FHG Galleries: how to design them for highest conversions?

[nyllover]

Hello guys,
we are going to design FHGs for two brand new sites we've just opened (NylonUp.com and TransFeet.com). The question that comes up is: how would you make them to improve conversions?
In your experience what makes a FHG sells the most?

I'm not talking about content, of course i know that's the most important part (among with thumbs quality) but...
- How many pics?
- How big should the thumbs be?
- Highest quality pictures, or smaller ones?
- Watermark on pics?
- Any other specific things are important in your opinion?

Any input is highly appreciated, thanks!

[Toby]

Keep it simple. The sole function of the gallery is to get the surfer to click through to the tour.
• At least the top row of thumbs should be visible "above the fold" (visible without scrolling). Get your branding in place, but no big headers.
• Sales pitch points should be short and simple, let the tour do the heavy selling. There should also be action words giving a sense of urgency... i.e. Take the Free Tour. Click here NOW!
• If you have thumbs of images on your tour, a similar size on your galleries would likely be best. Still need to be small enough to fit 12 to 16 them on the page without too much scrolling.
• Large images don't need to be full size, you can show that on the tour.
• Watermarks need to be visible without being distracting. They also need to be placed so that a nice thumb image can be made. Most affiliates will make their own thumbs from a larger image. Those thumbs are what gets traffic to the gallery, so a large watermark makes it more difficult to make a good thumb.

[nyllover]

Thanks a lot for your input Toby!