Five Ways Graphics Can Hurt Your Online Business
A website with no graphics would be a bit like chilli without the seasoning! Graphics, photos and clipart are, to your website as, spices are to your cooking. They enhance the dining experience, and leave you with a more memorable experience, hopefully wanting more.
However, just as food can be too spicy, there can be too many images on the page ruining the experience. You need to find a happy medium. Too many graphics on your pages can turn visitors away.
So what type of image will be of more harm than good? These are five ways graphics can hurt your online business.
One - Too Large
When images are too large, they can be too slow to load, and they can also take too much away from the text. The purpose of the image is usually to help convey an idea relating to the content.
When the image takes up too much of the screen, the visitor can be distracted, missing the purpose of the site. Enough whitespace is an important consideration.
Two – Inappropriate Images
When your website is a business design, you need to focus on the content of your pages and the overall message they project. You need to ensure the images you use are appropriate and reflect your business values correctly.
If you do not present your image appropriately to the audience, you are targeting it could be more detrimental than helpful. The pages just might not make sense.
Three -Poor Quality Images
Using images that are unclear, fuzzy, poorly centred or amateur in other ways will be reflected in the assumption your business is also amateurish.
Putting no images on your page is better than using poor quality images.
Four - Illegal Images
Images are in abundance in any web search on the internet. Casually right-clicking and saving without thinking much about it can leave you open to copyright claims against you.
Use only those images that are royalty-free, unless you have permission from the owner. You may also have to use the correct attribution according to the reuse-licence.
Five - Ignoring the Use of the “ALT” Tag
Many people ignore the ALT tags, not realising just how important it is. The alt tag is like a free sign to your website. Without the use of the ALT tag, images on your website will be difficult for visually impaired visitors to understand.
Google will also penalise your web page in the rankings for being non-compliant to recognised web standards.
Images And Your Website
Knowing how graphics can hurt your website, as well as help your website, will guide you in how you build your website. Correct image choices keep your visitors interested, engaged, and your website compliant.
To create a website that sells is the million-dollar question. Just because you build a website, does not mean visitors will come. It also does not mean they will buy even if they do visit you. It is a common misunderstanding that leaves new entrepreneurs feeling frustrated and disappointed because their website did not do as well as expected.
Using Images Properly
Your web copy is essential, but the correct use of images is not well understood. When it comes to your visitors, who are your potential customers, they only care about their immediate experience and if your website is relevant to their needs.
If you take time and think about it; “I want to feel younger”, “I want to feel skinnier”, “I want to”, "fill in the blank", and so the list goes on. When consumers buy things from a website, it is crucial to understand; there is always an emotion attached to the purchase. When writing your web copy, make sure you bear this in mind.
Image Quality
Quality graphics are also essential to a website; however, their importance is relevant to what you are selling. For example, if you are promoting an ebook, its graphics may not play as important a role as it would if you were selling a game station. The person buying an ebook is more interested in reading about the plot, whereas, you need to immerse a person buying a game station in lots of emotionally-charged graphics.
Conclusion
The use of graphics on a web page is apparent. They are far more than just pictures. They engage, entice, create an emotional reaction, and can mean the difference between products selling or not. It is vital to use only relevant, high-quality images. Your plugins will optimise the images for page speed performance.
In other words, do not just choose a graphic to fill a space. Ensure your image choices are strategic. If you are not using quality graphics, consider using them now. The use of graphics is a powerful strategy that will provide you with return on that investment for years to come. Your online business should benefit from an increase in revenue as traffic will come by way of image indexing as well.
Recent Comments
19
Wonderful advice Les.
I always use Alt tags, but in my ignorance I had never thought about their use for the visually impaired. Something i will do further research on for sure.
It goes a long way with Google. Just describe the image :) From the horse's mouth.
http://bit.ly/33jqcvS (I've used a shortened as the system didn't like the link as it contained a value - takes to a Google Webmaster article).
Hope it helps :)
Les thanks for the great advice I hope a lot of people read this it is certainly important I know from now on I'll think my graphics over, and double check the clarity of my pics.
Joe
See more comments
This is a good one, Les! Bookmarking now!