johntabita - 2:26 pm on Nov 18, 2005 (gmt 0)

No, in fact, adding more graphics may actually cause people to leave your site if it takes too long to load.

A successful website is much more than nice graphics or even a professional design. It's also an having a compelling message and getting that message in front of your target audience. But a website is only a tool. What you need first is a strategy. What is the goal of your site? That is, what do you want people to do when they get there? The design, message, etc., are all just tactics designed to accomplish that.

The other thing is, a website cannot be successful without taking into account all of your other marketing methods. So unless your business operates exclusively online, then what you need is an overall marketing strategy. What is the primary way you now get clients/patients? If you don't know the anwer to that, then stop what you're doing, forget about your website for the time being, and figure out the answer to that question. Once you know that, then you'll be one step closer to determining how the web fits into it and how to use it more effectively.

Hope that helps.