Are you feeling hungry? Sorry to disappoint you, but this article is not about dessert or even food. It focuses on artwork and photographs.
Colorful vegetables add flavor just as art adds spice to a site
In keeping with my Ingredients of Good Design theme, would you eat a salad made of only lettuce? Do the fresh tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and peppers make it more enticing? Of course they do. In the same regard, a text-heavy site will have less traffic and a higher bounce rate than a site with good copy and vivid art and photos.
Last week, I viewed a blog site that overflowed with columns of text and a small 80 pixel square photo of the author in the top right. The text overwhelmed my eyes. It reminded me of a tedious-to-read college textbook. Actually, that is an unfair comparison – I have read advanced calculus textbooks with more photos than this site.
When your articles and products and pages come to life with attention grabbing artwork, people are more likely to read your content. People pay more attention to a clear image with details, so choose high quality images. Clean, clear faces in an image appeal to people’s eyes. Be careful not to use abstract artwork too often. Artwork may not be the first thing a visitor sees on a web page but it can compel them to stay. Learn some more interesting facts about how people view a web page in this eye-tracking research article. Art and photos can serve as a powerful tool to illustrate a point or show a product feature that might normally require loads of copy to describe.
Some places to start searching for photos:
• Flickr’s Creative Commons Search
• iStockphoto
As a side note, just because an image is on the internet, does not mean you can use it for free or any way you want. Always remember to get permission to use artwork or purchase it and do not forget to properly give credit when requested.
Now for the technical talk, be sure to optimize your art and photos for the web and SEO. Here are some tips:
• Add deywords in alt text, text around the image, and the image name
• Use a separate search engine accessible image folder
• Set the image size for the layout and the resolution for the web
Read some more tips about image optimization at O’Reilly.
The CluePad team determined early on that we wanted a clean and simple design aesthetic that provides a friendly, easy to navigate site. We use art and photos sparingly, which allows them to grab attention and quickly make a point.
Can you ever have too much dessert? Sure, but that depends on the person. So, you must you decide what is best for your site and audience. Well-chosen diagrams, art and photos make it easier for a large segment of your audience, the visual learners, to remember your message. When people remember your message they will most likely act upon it and often times come back for more good information, which will keep your site busy with traffic.
