An ecover is an ecover, is an ecover. A small graphic image that sits on your web page. Right?

Wrong!

Your ecover has a very important purpose. And that purpose is to help convince your visitor to buy your product. Sure, the words on your sales page has a big effect on whether your visitor buys or not, but the success of making a sale or not is a combination of the words and your ecover image.

What does a professional ecover consist of?

• Colors should be complimentary (only in special cases, do contrasting colors work).
• Layout should be balanced (no clutter, type should be readable, text is balanced, etc.).
• If photos are used they should be appropriate for the type of book (portraits have a better effect than objects).
• An ecover should be a reflection of the quality of the product (even though it may be an excellent product, a shoddy ecover can give the impression that the product is of poor quality).

Imagine walking into a book store, and the books looked like the ecover on the left? Would you pick it up and give it a read?

An ecover is no different. Actually, the appearance of your ecover is even more important than the hard copy book in the book store. Why? Your visitors are a lot busier, and when they scan your page, if your ecover is boring or of poor quality, there is a good chance that they’ll click away, without even reading your sales page.

I agree, these are extreme examples, but you must agree, the point is clear.

So, should a graphic designer design your ecover?

Looking at the training a graphic designer undergoes, it covers all the elements that goes into an ecover design: color, layout, typography, etc. And the graphic designer is usually familiar with the software needed to create ecovers.

When you consider a graphic designer to design your ecover, think of the elements above, and also of the time you save – time you can use to build your web site, or create further products.