THERE ARE NO TWO ways about it: Underestimating the importance of good graphic design for your Web site will cost you credibility, traffic, and sales. If content is king, graphics are the royal court, creating the aura of importance and authority that will indelibly impress your visitors. In addition, good design will guide visitors easily and efficiently to the information they need.

Aside from being aesthetically attractive, graphics have to be technically superior, with dense color resolution and compact file size. All the beauty in the world won't spare your visitors frustration from a slow-loading site. And frustration is not something you want to be part of your branding.

Surprisingly, many companies expend relatively little effort when building sites; presumably, they think that because Web pages are malleable, they can skip the extensive due diligence normally associated with building a "real" storefront.

Wrong.

The building materials for a Web site are expertise and time, and they are every bit as expensive as cinder blocks and plywood.

Simply, there is no substitute for hiring the best you can afford to build your site. But once the site is up, you can still do a lot to maintain and modify throughout the course of business, so it is important to use good design and technology.

In fact, your enterprise's in-house staff can employ many of the same techniques and applications that the pros use to help you project a memorable image without sacrificing your site's usability or brreaking your budgets.

Adding visual impact

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