An animated GIF, Graphics Interchange Format, file is used in web site design and is a graphic image on a web page that moves. In web site design, a person might use an animated GIF like a rotating ball, a twirling icon, or a light bulb that appears to go on and off for example on their web page. An animated GIF used in web site design is more commonly called a GIF89a. A GIF89a is a GIF version that came out in1989 and is a format with the ability to create an animated image. People use animated GIF files in their web site design to make their web page more interesting, catch the viewer's attention, and for appearance. In Internet marketing, animated GIF files are used in banner and button ads posted on web pages. Another alternative used in web site design to Animated GIFs are the use of Java, Flash and other web site design tools. Animated GIF files on the other hand are easier to create, smaller in size, and therefore are faster to load compared to Java or Flash.
There are a multitude of animated GIF tools and software for web site design through out the Internet. Numerous web sites offer free animated GIFs for your web site design. Using animated GIF in your web site design is something that should be well thought out ahead of time. Some people that design their on web site believe that more is better and load animated GIFs everywhere there is an open spot on their web site. Case studies between web sites and web site design compared to online marketing revealed two opposite results. It seems that from the results of studies and tests, that there is a difference how people surf the Internet and how they do information retrieval. More often than not, when people were on the Internet to get information, they reported finding animated GIFs a distraction and some said that they were irritating. It was also found out that in a lot of cases people would block out either physically or mentally animated GIFs or banner ads when doing research or looking up information. The exact opposite was true when they were just surfing the net.
Not only for web site design, but animated GIF files are also being used in Internet marketing as in video email advertisements. A recent survey of 286 email marketing executives found that 17% were planning on using video in email in the next 12 months. It was revealed that using video without sound, animated GIFs, and clickable screen shots can increase click through rates by two to three times. Another marketing case study report revealed that animated GIFs like the ones used in web site design were tested added in to email and they were shocked and pleased with the results. The results showed that adding simple animated GIF in email lifts conversions 49%. In click through advertising, people were more likely to click on ads that were animated GIFs. It seems that the most successful web sites were the ones that had web site design tailored more to the consumers or user's goal in mind.