Images also communicate a message. They can trigger feelings and emotions. Carefully selected, quality images that accurately support your sales copy will help to produce a positive response in your web visitors. More importantly, focused, high-quality web images will increase your sales! Quality graphics, like an overall quality web site, will inspire trust in you and your products.
Keep in mind that not just any image will be an improvement. In fact, if your choice of graphic images (photos, clipart, illustrations) is not properly focused and of high quality, then you could actually lose sales. Poor graphics will damage your credibility instead of boosting it. They suggest that you are not professional, your sales message is not to be trusted, and your product's value will become suspect.
What kind of graphics should you add to your site?
Use unique graphics that represent your products and enhance your sales message. Here are some images that can do that.
?A professional-looking header image at the top of your web pages. This is the first thing your web visitors (and potential customers) will see, and therefore is your first chance to make a good impression. ?An image representing your products. This can be an ebook cover, software box cover, or CD cover image. ?An attention-grabbing order button to attract people to your order link. Including action verbs in your order buttons, like "Click Here to Order Now!" can increase sales. ?Turn navigation links into images and keep them consistent on every page. I also recommend that you provide text links in addition to the image links for search engine optimization. You can put the text links at the bottom of the page. ?Include your URL on each Web page to make it easier for people to go back to your Web site when printing or saving your Web pages. You can include your URL and copyright information in an interesting-looking footer image.
Don't use too many images as this can have a negative affect. Too many images tend to distract the visitor which lessens the impact of your sales message. Use only enough images needed to support the focus of your site. The bottom line is: A few quality, focused images sell!
However, your pictures must come up quickly. Graphics that are not properly optimized can slow down the opening of your web pages considerably, and a slow web site will cost you sales. Apply the following techniques to help speed up your pages, keep potential buyers at your site, and boost sales.
? Keep images and graphics as small as possible in file size. The larger the file sizes, the longer the images take to download. ? Always optimize images before placing them on your web site. Some graphics software programs (e.g. Adobe Photoshop) have a special function for optimizing files. Optimizing compresses a file and reduces the file size while maintaining the highest image quality possible. ? Reduce your file size by saving images in the proper graphic format. GIF or JPEG are the most popular formats for web images. ? Avoid large and unnecessary graphics -- especially on your home page. Only use images that support your sales message. If you have too many images on your page(s), they will distract your visitors and will dramatically slow down the opening of those pages. ? If large images are necessary to illustrate your products, display smaller images (thumbnails), and provide links to the larger versions (which will open on a new page). ? Crop images. If, for example, you're showing a photo of a person using your product, much of the surrounding background is not necessary to support your sales message. Every bit that you crop out (remove) helps to lower the file size of that image. ? Reduce the number of colors in clipart and illustrations. The more colors in an image, the bigger the file size and therefore the more time it takes to open a page. Use gradients sparingly. They contain two or more colors and produce a larger file size than a single solid color. ? Keep the resolution of your images at 72 dpi, the maximum resolution a computer monitor can read. ? Include ALT tags in your images. Search engines can't read images, and ALT tags tell them what an image is about. Use your main keyword in your ALT tags to optimize your search engine position.
Pictures can instantly improve the look of your web site, but it won't matter how good they look if they significantly slow down the opening of your web pages. Use high quality, relevant pictures that support your sales message but make sure they are optimized.
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