In today's internet world graphics are almost an essential part of your website. Not only they make your site more appealing, they also make your product look more professional. A judicious dash of graphics would always help your site to perform better.

However, you need to be careful with use of web graphics. Web graphics, if used in excess can distract, irritate or repel your customers and will increase loading time.

However a header, logo, product images and order button are the graphics which are almost a norm. All of these graphics are used to create an effect about your website and product. They help to brand your business and your products. If there were no logos, people would have difficulty in making brand images. Your header gives recognition to your website and your product images create an aura around your product.

Your header can be as simple as your website name with a simple background or a canvas of multiple images. Whatever you choose, just be careful to match your site them with it. It is not a good idea to have a scenic beauty picture as your header if you are in bakery business.

Your logo can be just name of your website or any theme matched picture. Your logo does not need to be elaborate. Please pay a visit to the following examples. See how simple their logos are

amazon.com/

ticketmaster.com/

petsmart.com/

google.com/

cdnow.com/

They are simple, easy to read and functional. If they can be so successful with their simple and direct approach, you can be too.

Here are two logo resources which you will find handy. Cooltext is free to use and for you to play with and Gotlogos will create a logo for you against a nominal fee.

cooltext.com

gotlogos.com

Product graphics are another essential requirement that you would need to make or get made. Again, like anything you have two choices. Either do it yourself or outsource.

If you are planning to outsource them, here are some good names in the field

miniwebsitepro.com/

eCoverMonster.com/

Outlaw-FX.com/

EcoverDesign.com/

ECoverFX.com/

CheapCoverz.com/

trendyecovers.com/

BlingCovers.com/

A1eCovers.com/

ebook-designer.com/

Ebook-Cover-Art.com/

Ecover-Dude.com/

KillerCovers.com/

VirtuaPack.com/

AbsoluteCovers.com/

ecovergeeks.com/

thegraphicsdragon.com/

HyperCover.com/

To do it yourself, the first step is to find some graphic software. Here are the good ones

Adobe’s Photoshop

adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html

It is very powerful and considered as top-notch. However, it is also expensive and tough to learn. The following programs are simpler to use, cheaper, and almost just as powerful if you pertain yourself to web graphics.

PhotoImpact ulead.com/pi/runme.htm

Fireworks is from Macromedia and integrates seamlessly with their WYSIWYG editor,Dreamweaver macromedia.com/software/fireworks/

Paint Shop Pro iasc.com/

A word of caution! Keep your graphics to basic minimum. That way your website loads faster and is more user-friendly. Keep your graphic files as light as you can without compromising the quality and size. Remember, for best performance you need a dash of graphics and not a bash of graphics.