Product image optimization techniques will help you increase your sales
- Oct 10, 2023
- 307
Product photography that is specifically designed for internet sales is known as e-commerce photography. To show prospective customers what they are buying, it is crucial to have high-quality product images. Professional photographers are used by many eCommerce companies to shoot product photographs.
Product images ought to be sharp, in focus, and have true-to-life colors. The item should take up the entire frame without any unnecessary background components. The product's important details should be included in the graphic so that potential buyers can see what they are purchasing.
To make the product stand out, white backgrounds are frequently used in e-commerce photography. Given that it depicts the object in use, this kind of photography is occasionally referred to as "lifestyle" photography. The product can be presented in a more realistic manner with lifestyle shots than with standard product images.
The success of an online sale can be greatly influenced by the quality of the photography used. In addition to good photography, image enhancement is crucial. Without optimization, search engines will not display your photographs. Excellent photography will be meaningless if your images are not optimized. to understand how
What is the definition of product photography?
To improve the appearance of the photographs, product photography requires exceptional talent and understanding. In this manner, the product photographs will look much better and be sufficient to convert customers.
Product photography is utilized in numerous marketing strategies, including websites, e-commerce businesses, digital commercials, catalogs, and magazine ads. Product photography is growing into its own small industry every year.
Product photography helps you present your product well and attract clients. Customers can see these things in depth in stores since they are displayed in photographs that show them from every aspect. Ideally, each object will include a variety of images showing 360-degree views..
Customers may get a positive impression of your website or store if it has high-quality images. Here are the top two categories of photos used for eCommerce products:
- Product-only images:
- In-context (lifestyle) images:
Product-only image
Really, a business owner always chooses items over services for superior outcomes. The best lighting is used to get this type of image from every aspect. On a white background, it will improve the product's appearance.
One hue will gradually come to represent your store's aesthetic if you use it as your background. White is a preferable option because it will not cause any disruption to your experience.
In-context image
The most popular brands Showing how they are used in daily life will draw customers to your company if it sells a variety of compatible products. Then you ought to choose in-context photos.
If you were a clothing producer, you could enhance the aesthetic of a t-shirt line by pairing it with a jacket. Two categories can function well in this approach, and both can be filmed simultaneously. Whether you choose a product on its own or in a context depends on the type of product.
Why is optimizing product images crucial?
Everyone loves to read image content rather than text when you share it on social media for easy access! The difference is that although reading a book takes time, visuals are interactive.
Technology is getting better every day, and so are people's perspectives. Before making a purchase, people still like to read the fine print, but nowadays they pay more attention to the product's attractive photos. Every company takes product photos.
Product photography enhances sales in addition to attracting customer attention.To effectively sell your products and boost sales, you must have high-quality images. Try to capture the item from every perspective while taking crisp photos.
Why do e-commerce platforms want high-quality pictures?
Images have the ability to communicate and carry a meaningful message. For e-commerce companies, images are useful. A retail site's low-quality images will discourage customers from making a purchase. You are unsure of the quality when shopping online.
Looking at images at least allows us to anticipate how things will seem. As we previously stated, an image has the power to convey and can persuade someone to buy something. With excellent images, customers may be enticed to read written content.
Having good photographs will assist reduce the number of people who return products because they did not match their expectations. But when the photography is excellent, there will not be many return instances.
1. Strategies for Using Product Images to Increase Traffic and Sales
Everyone evaluates a brand's reputation and value as a consumer based on the caliber of the pictures they employ. Online stores do not need to do anything novel to improve the quality of their images. Let us examine the best techniques for making your photographs stand out.
2. Adequately light the photographs.
Nowadays, with the rise of internet buying, individuals can only dispel their fears with high-quality photographs. Pictures that are dull and blurry will reflect poorly on the brand. The visitor may become a customer if the photographs are of high quality.
3. Select a Clear Background
For excellent pictures, your backdrop should be transparent and light-shaded. Every color looks fantastic on the white background, which also makes every product look better. For eCommerce businesses, choosing a transparent or white background is significantly simpler. Be consistent with your background choice of white or a neutral hue.
It will enhance the reputation of your company. In photography, background color is important. Every colourful item will make a white background look better. Use the Slazzer tool to create your white background. This program makes removing the background of an image quick and easy.
4. Give the product image a 360° view.
Taking photos and putting them online is insufficient to attract customers. To force the buyer to buy the product, the photography and editing must be believable.
The buyer will have a better grasp of the product and a greater likelihood that he will purchase it if you discuss it from all sides.
5. Display images of actual people use the product.
If you believe that publishing product images is acceptable, how can shoppers envision how an earring will appear on them if no one is wearing it?
How will a buyer be persuaded to purchase a t-shirt if you are presenting photographs of it but there is no image of the model wearing it?
In these scenarios, you ought to conduct a professional photo shoot with attractive models. They will be able to determine what size is appropriate for them and how it will appear to them.
Why is image optimization essential for online stores?
Online shopping sites are full of pictures, of which around 60–80 percent are product images. When there are plenty of pictures on your site, it can make your site slow. On the other hand, nowadays, everyone is doing almost everything on the Internet, so having a mobile device and an iPad is common.
You know what? Due to the slowing down of the page, there are higher chances of loss. As per Amazon, if their site is slow for only one second, it will cost them $1.6 billion annually. The slowdown of the site can be due to unoptimized images.
You must lose, too, when Amazon loses this massive amount, so it's better to optimize your pictures. Using appropriate tactics is necessary for image optimization to generate enough traffic and sales. If your site is not image-optimized, there is a higher chance of losing a lot of profit.
Why are photographs optimized?
With optimization, photographs are guaranteed to be of high quality and editable for the web and search engines. The performance of the website is improved by optimized images. Less data is required to download these optimization photos, which results in faster content loading and more effective site operation.
It will be preferable if you use images on your blog or eCommerce website. On the other hand, ensure that your photographs are optimized for Google and that the image size, file type, and quality are appropriate for search engine robots.
If you use these strategies, your optimized photographs should receive plenty of traffic. If you do not know, you must take care of a few things for better SEO; otherwise, your site will not succeed in terms of traffic, sales, and search engine ranks. Both the site owner and users will gain from your optimized photos.
Drawbacks of unoptimized images
1. If your site is not image-optimized, your pictures will not rank in search results. It will only show the text as a result of a keyword. To find your photos as a result in search engines for a specific keyword, you have to optimize them.
2. Unoptimized pictures can create slow-speed issues. It can vary from HTTP requests to the absence of HTTP compression, increasing site load time.
3. If your images are of the wrong size and placed at the wrong location, they will fail to grab users' attention. It will not even matter if the users view it or engage.
4. Due to unoptimized images, there is a decrease in the conversion rate. Honestly, unoptimized pictures and slow-loading sites will create the wrong impression on your users that next time they are not even on-site due to waiting for a long time to get the site open.
Top Reasons to Master Image Optimization
Any site can do much better in terms of speed and performance by optimizing loss. But for eCommerce sites, optimizing images is a must. Here are a few reasons why the optimization of ideas is essential.
1. Attract more people.
Apart from product images, you have other photos on your site, too. Google indexes them all. When users search for relatable keywords, these images will display when you do the image optimization as per Google guidelines. They will have the most chances to rank in search engine results and, as a result, attract more buyers.
Improve page loading times.
To make the site perform slowly. The main reason is unoptimized images. Since the photos have large file sizes, that's the reason they will take longer to load. Slow loading of the site will also impact the conversion rate. For this reason, people will visit your site, get irritated for waiting too long, and leave.
Optimized images are in compressed form, which means they have a reduced file size, so that's why they take less time to download. This way, people will not get irritated and will view your product.
2. Get ranked in search engines.
Optimized images have so many benefits, apart from being fast to download. They will attract more users and help your site rank better in search engines. When the images are optimized correctly, they will be displayed in the search engine when the user enters the appropriate keyword.
E-Commerce Image Optimization Tactics to Drive More Traffic from Google You must better understand why image optimization is necessary, or your site will be lost. Here are a few tips and tactics with which your site will improve.
3. Image types
As a website owner, you should be aware of different image formats. You can decide which format will be more appropriate when you understand image format types. This will make sure that images are not blurred. Among all the formats, the most common image formats in which pictures are saved are JPG, PNG, and GIF.
Out of the three, the first one is JGP. It is one of the old image formats linked to the web. The best thing about JPG is that it can be compressed, so you can have it in a small file size without affecting the quality of the image.
They consist of many colors when showing product photos, so JPG is the appropriate option. The second image format is PNG. They are mainly used for background images, such as dark-colored backgrounds. They are perfect for photos that need transparency. But the drawback is that it produces a large file size.
The third format is GIF; it has low quality compared to JPG images. It is an ideal option for small photos. They are unsuitable for large products as they have large file sizes, affecting your site's work.
Things to keep in mind
- It's better to opt for JPG for all your product images.
- For product images with transparent backgrounds or logos, PNG is appropriate.
- For icons or animating images, GIF is the savior.
4. Always add alt text.
Make sure you add alt text to your images. Adding alt text is important; by adding alt text, you can provide extra details about the image. You can add keywords, too, so your image will be displayed in the search engine, generating organic traffic.
It's super easy to add an alt key in WordPress. When you upload the product image to your WooCommerce store, you can also add the alt key at that time. Click on the pencil icon for editing, then enter alt text in the box.
5. Name images descriptively.
An upsell is a product upgrade or addition offered by the vendor after the initial purchase. Thumbnails are typically displayed on a page at various times of the day. You should use upsell to promote products around the cart or buy page. When thumbnail images fail to load, you are losing money.
Suppose the product image is a brown leather jacket. In this way, the search engine will understand the image. By keeping the name descriptive, you can use keywords in it too.
6. Make use of image sitemaps.
Adding a sitemap will make it easier for search engines to find your site and understand your site structure. If you want your images optimized, ensure the sitemap has pictures on top of the content. To start with, the Yoast SEO plugin is great. It comes with WooCommerce and will improve the other SEO aspects.
7. Optimize your thumbnails to drive upsells.
Images are the primary source of communication, conveying the message. These images not only market the products to the consumer at the time of purchase or even when they are just scrolling.
An upsell is an option to upgrade or add on a product displayed by the seller after the starting purchase. Thumbnails are usually shown on a page at different times of the day. You should present the products around the cart or purchase page using upsell. If thumbnail pictures fail to load, you are losing profitable business.
When a customer comes to your site with a Google ad, that's a paid lead. The more they purchase, the lower the customer acquisition rate. Since thumbnail pictures seem small, don't consider them useless; they are equally important for your business. Thumbnails should be around 70 kb, which is excellent.
For resizing the files, it's better to use Pixlr. Using GIF and JPEG for the files is a great idea. Make sure to give a firm name to thumbnail pictures and add alt attributes. By optimizing these thumbnails, your SEO will be much better, and the amount of profit will increase with every web conversion.
Try out the images from the A/B test.
A/B testing is a favorite tool of website owners and marketers. Significant sales losses might result from poor image optimization, a slowing down of the website, and incorrect picture angles. Let us look at a couple of the factors you might use to test your photographs.
1. Quantity: The test occurs between all the images based on the product, category, and page. You should test how many thumbnails you can place below every product. With this test, you can know what's excellent for your customers.
2. File size vs. quality: With the help of the test, you can check for high-quality images, and slow loading of the site impacts conversions. If the product is outclassed and expensive, such as an exclusive watch, the customer will be okay with waiting to view the picture. They can zoom in adequately and see the tiny details of the product.
3. Figure out which pictures customers like. It is possible that your customers would like to view the product from top to bottom. And if they get photos from a few angles, they convert too.
Make sure to deal with one variable at a time while conducting A/B testing. Do not assess the image quality while determining the number of images for the category page. One variable at a time, handle. You will not be able to identify which variable influences the conversions if you manage numerous variables at once.
Tips to Rule the E-Commerce Product Photography
To excel in any field, you should know the tips and tactics to make the work effective and efficient. Nowadays, every brand is using product photography to make their product reputation better. Here are a few tips that will make your photography better and more effortless. Let's look.
1. Invest in proper lighting for better photography results.
Having good lighting plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of your photographs. It is worth spending money on a reliable light source for your photography needs. In fact, it is recommended to have at least two lights at your shooting location. Additionally, determine whether natural light or studio lighting works best for showcasing your product.
2. Opt for high-resolution images.
When it comes to product photography, the ultimate goal is to showcase every detail of your product effectively. This can be achieved by using high-resolution images. It's important to understand that the quality of your product images directly influences sales, so make sure to prioritize using high-quality pictures.
3. Try to follow the standard image size.
Following the standard eCommerce product image size of 500 x 500 pixels is better. Walmart opts for 2000 x 2000 pixels, but Amazon prefers 1000 x 1000 pixels for better vision by the audience. You should also produce pictures of a minimum of 2000 x 2000 pixels by having an idea from it.
4. Create a reflection effect.
Enhancing the photography and giving it a reflection effect is a great idea. Putting plexiglass under the product will provide the picture reflection effect.
5. Get a tripod
For high-quality product photography, buy a tripod. Creating balance in photography is essential. If there is a lack of balance, it will impact the quality of the pictures.
6. Always use a PC for editing photos.
For better editing, always opt for a PC instead of a mobile. It doesn't matter if your phone has excellent features and is costly. The mobile screen is small, so you can't focus on minor details.
7. Do photography from every angle.
Don't miss any angles when taking pictures of the product. Cover the images from the top, bottom, and sides. Since the purpose of product photography is simple, customers can view it from every side to get an idea of what the product will look like.
How may good product photography affect business sales?
In today's fiercely competitive industry, product photographs are more crucial than ever. In order to ensure that their items appear their best, firms are increasingly turning to professional photographers. A well-shot product photo may make all the difference when selling a product.
This tendency has a number of causes. First, for e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay, high-quality product photographs are crucial.Brands must have compelling product photographs that highlight the characteristics and advantages of their products if they want to compete in these markets.
Second, the need for better product images has also been fueled by social networking sites like Instagram. Since potential buyers spend more time on websites and social media platforms, brands want their products to look attractive there.Finally, consumers are getting more picky about the product images they see.
Customers are increasingly looking for images that offer them a good impression of what a product looks like and how it operates online due to the abundance of options. In order to compete effectively, brands must utilize high-quality product photography.
Conclusion
Nowadays, every firm makes use of product photography. Your website gets a fresh appearance and feel with good imagery. All of us favor internet shopping over visiting markets. To rank your website and get leads, however, good photographs alone are insufficient.
Your image loads more quickly and is search engine optimized. You can learn how to optimize the photographs with the aid of our simple tactics and recommendations. Optimization is required for improved site performance. Any questions? Leave a comment below.