In previous articles, the importance of providing a variety of banner sizes and making banner content sharp and relevant were discussed. Here we will look at the secret weapon you should not ignore...

Many merchants seem blissfully unaware of the potential of 'alt tags', as the little pale yellow rectangles with text in them, or 'tool tips' that come up when your mouse passes over a graphic are called.

When a graphic fails to load, or the site visitor browses with the capacity to view images turned off, for speed or because a particular firewall is in use that refuses to show images, the 'alt' text appears in the space that should have been occupied by each image, assuming that someone has input some text...

The same 'alt' text, as it appears when the cursor pauses over a graphic, is also commonly used by web surfers as an aid to deciding whether a 'thumbnail' image is worth clicking on to see the enlargement.

Supplying banners without any 'alt tags' at all is a bad idea because it encourages affiliates to choose between leaving them that way and being penalized by some search engines as a result, or typing in whatever text seems expedient.

Equally, it is a sloppy and unprofessional practice to supply banner links to affiliates that include alternative text content such as: "120x60-springcol-03" or "Banner56098347".

Either the affiliate will leave it as it is and visitors who are about to click on the banner may be put off doing so by the appearance of what may be interpreted as sinister code, or the affiliate will replace the text with whatever he or she thinks is appropriate. If you are lucky and the affiliate has the time, can spell and write reasonably pertinent copy, all is well. If not...the fault lies more with the originator of the unmarked or badly marked banner than the end-user.

When you think about it, the existence of the 'alt tag; is a huge opportunity to add a sales message that would never fit on the graphic itself. You can capitalize on this inbuilt resource, as some of your competitors are already doing, or risk having the message of the banner itself diluted by the contents, or lack thereof, of your alt text captions.

Seasonal graphics are another important weapon and we are not just talking about the most obvious events either but, whilst we are mentioning them, there is no harm in having a seasonal banner that remains the same for years provided there is nothing to identify the banner as specific to one year.

Instead of trying to think up a new Valentines Day or Christmas banner every twelve months and creating something that is not particularly attractive, pick a design that works and stick with it, by all means. It is not every merchant who can afford to spend a fortune on such things and it isnt strictly necessary either. At LWA Malls - http://www.linnetwoods.com/malls/ - for example, it is noticeable that a great many people like the traditional and comforting seasonal images best.

Peoples lives contain other seasons, apart from the universally-timed ones. Consider banners that catch the attention of people who have just been promoted or started their retirement or celebrated their tenth year in business or any one of a large number of milestones shared by a large number of people. Identify seasons that bring people to your store and make banners that will help affiliates guide visitors enjoying those same seasons to your online presence.

In conclusion: Make the effort to provide good-looking banners in a wide range of sizes to your affiliate partners; keep your website address off banners and the contents of text links and don't forget to make the most of the advertising oppportunity provided by those 'alt' tags.