Also known as display banner ads or display ads, web banners are clickable digital ads that are embedded into websites to drive traffic to the website of the advertiser. It is fairly easy and quick to create a free web banner in Canva.

For everyday businesses and creators, a web banner can also refer to the personalizable online banner that appears at the top of your social media profile, website, and more. 

Banners are also called cover photos or header photos. This is the type of web banner in Canva we’ll be teaching you to create. It’s a visual representation of your business, story, vision, services, or products. 

Why create a Free Web Banner in Canva?

Here are six quick reasons to design a free web banner in Canva:

  1. Create a positive first impression.
  2. You can direct them to your most compelling offer. 
  3. Your content should solve a pain point a customer has.
  4. Changing out your graphics seasonally or on a revolving schedule keeps the site fresh.
  5. Show not just what a product looks like but how it works in real life. 
  6. Free features like templates, fonts, elements, graphics, videos, stock photos, animations, and more!

When thinking about content, you instantly think of photoshop or some other expensive design tool. 

Canva is a graphic design tool that makes creating custom graphics easy. It’s easily accessible by phone or tablet and is user-friendly. 

Not only can you use it to spice up your social media content, but you can also use it to design things like presentations, invitations, posters, brochures, business cards, etc.

You could pay a graphic designer to create these items for you. However, starting off or having a small business could be costly and render to the ability to hire a designer.

You can try doing it yourself using Adobe Photoshop which is probably the most popular graphic design tool on the market. However, there is not only a cost associated with Adobe Photoshop but a steep learning curve.

Nevertheless, there is a cost-effective solution on the market that is easy to use which I believe every entrepreneur should take advantage of. 

Here are more reasons to use Canva for your Web Banner and other design needs.

  ♦  IT IS EASY TO USE

You don’t need an artistic ability or background in graphic design to be able to use Canva. All you need to do is swap images, change texts, fonts, and sizes if you so wish, and voila! You have a design.

You will still find it easy to use if you choose to create your own template or design rather than work with a pre-customized version. Canva has ALL the tools you need to create a new design or modify an existing one. 

Using the drag-and-drop tool, you can select free stock images from Canva or upload your own. You can also use Canva grids to divide your image into smaller sections.

  ♦  IT IS PRO-BUSINESS

Whether you’re a freelance graphic designer, budding entrepreneur, or small business owner, you will find Canva to be good for business.  

It is a free online tool that provides great value to entrepreneurs and small businesses. It allows for easy creation and editing tools without the need to hire designers.

Most businesses and freelance graphics designers now operate online and are in constant need of graphics + content. 

It allows you to create beautiful designs with a Brand Kit (premium membership) and hundreds of free templates. 

Branded graphics to work with daily. 

Collaborative design that team members view and edit. 

Allows revisions instead of sending designs back and forth for corrections.

You can create design templates that everyone in the organization can make use of without the need for an artist or design experience.  

Impress your clients and of course, increase your client base as well from referrals. 

Looks professional.

  ♦  IT IS FLEXIBLE

Canva is not restricted to specialized graphic designs alone or for professional purposes. You can always tweak designs and elements as you like.

Tutorial: How to create a free web banner in Canva

Step 1: Open Canva

Edit and move the graphic design elements as you see fit. Use our color picker tool to follow your brand’s hex codes. Add vectors, shapes, or stickers from the media gallery.

Start using a wide range of provided tools to edit the template as you see fit:

Step 2: Choose an ad template

Take a look at the ad templates and select one that best fits your vision for the ad. You may also start from scratch.

Canva suggests many visually-appealing ads in different formats – verticle, square, rectangle, etc. On the left side, there is a format filter to help you search quickly:

Or you can choose to create from scratch with a custom size:

Step 3: Design your ad

Edit and move the graphic design elements as you see fit. Use our color picker tool to follow your brand’s hex codes. Add vectors, shapes, or stickers from our media gallery.

Start using a wide range of provided tools to edit the template as you see fit:

Change the position easily, enlarge or minimize element:

Don’t forget to experiement with Canva’s Elements Section where you get creative with design ingredients by entering keywords. The best part is you have many options for just an item, then you can customize the element to fit your design.

You’ll find all the design elements you need to create the perfect banner. Explore images, illustrations, icons, logos, fonts, shapes, lines, graphs, and more.

The “Upload” section allows you to add your branding assets or other media files:

Edit the exisiting text or add new text:

Place a catchy and engaging call-to-action in texts styled with beautiful fonts:

Other handy tools in Canva help you to save time:

Resize Tool – Resize one design for all channels

Magic Switch instantly resizes your design into many different sizes so you can create multichannel campaigns in seconds.

Resize this ad:

To this:

Or to this:

Step 4: Download or share

Once you are satisfied with the design, click “Share” and choose “Download” option:

Save your design as a PDF, JPG or PNG file ready to be printed or shared online.

Additional Tutorial Resources to Practise/Enhance Your Designing Skills:

Search and edit elements

Add and Style text:

Add Animations:

Free banner maker: