Worth A Thousand Words

The old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” is especially true in internet marketing. Just be careful that you don’t over do it or the results could be devastating.

Images on a website, email or blog should always enhance the text, not overpower it. The images should be strong enough to attract potential clients, should be related to the topic of the page and encourage your visitors to stick around to read the text and ultimately purchase your product or service. Images should be used to help build trust in your business and inform your customers.

Images should be of the highest quality but the lowest resolution to insure that they look good but load fast. Not everyone has their own T1 line but everyone hates to wait and slow loading images will not be tolerated.

Unless they are specifically related to your site or service, generally stay away from cute cartoons or  animations. They tend to annoy rather than inform and they make your site look like it was designed by a 3rd grader instead of a professional.

Don’t forget to use the “Alt” attribute to accurately describe each image. They not only help those using non-graphic browsers and screen readers they also give the search engine bots something to read and index. Image search engines and directories are a great resource to get visitors to your site through your images.

My final word today is on “Flash”. Used sparingly, it can enhance your site and make it more exciting but just like static images, too much can turn off your visitors fast and send them elsewhere. As far as “All Flash” sites, just say no. That is definitely a case of too much. Plus “All Flash” sites are very difficult to index which leads to fewer people finding your site.

Well, that’s it for now. Check back soon or check our website for more information to help your business grow.

Chris