Atom Feed (xml)
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.
One Major Skill Problem
For many webmasters like myself, one of the most difficult skills to master is the development of website graphics. Many people like me are not particularly gifted in this area. We are also faced with the problem that good graphics programs, such as PhotoShop, are both expensive and difficult to learn.
You only have to visit websites designed by amateurs to see how bad some people are at creating website graphics! Quite frankly, a badly presented website can destroy that site's credibility. If the site is selling something, would you want to pay someone who clearly is not a professional - or even a good business person? I think not!
The Need For Website Graphics
It is important for the content of a website to be easily read, and this can partially be achieved by breaking up the text with well-placed and appropriate images. This is as important on blogs and content-rich sites as it is with selling websites. People will soon leave if the site cannot be easily and quickly read.
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.
Hiring A 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.
Why Not Use Existing Artwork?
All over the web you will find sources of pre-made graphics, such a banner headers, bullets, buttons and royalty-free photographs
One problem with ready-made graphics is that, because they are freely available, many people will use them on their sites. So if you use the same ones, experienced visitors to your site will recognise that you are using free resources. This can create an image which is less than professional. With the right skills and graphics software it is possible to modify these ready-made images to give a more unique look to your website. But I find that this is both challenging and time consuming, and I guess that other people will as well.
And it's not always easy to find good online collections of pre-made graphics. Quite frankly, much of these free graphics collections are of very poor quality.
My Solution To Creating Graphics For Websites
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
I've been amazed at what you can do with some of these web- based services. You can design things such as banner headers, badges and buttons without difficulty. You can apply all sorts of effects to photographs. You can manipulate existing images as if you were using a top-end graphics program. You can even design templates for both websites and blogs. There's a lot more - and I'm regularly finding new online services of this kind
The great thing is that there is no charge for these services!
For my own convenience, I took the best of these graphics services and wrapped them up in a bit of software which I can easily access. And the software can be updated easily, so that I can add new graphics services as I find 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.
One Major Skill Problem
For many webmasters like myself, one of the most difficult skills to master is the development of website graphics. Many people like me are not particularly gifted in this area. We are also faced with the problem that good graphics programs, such as PhotoShop, are both expensive and difficult to learn.
You only have to visit websites designed by amateurs to see how bad some people are at creating website graphics! Quite frankly, a badly presented website can destroy that site's credibility. If the site is selling something, would you want to pay someone who clearly is not a professional - or even a good business person? I think not!
The Need For Website Graphics
It is important for the content of a website to be easily read, and this can partially be achieved by breaking up the text with well-placed and appropriate images. This is as important on blogs and content-rich sites as it is with selling websites. People will soon leave if the site cannot be easily and quickly read.
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.
Hiring A 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.
Why Not Use Existing Artwork?
All over the web you will find sources of pre-made graphics, such a banner headers, bullets, buttons and royalty-free photographs
One problem with ready-made graphics is that, because they are freely available, many people will use them on their sites. So if you use the same ones, experienced visitors to your site will recognise that you are using free resources. This can create an image which is less than professional. With the right skills and graphics software it is possible to modify these ready-made images to give a more unique look to your website. But I find that this is both challenging and time consuming, and I guess that other people will as well.
And it's not always easy to find good online collections of pre-made graphics. Quite frankly, much of these free graphics collections are of very poor quality.
My Solution To Creating Graphics For Websites
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
I've been amazed at what you can do with some of these web- based services. You can design things such as banner headers, badges and buttons without difficulty. You can apply all sorts of effects to photographs. You can manipulate existing images as if you were using a top-end graphics program. You can even design templates for both websites and blogs. There's a lot more - and I'm regularly finding new online services of this kind
The great thing is that there is no charge for these services!
For my own convenience, I took the best of these graphics services and wrapped them up in a bit of software which I can easily access. And the software can be updated easily, so that I can add new graphics services as I find 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:
Ian Traynor is an experienced webmaster who has been helping less experienced webmasters for many years. His inexpensive "graphics in a box" software can be found at http://www.IanSays.com/WebmastersCheatKit/GraphicsWizard
No comments:
Post a Comment