The effects of multimedia on your company website

Many business owners around the world use the Internet to host websites related to their business. They typically feature ‘SEO-friendly’ graphics (typically low-res .GIF files for loading speed) and generally uniform and boring color schemes and layouts, to maintain browser compatibility. With all the debate about current technology and its limits, and the progression of web technology increasing exponentially, you can’t blame them! What most people don’t realize is that this attempt to host fast, compliant websites can be the #1 way to destroy your sales and professional appearance, without wanting to lose a plethora of potential customers in the process.

People underestimate multimedia and its ability to increase business on the web.. Ever since the good old days of floppy disks and dial-up, people are getting too comfortable with plain, barely functional websites… and it’s driving them out of business! So what can you do to increase your online appearance and maintain the compatibility of your regular website?

Here are some ideas that will really grab your audience’s attention:

1. Work with CSS layouts and transparent PNG graphics. PNG files have the magical effect in a browser of allowing what is called ‘alpha transparency’. This means your images don’t have to be an awkward square – if you want a plant pot for your florist business, you can do it without needing a tacky white square to fill up the rest of the space. Combining this with CSS will allow you to keep the flowerpot hovering over a corner of your website, even as you scroll down the page. (Tip: This is a wonderful idea if you want to use the PNG as a link to an important page, like your newsletter subscription.).
2. Don’t be afraid of flash content. The same CSS trick applies to flash content, which can have a wonderful effect on your business by allowing everything to be interactive. You can make the optional flower box have a ‘name’ and ’email’ input text box, from where you can let people sign up without having to leave the page. And yes, it is compatible. Simply publish with AS2 and Flash 8 (an older version of flash scripting) and your website will be over 99.6% compatible with ALL web users!
3. Implement Video on your Landing Page! A simple video on your landing page (the page a website visitor sees for the first time) has been shown to be more likely to drive sales than just text and images. It’s really simple, you can use a simple live intro that’s only 30 seconds long, a motion graphics segment describing your product/service, ANYTHING! And you don’t need to be a video expert to pull this off. A simple video made in Windows Movie Maker will do. Or, if you’re looking to generate some serious sales, why not try hiring a multimedia production company to quickly create one for you? Not only would the video look amazing, but the few hundred dollars it would cost to make it would quickly be recouped in the profits from the sales you make once your website starts generating leads.
4. Mix and match video and flash. There’s nothing that says you can’t combine video with flash! Imagine the exact same video content above, with a message at the end that allows people to directly visit your product page?
5. Use rollover images for links. Images can be very easily configured on your website to allow for subtle rollover effects, highlighting the menu or any links. A general rule of thumb is to always make important links in warm colors and make them stand out from the background color. Not only does a rollover effect do this, it can help easily distinguish which page of a website your visitor is on and where they can go, as well as allowing for stylized images that really match and help solidify your design.

These simple tips are a good starting point, but they don’t end there! Bandwidth and storage space online are cheaper than ever, and people’s browsers are getting faster at loading this content. 10 years ago, a video and images would spell disaster for any website, but today you have the ability to put mountains of content on your website that can really blow your visitors away.

Get to work! First impressions also count on the Internet: do you want your visitors to think?old fashioned” Prayed “Wow that’s cool“When do they first see your business online? It’s up to you…