Galleries - Does style convert to sales?
 

When you're making galleries for TGP or free sites or whatever, does style and flash count as far as sales are concerned? Or do surfers just care about good quality, full sized pics?

Do I need to hire a designer to make fancy tables with curves and flashy graphics? Or will a simple layout convert just as well, if not better?

Back in the AVS days, I was finding that simple designs converted better than fancy ones because surfers just wanted pics. But now that everyone seems to have very elaborate designs, would a simple design turn surfers off?

Are there any webmasters here who still talk about business matters? :Graucho

i think its all about simple and attractive. too much bling is visual confusing to the surfer.

The winning formula is that you have to have a fresh good looking set of pics along with an elegant yet simple gallery that won't take away from the pics but compliment them...

my thoughts

your site looks ok, maybe change colors every once in awhile,,,

Most people seem to forget that galleries are just a gateway to sales... The job of the gallery is to peak people's interest and get them to the tour.. The TOUR is what converts the surfers to buyers. What you are promoting is just as important as the galleries, and if you have the best gallery with the highest ctr in the world, you still aren't goign to get sales if the site/tour of the site you're trying to sell really sucks.

There's a fine line between style and overkill. A site or gallery needs a little eye candy to draw the persons attention to what you want them to know. If all they see is the pics that's all they will focus on until they're done wanking and then it's back to work.

If the gallery has a 'little' flash to it to let the surfer know there's lots more of this great content just one more click away then it's done its job.

I'd love to see a gallery that has a great CTR ratio and yet is clean and would be accepted at the biggest TGPs out there (not on paying spots).

:glugglug

I think it's the best anwser so far !

I would too, but people don't like to share. :)

So the concensus seems to be that clean quality pics matter most, the tour is next in importance and flashy graphics aren't what sells.

That works for me. :)