Website approach

Originally Posted by rlabston A page full of text is pretty boring and unappealing. Graphics make a big difference inthe presentation of a website. remember the tried and true quote, "A picture is a worth a thousand words?" It is really true. I spend a lot of time creating images, either photos or graphics to add color to my pages. What is really discouraging to the web surfer is slow downloading caused by heavy graohics. I always make it a point to compress any images that appear on my site to minimize download time. Another thing that can be annoying is animation and sound. A repetitive animation that doesn't stop or a song played over and over again will drive visitors away. But appearance is important and graphics definitely help when used judiciously.

Great point. I like good visual sites, but don't get too carried away. The great visual sites are not necessarily the best sites. If you want repeat visitors, make sure you have great content.

Originally Posted by julian4239 Great point. I like good visual sites, but don't get too carried away. The great visual sites are not necessarily the best sites. If you want repeat visitors, make sure you have great content.

You are absolutely right. If a site developer creates the most asthetically pleasing website that a conaiseur of art could ask for, but the web surfer is looking for information about the art of sales, the pretty pîctures will hold his attention for as long as it takes to hit the back button or the close window button as he proceeds to the next site in search of what he is looking for.

By the same token, you can put the information the web surfer is looking for on your website, but if it is hard to find that information because of a bad layout, the surfer may look elsewhere again. Visual asthetics are more than just pretty pictures. Having good (and attractive) navigation features are also important.