Media Size
Choosing images that compliment your website's professional content
and underpins its message, takes careful thought. A perfectly chosen
image can make a site stand out from its competitors.
File size however is more important, as they will not stick around to view it, if it takes too long to appear
The same applies to other media (MP3, MP4Movies, PDF's)
Products
'Digital Products', i.e. products that are downloaded via a page or email once purchased, can afford to be a little bigger.
However, they still need to be transferred over the net, and customers will slow connections or others with irregular connections, may face problems.
The customer services involved in solving these problems, will add to your costs, even if you offer 'contact forms made especially for such communications
(A 'form maker' is standard with our CMS Websites).
- Reduce your products file size to the minimum (by zipping them into a folder if necessary)
- Consider dividing your products into portions. It often makes them feel better value for money and may allow them to be 'specialised' for specific customers, increasing sales opportunities.
- Consider your likely custom. 'Business Users' are likely to have access to faster Internet connections and the old tend to upgrade less often, to the latest speed.
- Consider giving both options. A full download and a split download. The smaller may be good for them to use on their media player. Adding to the flexibility of your products and encouraging sales.
See our Internet Speed Download Chart below:
Downloads Speeds Chart
|
Internet Connection Speed
|
Time to load a typical web page
(assuming 100 kilobytes of data)
|
Time to download a typical 5-minute song
(assuming a 5 megabyte MP3 file)
|
Streaming Video Quality
|
|
56K dial-up modem
|
14 sec
|
12 min 30 sec
|
|
|
256K broadband
|
3 sec
|
3 min
|
Low Quality
|
|
512K broadband
|
1.6 sec
|
1 min 30 sec
|
|
|
1Mb broadband
|
0.8 sec
|
41 sec
|
|
|
2Mb broadband
|
0.4 sec
|
20 sec
|
Medium Quality
|
|
4Mb broadband
|
0.1 sec
|
5 sec
|
|
|
6Mb broadband
|
Instantaneous
|
Instantaneous
|
|
|
8Mb broadband
|
Instantaneous
|
Instantaneous
|
TV Quality
|
|
Note: all figures are approximate and represent best-case download speeds. Actually speeds will generally be lower.
|
Image layout and size
Images can look awkward if their size, proportions and backgrounds
do not match their intended use. Consider that big is not always necessary, especially if the image or PDF is not for printing.
Your project manager can provide consultancy services to help in deciding such factors.
Not all web companies have creative personnel in-house, our graphic designers
will be on hand and can offer a content maintenance program for areas
our clients wish to outsource.
What to do next
If your site could be improved with our assistance, please contact
us to discuss the best way forward.
|
Time is money
Having great media or digital products, are important. Enabling visitors and customers to view and download them, quickly, is essential.
|
