They’re killing your SEO and you have less space for persuasive copy.  I mean, aren’t most of you out there on the net to make money?  Whether it’s selling a product or service, collecting leads or just expanding brand awareness…more sales is the key.

So what the heck is up with the graphics?

Just because your ad agency builds a beautiful, Flash-intense site with a bigger-than-life header with your image on it doesn’t mean it right.  Stick to the saying, less is more, and you’ll be all right.

Here’s how I handle graphics on a website:

1. I prefer a header of no taller than 200 pixels.  Yeah, you heard me.  I want to put more persuasive, hypnotic copy above the fold where it’ll have more impact.
2. I’ll use relevant, anchor photos near a headline to pull the eyes to my copy.  You know, the copy that will actually sell.
3. I attach a keyword targeted Alt Tag to every graphic I can so the search robots can read it.  If there are no alt tags, you’re missing out on a component of good SEO.

And that’s it.  I don’t want to fill the page with pictures.  Think of it this way, test 2 websites: one with nothing but graphics and one with nothing but copy.  The copy only page will out convert the graphic page any day.

This strategy fills my 2 main goals as an SEO copywriter.  First, I can get more relevant copy on the page and hit my keyword density target a lot easier. Remeber…content is king.

Second, I get more copy on the page which gives me a chance to get the visitor’s attention and keep it.  I also have more valuable above the fold space to use.

So please, resist the temptation to use the latest toys and too many graphics on your website.  Stick with the basics and your golden!