Mastering Website Graphics: Problems And Solutions

I'm a professional webmaster and in this job I have to cope with many different types of tasks involving website design and maintenance. Quite frankly, a webmaster has to be a "Jack of all trades", and naturally, some of the jobs I find more difficult than others.

Here's Something I Struggle With..

Many webmasters such as myself find that the creation of website graphics is one of the hardest tasks to do well. Artistic ability is something you are born with, not something you can easily acquire. Yes, the best graphics software makes the job a little easier but software such as PhotoShop is both costly and not easy to master.

The general lack of graphics skills is very evident when you look at the many websites built by amateurs. They really haven't grasped the importance of having a well-presented website. If they are selling something, they are unlikely to gain the confidence of potential customers. Would you buy from a person who cannot present a professional appearance on their website? Probably not!

The Importance Of Website Graphics

For a site to be easily readable, the text needs to be broken up with appropriate images. These make a web page much easier to read. And it doesn't matter whether your website is a sales page, a blog or a content-rich site aiming to make money from advertising - if your site isn't easy to read, people will leave the site quickly.

Also, presenting an image of whatever is being sold on a site will increase the conversion rate. This applies equally to digital products such as eBooks and software.

Using A Professional Graphic Designer

If you need some really high-quality images, and you don't have good graphic design skills then you should use the services of a professional graphic designer. Yes, it could be expensive. And yes, you may have to wait a while for the work to be finished.

You have, of course, the problem of finding a qualified graphic designer. You need to make sure that they can produce the quality that you need and that you like the sort of designs they can produce. Each graphic designer has his or her own style, and they will not all appeal to you. Have a good look at their portfolio - and check how long they are likely to take to produce the finished work. You don't want to delay the launch of a new site or product because the graphic designer works so slowly.

Using Pre-Made Graphics

All over the web you will find sources of pre-made graphics, such a banner headers, bullets, buttons and royalty-free photographs

The trouble is that the same graphics get used time and again on different websites, and people will soon realise that you are a "cheapskate"! Not a good impression to make! Of course, you can use your graphics software to modify pre-made graphics. If you want to make certain that your website stands out, you need to have access to valuable content that is relatively unique. But again, changing graphics takes time and skill. Like many people, I am short of both of these!

There's also the problem of locating good sources of pre-made graphics. I've found that a lot of these collections of existing artwork are both repetitive and of poor quality.

What I Have Done To Tackle The Website Graphics Problem

I've been a professional webmaster since 1996, and so I've spent a lot of time tracking down good web-based sources of graphics. And in recent months, I've found web-based services which go a long way beyond just providing clip art and royalty-free photographs

Some of these online services are quite remarkable. There are services which let you create your own badges, buttons and banners without needing artistic skills. There are services which let you do amazing transformations of existing photographs. There are sites which let you design your own website and blog templates. The list goes on - and new online graphics services are appearing almost daily.

Best of all, they don't cost you anything!

At first, I simply kept a list of the services I discovered. Then, for my convenience, I packaged them into a little piece of software I designed. I made it so that I could slot in new services as I found them

I passed a few copies of this software out to a few close friends to see what they thought of it. Their reaction was "Wow!! You could make a packet selling this". Well, I didn't particularly want to make "a packet" because I wanted to make it affordable to most "graphically-challenged" webmasters. So, when I added it to my "Webmasters CheatKit product range, I kept the price low, and it's become hugely successful.

About the Author

The author of this article, Ian Traynor, has spent years struggling with website graphics! He has made his "graphics in a box" software available at a low price from http://www.IanSays.com/WebmastersCheatKit/GraphicsWizard

Comments

No comments posted.

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.

Article Advise

Infobious