times our
size limit and cannot be
used.
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Professional Graphic
Designers
Craftisan
Graphics
20
Dollar Banners
Moon & Stars Web
Design
Shabby Chic Graphics
Boutique
ReadyBanner.com
Black Crow
Designs
Wildwood Rose
Designs (authorized DIYeStores.com
Graphic Artist)
Gone Country
Graphics
In A Pickle Web
Design
EZShoppes.com
Prim Graphics
If
there are other designers you would
recommend, please let us
know.
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