Getting stuff for free is often more complicated than it looks, but if you are clever you can get free banner designs or other valuable online marketing tools. Although in most cases, the quality of a free banner design will be modest, you can also get nice looking banners for absolutely no cost. How? There are different ways in which you can achieve this:

Freelance designers - many freelance designers who are just starting out are looking to build their portfolio, so getting a free banner design from them is not impossible. For a freelancer, the online portfolio is the maker or breaker of his business, so he or she will often offer to work for free. The problem with asking for a free banner design from a freelancer is that you cannot have any saying as far as the quality is concerned and you won't really have the power to request revisions and changes to the banner ads. Anyone relatively skilled in a graphic design software, such as Adobe's Photoshop , can create a free banner ad - or a cheap banner, but you can also try it yourself, if you are on a small budget.

Graphic design company promotions - many graphic design company managers know that, in order to win money online and build a reputable image, you need to lure in clients by offering them things for free. Once in a while, advertising agencies and design studios will have special promotions, when skilled designers offer you a free banner design - most of the times high quality ones. By doing that, they hope you will appreciate their business and come back with future, paid jobs.

Free graphic design templates - free banner design templates are quite common online. You simply have to download the source file - most of the times an Adobe Photoshop PSD file and modify the text in a design software program.

The advantage of this solution is that you can choose from various layouts, designs and color palettes and you can personalize your banner as you wish. The downsize is that you need a graphic design title like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro and some editing skills in order to modify the banner ad. Of course, the satisfaction that you get when you design a banner ad for free is also worth taking into consideration!

Banner sizes and custom advertising banner ad costs

There are different globally accepted banner size standards. These will often determine the cost of the custom advertising banner, but some companies offer a flat rate for any banner size. In most cases, however, advertisers will ask for more than just one banner size, but with all the custom banners following the same line and keeping with a unique color palette. Here are the most common custom advertising banner sizes you will find on the online market:

Banners and Buttons

468 x 60 - Full Banner

234 x 60 - Half Banner

88 x 31 - Micro Bar

120 x 90 - Button 1

120 x 60 - Button 2

120 x 240 - Vertical Banner

125 x 125 - Square Button

728 x 90 - Leaderboard

Rectangles and Pop-Ups

300 x 250 - Medium Rectangle

250 x 250 - Square Pop-Up

240 x 400 - Vertical Rectangle

336 x 280 - Large Rectangle

180 x 150 - Rectangle

Skyscrapers

160 x 600 - Wide Skyscraper

120 x 600 - Skyscraper

300 x 600 - Half Page Ad