Marketing your small business online means learning a lot of new ways of getting your company’s message out there for people to consume. One way to do that is through banner advertising. Banner ads have been around since the dawn of the Internet and can be a powerful source of branding for your company. There are some general rules to banner ads that any company looking create an online presence must adhere to.First and foremost, don’t make your ads blink, flash, or otherwise take away from the content on the page they will be placed on. Your ads will most likely be yanked in favor of a less visually offensive offer. A close second is sound…of any kind. No buzzers or babies, bongos or blinding screams of any kind.Also make sure to avoid over-complicating the offer in the advertisement itself. Too much detail will put off readers. Instead, convey the highlights of the offer as well as some element of professionalism.Banner placement needs to be a primary consideration as well. For example, if you sell life insurance and place your banner on a site that sells candy-making equipment, then you have yourself a poorly placed banner ad.In other words, any advertising you do for your small business needs to be targeted to exactly the specific customer you are trying to reach. If not, the noise level of online marketing will shout out any message that is not highly structured for the right audience.Keep size in mind as well when developing your banner campaign. Don’t use a banner size of 160×600 when 180×150 will do. The less space you consume on a website will help with ad placement. You should know that consumers are paying less and less attention to banner advertisements so make sure you are using other methods to get your small business advertising online.