Banners are a necessity for anyone doing business online. Sooner or later you'll want to do some banner advertising or simply swap with another site, so you'll want to make sure you have a few to choose from when that time comes.

There are "standard" sizes for banners, and you need to make sure you adhere to those standards before creating them. The most popular size by far is 468X60. Some of the others are:

234X60 Half Banner
120X240 Vertical Banner

Popular button sizes are:
120X60 and 125X125 and a micro size of 88X31

You'll want to make a few in a variety of sizes so you
already have the right size for the job at hand.

So what do you need to include on your banner? There are a variety of things you can do when designing to ensure clickability.

1) Use the actual words "click here" somewhere on the banner as a call to action.

2) Use some form of animation- Movement catches the eye

3) Make sure your banner loads quickly by keeping the size down to no more than 10K if possible.

4) Offer Something Free

5) Tell them just enough to pique their curiosity so they'll want to click and learn more.

6) Studies have shown these colors work the best Orange, Green, Red, Blue, Black and Purple.

7) Create a sense of urgency by stating something like "Last Chance," or "Limited Time Offer."

So you've taken all this into consideration and you're thinking to yourself, "I can't even draw a stick figure - how am I going to design a banner?" Have no fear, there are many resources online that will help you make banners quickly and easily.

http://www.Addesigner.com
I love this one and have used it many times. Make all you like free. You'll have to register first to get a password.

http://www.Animation.com
Here you can make some free or choose from a higher end variety for cash.

http://www.QuickBanner.com
Click on a banner you like and add your text

http://Crecon.com/banners.html
Use the online generator or download the free templates to make your own.

http://www.Customotion.com/
Make Really cool Flash banners here. Choose a template type in your text and download it.

If you're handy with PhotoShop or any other graphics program you may want to download some free banners and modify them to your liking. Try this:

http://katekreates.com/freebann.shtml

Remember, banners today are a dime a dozen so you need to put forth that extra effort to get people to click. You don't need to be a graphics designer to create your own banners. By using the many free resources that are available to you online you'll have a storehouse of exciting banners next time the need arises.