Some web
developers have a graphic arts
background and may pay more
attention to how a page looks than
considering other issues such as how
visitors are going to find the page
via a search engine. Some might rely
more on advertising than search
engines to attract visitors to the
site. On the other side of the
issue, search engine optimization
consultants (SEOs) are concerned
with how well a web site works
technically and textually: how much
traffic it generates via search
engines, and how many sales it
makes, assuming looks don't
contribute to the sales. As a
result, the designers and SEOs often
end up in disputes where the
designer wants more 'pretty'
graphics, and the SEO wants lots of
'ugly' keyword-rich text, bullet
lists, and text links. One could
argue that this is a false dichotomy
due to the possibility that a web
design may integrate the two
disciplines for a collaborative and
synergistic solution. Because some
graphics serve communication
purposes in addition to aesthetics,
how well a site works may depend on
the graphic designer's visual
communication ideas as well as the
SEO considerations.
Another problem when using lots of graphics on a page is that download times can be greatly lengthened, often irritating the user. This has become less of a problem as the internet has evolved with high-speed internet and the use of vector graphics. This is an engineering challenge to increase bandwidth in addition to an artistic challenge to minimize graphics and graphic file sizes. This is an on-going challenge as increased bandwidth invites increased amounts of content.