Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Why Are Graphics Important To Your Online Business?

By Theo McLanahan

Essential to doing any sort of business activities on the Internet, a website acts as a sort of online store front, presenting your business to countless international customers. The success or failure that your Internet based business has is greatly influenced by the graphics you choose to use on the website.

First and foremost, professional-looking graphics lead to a professional-looking website. If your graphics are blurry, out of focus, or simply look haphazardly put together, the whole look of your website will take a turn for the worse. When a new customer visits your site, they will assume you are an amateur or that you don't care enough to do a quality job, and they won't stick around for long.

Graphics are most effective when they express your brand's concept to the public while helping customers to quickly and easily recognize your product. Consider one famous example, the Nike "swoosh." This internationally known symbol appears on the company's website amongst other images of shoes and athletes that conjure up sports related thoughts.

When you visit the Nike site, you know you are in the right place, as the images coincide with Nike's message of "just do it." On the other hand, if you went to the Nike site and saw photos of ice cream, cakes, and cookies, you would wonder if you were in the right place. You might not even take the time to read the words on the website, as you might just click away and try finding the correct website.

This idea applies in equal measure to you and your company's web page. Visitors that are confused by the images they find will not stick around. You are also less likely to be linked from other sites and any affiliate programs you use will certainly be less successful.

Asking other businesspeople to join up with you in an online affiliate program brings with it a certain level of responsibility. Since you are requesting that they sell your products and services, you will want to have high caliber graphics on your website. Otherwise, affiliates will be hard to find. They will not be able to advertise or promote your products if you provide them with poor quality graphics.

Becoming part of a link exchange means that others will display the image you present them with on their website. If you give them a low quality image that will detract from the visual quality of their websites, they will be much more likely to refuse your offers at making a professional partnership. Any graphic you use as part of a link exchange should be of the very highest quality.

As you can see, graphics play a big part in your business. If you do not have experience with graphic software or don't feel that you are the best one suited for creating your graphics, you should hire a graphic designer. It may cost more up front, but think about how much money you would lose by having a poor image as your graphic. It is well worth the investment to hire a professional.

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