Getting The Best Graphics For Your Site
There are all sorts of graphics available for websites, but not all are going to be appropriate for your website.
Many webmasters plaster all kinds of flashy images and animated gifs onto their site in an attempt to make an impression. Often an impression is made, but not the one sought!
Ill-thought out use of graphics will leave your visitors thinking that the website is amateurish and then any hope of making a sale of something as pretty much gone.
My main advice is to look at your site, not from your personal viewpoint, but to think from your customer’s perspective. Don’t clutter your page with graphics, only choose graphics related to the theme of your site.
You should also only select graphics that are in harmony with the color mix that you have developed for your site.
One useful way to select graphic is to put them on your website and then as friends and colleagues what they think. There are also several forums such as "sitepoint" which have rate-my-site type of sections.
Avoid graphics that are unclear, even if the topic is in harmony. Only go with crisp, clear images. Anything else will look shabby and reflect badly on your professionalism.
Select images that do not have unnecessary text on them. Anything graphic that has text on it is going to attract attention. The visitor will read the text. If that test is not relevant to your offer, to your goal for that page then it is an unwanted distraction.
When buying graphics, see if the the images come in a set. Most professional graphics now come in sets of differing perspectives. It is the same object but just taken (by camera) or drawn from different view points and maybe with different backgrounds.
These sets of images are more useful if you want to display the item on different pages, it makes for a more interesting presentation.
For many website developers a serious challenge is that of creating high quality ecovers for their products. There is software out there but some of it is difficult to use. I recommend having a look at this video training course:
Create Killer Ecovers I have been through it myself and found it invaluable. It runs for about half an hour and you are able to create stunning 3D ecovers for ebooks, DVDs, Videos, software boxes and many more varieties ( approx 100! ).
If you follow the advice in this article, I am sure that your website will be well balanced with good quality and appropriate graphics.
To your success.
Liz Green
