SEO Blog

One of the most common mistakes made in website design is using images whose files are too large. This results in a site that loads too slowly. If your site doesn’t load within a few seconds, you will start losing visitors. Therefore, taking the time to optimize your images can directly result in more traffic for your site.

The biggest rule you should remember is don’t resize your image in your website design program. The image will be smaller, but your file size remains the same. You must resize your image in an image editing program which will actually decrease the file size. Some of these programs include Adobe Photoshop, Dynamic Drive’s Image Optimization, or CorelDraw. You may also find some less expensive or no cost programs such as Graphics Workshop which will accomplish the same task.

Next, you need to understand the different types of image files. JPEG files are designed to optimize images with fine gradations of color. JPEG is great to use on photographs, as colors are not lost in compression, however data is. With GIF files, no data is lost but you do loose color when compressed. If your image has sharp lines or text, GIF files would be best. PNG is a newer technology, and gives you the best of both worlds. However, since it is a newer type of file, not all browsers will support it.

When optimizing your images, you must consider quality versus size. You want a small file size, but if that means the quality of the image becomes poor then your efforts are useless. Test your images to get a good quality image at a decent size, and then see how long it takes for your site to load. The extra time spent correctly optimizing your image will be worth it in the end!

Regardless of the quality of content on your website, you may be inadvertently driving visitors away solely on your website layout. People are much more likely to visit and return to websites which are easy to navigate and easy to find exactly what they are looking for in a short amount of time. There are several important points to consider when designing a website layout.

1. Keep it simple: This makes your site more user friendly. Do not create complex navigational links or use bulky images which take too long to load. It also helps to maintain a sense of uniformity between pages, although not always necessary.

2. Make it readable: Choose standard font sizes and professional fonts.

3. Choose color schemes carefully: Some color combinations can have a blinding effect for users. Find colors which are pleasing to the eye, and make sure your text is clearly visible over the background color.

4. Watch your file size: If it takes too much time to load pages in your website, a viewer is more likely to leave. Don’t use unnecessary images or supporting files which may slow the page loading time down.

5. Proper placement: Make sure you place links, menus, and page buttons in the proper place, making them easily assessable to users. Also check occasionally for broken links.

Using a website builder makes most of these tasks easy. However, it is up to you to choose a website layout that is easy and attractive to users, increasing the likelihood of return visits.