Media Outreach

One of the crucial elements in an attractive website is the images incorporated into the website. However, one of the elements of an unattractive website is the images incorporated into the website. Images can make or break a website. What makes an image a good or bad choice to use in a website?

There are a few image elements that can give you the edge when it comes to creating a good-looking website.

1. Image Quality – One of the first things noticeable about an image is its quality. If the image is in any way blurry, grainy, or otherwise distorted, it immediately looks unprofessional and reflects negatively on the website as a whole. Make sure the images used in your site look clear and professional. If an image is too small, do not try to stretch it to larger dimensions. It will lose quality (i.e. professionalism, aesthetic appeal, etc.) quickly. It will be worth your time to redesign the area using the image or finding another image with the right dimensions.

2. Dimensions – When inserting an image into a web page, make sure the image used doesn’t overwhelm the other content on the page. What is the most important goal of your web page? Is it to display a giant image that takes up most of the content area, or is it to compliment the content in the page? Make sure your image is the appropriate dimensions for the space you’re putting it into.

3. File Size – This is something few think about when it comes to using images on a web page. Regardless of the speed of your internet connection, the more images that are in a page, the longer it takes to display the page. In addition, if the images used on that page (regardless of the quantity) have a large file size, it will take your visitors longer to download and view that web page. Even though you can adjust the dimensions of an image after you upload it, you cannot adjust the file size. One thing you can do to help the loading speed of your web pages is to create and upload images with the exact dimensions in which they will be displayed on the website. That will avoid the use of excessively large file sizes.

4. Type – Did you know that there are many different image file types and it matters which type you choose? There are two standard image file formats used on the internet: JPEG (*.jpg) and GIF (*.gif). There are a few other formats beginning to gain popularity, but for the most part, they aren’t consistently supported in browsers and tend to have large file sizes. Simple rule of thumb: use the JPEG file type for photos and the GIF image type for graphics and most logos.

5. Layout – Placement of an image in a website is just as important of a variable in the overall aesthetic quality of a website as the previous four variables mentioned: too many images, images that are too large, images in the wrong place, etc., can all contribute to an unattractive website. Make sure you use images sparingly throughout your website. Less is more. Don’t let the images on your web pages be so important that they distract visitors from the brilliant content you’ve filled your website with.