With all of the different choices in affiliate promotional methods, there are many ways to provide affiliates with a variety of linking options. Some may prefer text links while others have an affinity for graphics. Still others use a combination of both. The smartest move is to give affiliates the option to create their own links. However, most will not be graphic designers, thus they won't be savvy in the techniques behind it. This is why it is vital that you give customers lots of options.
When you undertake the task of designing graphics for affiliates, there are several things that you must consider regardless of whether you are designing them yourself or you are hiring a graphic designer to do them for you.
Size
When constructing the layout of a website or a newsletter, the size of the graphics can make or break it. If the graphics or too large or too small, they can throw off the balance of the whole website, making it look unprofessional, amateurish or just plain cheap. While it is possible to resize most graphics, this should also be done with caution. Making a large graphic too small or a small graphic too large can distort the graphic and cause it to become blurry or pixilated.
Banners and buttons are a type of graphic that is often used for promotional purposes. The most common sizes for these are the 468X60 banner and the 125X125 button. You want to have several varieties of graphics in these sizes on hand. You should also offer graphics that are larger as well as smaller than the popular sizes. A type of graphic called "skyscrapers" is popular among affiliates. Skyscrapers are usually 100 to 200 pixels wide and as much as 600 pixels high. This provides a very good showcase for several products, or it can serve to make the graphic more prominent.
Colors
Color can attract people to a website and it can encourage them to buy products. It can also make your website look like a complete disaster area if it isn't used properly. When you offer graphics in a variety of colors you can allow affiliates to choose the ones that best match their websites. However, make certain that the colors go well together. Clashing colors are not attractive and can turn off customers and discourage buying.
You may want to consider offering graphics that have different levels of contrast. Good contrast is important to ensure easy reading of the text on the graphic, but on lower contrast websites, lower contrast graphics may be a better option.
Static vs. Animated
One or two animated graphics catch the eye and encourage the visitor to look further into the website. Too many animated graphics on a page, however, will only serve to annoy the visitor and drive away potential customers. Some affiliates may steer clear of animated graphics altogether. With this is mind, it is important to offer both static as well as animated graphic options.
When you offer affiliates a good variety of graphics from which to choose, you allow them to find one that fits well with their company as well as their website. It also affords them the opportunity to experiment with different colors and types of graphics to see which ones convert traffic the best and most efficiently. When your affiliates find a good graphic that works for them and works with the style and theme of their website, it is a win-win situation for all.
Developing PDA applications is different from coding for desktop platforms. There are numerous mobile platforms, each powered by their own hardware and operating system. Every platform sets its own requirements on the visual design of user interfaces. PDA screens differ in resolutions and color depth, often demanding exotic formats and sizes for graphical elements. Windows Mobile has its own requirements, while Symbian phones and handheld devices employ different sizes and formats of icons. Are you up to the challenge of drawing your own icons for the multitude of handheld devices?
While VGA resolution is used on many of today's handheld devices, 320x240 and lower screen sizes are still more common on low-end handheld devices as well as on many mobile phones. You simply can't use desktop-resolution graphics on these platforms, or you'd be wasting precious screen space.
Serious handheld developers need their graphics in a number of formats, resolutions and color depths to suit the requirements of various handheld devices. Windows Mobile supports graphics in ICO format, while Symbian demands for BMP or even MBM (Symbian OS multiple bitmap file) format. Other handheld operating systems may have their own system requirements as to the format and size of graphics used in their applications. In either case, you have to supply various sizes of images for the mobile OS to select the most appropriate icon size for the current zoom state of the UI. If you skip one or more sizes, the handheld device will resize icons dynamically, which results in a significant loss of visual quality, clarity and legibility of the images. The required icon sizes and resolutions are specific to the operating system, but the more you provide the better.
As you see, supplying your icons available in various formats, sizes and color resolutions is not a benefit but a mere requirement for entering the market. Are you up to the challenge of creating your icons to the strict specifications of the various handheld device and operating system manufacturers?
Luckily, you don't have to! It is now easy to enhance the appearance of your handheld software with properly made icons without having to ordering or drawing them in-house. Perfect Mobile Icons are available in all common sizes used in mobile systems, including 16x16, 20x20, 24x24, 32x32, and 48x48 pixels, and come in 16 and 256 colors, while having 32-bit True Color versions for high-end VGA-resolution mobile devices and desktop communication tools. With respect to the different format requirements of PDA system makers, each icon is available in Windows Icon (ICO), Bitmap (BMP), GIF, and PNG formats.
Perfect Mobile Icons are a matching set of over 50 images made in common gamma and sharing common color and drawing style. Your mobile applications will look professional and consistent on any platform. Simply visit Perfect Mobile Icons page to see full-size online preview of these icons!
Both Robert Williams & Dmitry Costenco are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Robert Williams has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Affiliate Programs and Fundraising. Robert Paul Williams is the Editor of Work At Home Business Website. Are You Promoting a Product or Service Online? Come Visit WAHBWS to Get Some. Robert Williams's top article generates over 90500 views. Bookmark Robert Williams to your Favourites.
Dmitry Costenco has sinced written about articles on various topics from Software, Affiliate Programs and Software. Since SibCode's founding in 2005 and as of 2007, Dmitry Costenco develops web sites. He works for quality web interface, which will help to web surfers.. Dmitry Costenco's top article generates over 8100 views. Bookmark Dmitry Costenco to your Favourites.