Web page graphics play an important part in pulling in customers, but is an often overlooked aspect of web page design. You might have even done it yourself. Have you ever just finished creating a web page and thought to yourself - “Hey, everything looks OK, why bother with the fancy graphics?” I know I have, but I’ve also learned the error of my ways. Read on and I’ll explain.
A typical visitor will decide in less than 30 seconds, in fact, usually in the first 2-3 seconds, if they’re going to read on, or whether they’re going to hit back. Think about it.
Web page graphics play a huge role in capturing the user’s attention, the first thing your eyes are drawn to when they see a new web page is the graphics. So use them to hook the user’s attention, and keep them on the page.
The next thing your user is probably going to notice is the title. After all, they’re going to want to know what your page is about right? Right. Now if you’ve made the mistake of not bothering with fancy graphics, your title’s probably going to be some bland text, probably bold, or underlined, in a large font, does that sound close? Well that’s not good enough. You’re going to lose your users attention right there. They’re going to hit back, and your going to lose the sale. Now I imagine you see where I’m going with this, if your web page has those fancy graphics everywhere... what’s your title look like? Something innovative and interesting I’m betting.
Right there, you’ve managed to successfully guide the user’s attention, from hovering over the back button, to the page, to the title, and now onto the very best bit of your site! The content. And just think, those are just two of the ways graphics boost your sales.
To quickly mention a third – I’d feel like I’d left out the best bit if I didn’t. Have you ever left a site because it was too tricky to use? Or because you couldn’t find your way back to a page you were on before? It frustrates users endlessly. And there’s one bit of gold you should keep in mind. Web page graphics are the foundation of usability. Apply these techniques and you’ll be improving your sites’ experience in no time.
There’s a reason all the large organizations have top of the line web page graphics; they know exactly what they’re doing. And they know exactly how much they’re benefiting by spending the extra cash on those top end web page graphics!
