Website Graphics

[This is Part 3a of the Website Checkup Guide]

Your web graphics (if you are using any) are the first things that your visitors notice. 

Graphics should lend description to the site, not just decoration. A well designed header graphic tells customers a lot about your website.

There are hundreds of awesome free graphic sites, but don't be too quick to use free graphics on your main page. You want to create an original memory in the mind of your potential customer. Potential clients rarely buy from a site the first time they visit unless they are extremely motivated. But if your site makes an impression on them, they will remember what you offer and go back when they have a need for what you offer.

When remembering your website, chances are they have a very visual memory of what your site looked like – so even if they don’t happen to remember your URL, they’ll scan the search engines for ‘that site’ that they were at before.  If your site looks like a hundred other sites, they might not remember you later.  So use graphics to make an impression on visitors.

It can be worth the expense to buy an original web set from a graphic artist who will not sell the same graphics to anyone else.

Graphics include photographs of your products

If you do not own a quality camera, consider borrowing one from a friend or budget in a session with a good photographer.  Product images must be crisp and clean and well organized.  Take some time to position items attractively for every shot.  Later when you’re preparing the images for the web, take the time to crop and size each item appropriately. 

Perhaps the most important graphic of all will be your headshot

If you’re running a business that keeps you in the background, a photograph isn’t crucial, but most times it is very beneficial to have a recent picture of the person they are doing business with.  In fact, if you’re positioning yourself as a reliable source of expertise, you’ll probably use your photograph on the main page. 

Do take some time with this.  Don’t crop your wedding photo and don’t use something so tiny that you can barely be recognized.  Select a facial expression that conveys what you want visitors to know about you.  IE: You’re friendly, you’re professional; you are a complete goofball. Whatever your purpose is in doing business let it come through in your photo.

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Website Checkup



God Loves You! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (Lord Jesus Christ),
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16, Bible