posted by WEBSITES.COM // April 27, 2009 // Build Your Website

Why should you take precaution when including graphics in your website? Because too many or too few graphics could make or "break" your website.

Too few graphics may hurt your online business, especially if your field is very visual -- such as entertainment, advertising, graphic design, etc. A rule of thumb to remember is that graphics slow down loading time on your website, but customers visiting a very visual website will expect slow loading. There are steps you can take to help increase loading time, such as saving your image as .gif instead of .jpg. But, sometimes saving your image as .gif means sacrificing quality and your picture or graphic could become distorted.

On the other hand, too many graphics can completely destroy the purpose of your website if your presentation consists of long sales pitches or much detailed reading for your visitor. Why? Because your visitor will constantly be distracted by the graphics and will not be able to concentrate on the presentation. This doesn't mean you can't have any graphics, just that you should limit them to the bare necessity and be sure your graphics aren't placed in a position that could distract your visitor from their reading.

Consider these graphic tips while designing your website and you'll be well on your way to online success!

Sizing Graphics

Size your graphics as small as possible without losing quality. If graphics are large, visitors to your web page may click out of your page before it loads. If you have many graphics on your website (pictures of products, etc.), you can produce very small "thumbnail" pictures of your graphics that your visitors can click on for an enlargement.

Producing thumbnail pictures provides two major benefits:

- Decreasing loading time for your web pages; you'll be able to keep more visitors on your website.

- Provides the visitor with a "full" quality picture of your product once he/she clicks on the thumbnail.

Saving Graphics

One way to speed up loading time on pages that include graphics is save your graphics as .gif files instead of .jpg.

GIF files (.gif) are limited to 256-colors. They are smaller in size and load quicker when someone visits your page. They are commonly used on the web because of this reason, but depending on the image, the smaller file size may sacrifice some quality.

JPEG files (.jpg) are normally photographs. Photographs usually cannot be limited to 256-colors or some parts of them will appear washed out. JPEG files allow you to take advantage of the 16-million color scheme, and which makes photos appear sharp and defined. Of course, JPEGs take longer to load than GIF files, but you can only go so far before you sacrifice quality.

Placing Graphics

You should only use graphics when they are needed to enhance your web business. If you're selling a visual product, it's almost impossible to get away with having no graphics. You'll need pictures of your product(s) to close the sale with your visitors.

In addition, graphics are often used for company logos at the top of each web page throughout a website. Your logo will help establish a sense of stability and prestige for your website. Also your logo can be used to relay a certain message to your visitors about your website.

Another time it's necessary to use graphics is for advertisements. Although banner ads are often a turn off to visitors, some website owners make a living from advertising. They may have a content only website and sell advertising to bring profit. If this is your goal, I strongly advise you to sell only to advertisers with products or services directly related to your website.

Place advertising at the very top, bottom or to the sides of your presentations when possible to avoid distractions. A popular method for content advertising is by placing a banner or text ad in the middle of content articles. The visitor can read half of an article, stop to read a short ad, and then continue reading the article. This seems to be very effective for content pages and the advertiser gets more direct exposure to visitors.

Use these graphics tips to maximize your website's profit potential, and keep your target customers coming back time and time again!

Author
Candice Pardue

Article Source:

Please login or register to post a new comments