Digital Ads and Web Graphics for Public Agencies

What this covers

Digital advertising and web graphics are the screen side of a campaign: static and animated display banners, homepage reskins and takeovers on news and community sites, mobile display ads, and the landing page elements those ads send people to. Every placement comes with a specification set by the publisher or ad platform, covering dimensions, file size limits, file formats, animation length, and how clicks are tracked. A banner that misses any of these is rejected by the publisher's ad operations team, often close to launch.

For most public agencies, the media buy is handled by the agency itself or a separate media buyer. The creative work ends at a set of files that pass each publisher's checks, a landing page that answers the question the ad raised, and tracking information that lets the agency see which placements worked.

Typical activities

Specification inventory. Collecting the specification sheet for every placement on the media plan, including the IAB standard ad units such as the medium rectangle and leaderboard, and any custom units a publisher sells.
Static banners. Designing a master layout and adapting it across sizes, with the message, logo, and call to action readable at the smallest one.
Animated banners. Building HTML5 ads with a click-through variable and a static backup image, or animated GIFs where a publisher requires them, within each publisher's limits on file size, animation length, and looping.
Homepage reskins and takeovers. Producing the background, side panels, and companion units a publisher's template calls for, with key content kept clear of areas that shift or disappear across screen widths.
Mobile display. Designing for small screens and touch: larger type, one message, and buttons sized for a thumb, including mobile banners and interstitials where the plan uses them.
Landing page elements. Hero images, buttons, icons, and supporting graphics sized and compressed for the agency's content management system, with page copy that matches the ad.
Tracking setup. Preparing destination links with UTM parameters under a naming convention and supplying them with the creative to whoever places the media.
Trafficking support. Answering ad operations questions and revising any file that fails a publisher's checks.

What you receive

Ad files. Final files for each placement, named by campaign, size, language, and version, with backup images for HTML5 units.
Specification checklist. Each placement's requirements and a record that each file was checked against them.
Landing page graphics. Web-ready images with alternative text written for each meaningful one.
Tracking sheet. Each ad's destination link and parameters.
Source files. Editable master layouts for new sizes and later flights.

Considerations for public agencies

Landing pages fall under the accessibility rule. The Department of Justice rule implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA for state and local government web content, with compliance dates that depend on entity size. Confirm current dates and obligations with counsel.

Text belongs in live text where possible. WCAG asks that text not be presented as an image when live text can do the same job. On a landing page, headlines, dates, and instructions should be live text, with images in support. Banners are images by nature, so each meaningful one needs alternative text, and anything a banner says should also appear on the page it links to.

Motion must be controllable and safe. Under WCAG success criterion 2.2.2, Pause, Stop, Hide, moving content that starts automatically, lasts more than five seconds, and runs alongside other content needs a way to pause it. Success criterion 2.3.1 limits flashing to no more than three flashes in any one second. Keep animation short and calm, and avoid flashing entirely.

Tracking touches privacy. Pixels, cookies, and third-party tags on an agency site can collect information about residents. Review tracking against the agency's privacy policy and applicable state privacy law before tags go on a government page, and prefer measurement that does not identify individuals. Confirm with counsel and IT.

Paid placement near elections needs review. Many states restrict using public funds for advocacy on ballot measures, which affects informational campaigns that run near an election. Confirm timing and wording with counsel.

Plain language fits small spaces. A banner has room for one message and one action. If the message needs explanation, the explanation belongs on the landing page, written plainly and translated where the audience needs it.

Consistency across vendors matters. When a media buyer, a publisher, and the agency web team all touch the files, a shared naming convention and one source of master layouts prevent outdated versions from running.

Working with HQT on this

HQT builds digital ads as a system. One master layout, shared type styles, and defined color values drive every size, and files are checked automatically against each publisher's dimensions, file size limits, and contrast before anything is sent. HQT makes general media mix recommendations when asked and prepares files and tracking for the agency's media buyer rather than placing media itself.

An engagement usually starts with the media plan, the publisher specification sheets, and the landing page the campaign will use.

Frequently asked questions

Can HQT place our digital ads, or only design them?

HQT designs and builds the ads, prepares tracking, supports trafficking, and can make general media mix recommendations. Media buying is usually handled by the agency's own staff or a separate media buyer under its own contract, which keeps placement decisions, publisher agreements, and invoices with whoever is accountable for the budget. The creative deliverable is a set of files that pass each publisher's checks and a tracking sheet the buyer can use.

Why do publishers reject banner ads?

The common reasons are a file over the size limit, the wrong dimensions, animation that runs too long or loops too many times, a missing click-through variable or backup image, a missing border on a white background, or a content policy issue. Each publisher sets its own specifications, and they differ even for the same ad size. Collect every specification sheet before design starts and check files against them before sending.

Should our banners be animated?

Animation can draw attention, but it adds production time, file size, and accessibility work, and a static banner with one clear message often does the job. If a banner is animated, keep the motion short, end on a frame that carries the full message, avoid flashing, and follow WCAG guidance on pausing moving content. Some placements accept only static images, so check the specifications before committing to motion.

Do our banner ads need to meet WCAG?

Ads appear on publisher sites rather than the agency's own, and how accessibility rules apply to them is a question for counsel. The landing page they point to is agency web content and falls under the Title II rule. The practical approach is the same either way: alternative text, sufficient contrast, no flashing, controllable motion, and every piece of information in the ad repeated on the landing page. Confirm the requirements with counsel.

What are UTM parameters and who sets them up?

They are tags added to a link that tell the agency's web analytics where a visitor came from: the source, the medium, the campaign, and optionally the specific ad. HQT proposes a naming convention and prepares tagged links for each ad. The media buyer or ad server may add its own click trackers. Agree on the convention before launch so reports from different placements can be compared.

Digital Ads and Web Graphics