E-commerce is a booming global market, and many retailers utilize images to improve their conversion rates. This industry is expected to account for 26% of global retail within the next two years. Implementing creative product photo optimization strategies can enable your ecommerce business to discover more customers online since many use the internet to search for products these days. A staggering 90% of Etsy buyers say that high quality images influence their purchasing decisions. Without high resolution and matching photos, online shoppers may not get the confidence to add items to their carts. One advantage of investing in professional product photography services is that it helps your brand stand out. This post will look at how online business owners such as e-commerce operators can optimize their product photos to maximize their sales.
How to Increase Online Sales Through Product Photography Optimization
Photo quality is the first impression that shows potential customers the features of your ecommerce store. Online customers have no way to touch or smell your products before buying them, so streamlining product images through these techniques is worth it if you want to boost sales.
1. Master Your Image SEO Tactics
Adopting effective image search engine optimization (SEO) strategies is essential if you want your online business to succeed. Apart from generating more sales, SEO-optimized images also increase your brand awareness and improve customers’ shopping experiences. Positive user experience (UX) impacts the overall time customers spend on a site and the bounce rate and click through rate. Mastering image SEO provides excellent opportunities for your ecommerce shop to rank higher on Google. Not using the best image SEO practices means that customers will have a harder time discovering your products, which can lead to poor sales and low revenue. A few ways to SEO-optimize your product photos for your online business include naming the files, and adding the alt text and title tags.
2. Avoid Overcropping
Digital marketing experts advise online businesses to avoid using overly cropped images to run Google Ads. Poorly cropped photos make it hard for viewers to focus on your products, whether you upload them to social media or your ecommerce website. Another way heavily cropped images negatively affect user engagement is that they remove essential details on the top and sides. The ideal sizes of images for digital marketing are 200×628, 1080×1080, and 1200×1500 pixels. If you are working with professional product photography in Los Angeles, consider asking them to use a high-quality long lense. This device allows them to take perfect shots without the need for overcropping. Statistics show that 75% of online buyers consider product photo quality before making their purchase decisions.
3. Choose the Appropriate Background and Props to Optimize Product Photos
Using the best background and props can enable you to create cohesive and visually stunning products photos for your ecommerce shop. For instance, a white background makes it easier to display the item’s color. Also, including props can allow you to use lifestyle images that resonate with your target audiences’ interests. Finally, you may want to choose the appropriate background color, as it can impact a buyer’s viewpoint on your products and make them shine.
4. Hire a World-Class Product Photographer
There is no better way to optimize your product photos to maximize sales than investing in professional product photography services. SquareShot is a trusted brand that provides the best product photography Los Angeles services for businesses looking to grow their sales with perfect images. Hiring these professionals will help you focus on selling while they handle the shooting. California e-commerce operators in the clothing, beauty, jewelry, and other sectors often leverage SquareShot’s premium photographic solutions to create incredible shopping experiences for buyers. World-class product photographers have the right equipment and expertise to make your images appear special, so try to hire one if you require fine product details.
5. Invest in Proper Photo Editing Tools to Optimize Product Photos
Premium photo editing software can enhance the quality of your product images. Choose one that fits your budget or skill set, and you will enjoy it. Some of the best and most popular photo editing tools to consider using are Adobe Photoshop, Canva, and GIMP. Don’t forget to always adjust the brightness, contrast and colors, as these metrics can determine the overall quality of your product photos. Increasing the brightness can let you display the products’ features, while properly adjusting contrast can make the images extraordinary.
6. Stick to Consistent Branding
Maintaining branding consistency is essential for creating a recognizable ecommerce company. Therefore, please ensure that all your product images align with your brand’s identity elements such as logo. Using a consistent background and color scheme fosters trust and makes it easier for buyers to distinguish your brand from competitors.
7. Incorporate 360º Photography
Perhaps you have heard about the popular Amazon 360-degree product view. It allows buyers to check the complete outlook of products from the left to right or vice versa by rotation. Ecommerce consumers can zoom in and out to obtain a crystal clear view of the product’s dimension and shape. Another advantage of 360-degree photography technique is that small online businesses can use it to create a unique brand identity to increase engagement with customers. A user with any device can access the images. Whether you belong to the automotive or real estate niche, incorporating this photography style can help customers feel every nook and cranny of your products.
8. Embrace Natural Light
One secret to making your product photos shine is to have good lighting. Purchasing special lights for ecommerce product photography is a smart idea. However, natural light can still do the job if you are on a tight budget. All that you have to do is take advantage of natural light from the window. The timing of your shooting can also impact your accessibility to light. You can shoot on cloudy days if you don’t want the background to be lighter than the product itself. Shooting outdoors gives a balance of light. E-commerce businesses can even consider using light boxes for small products if they want to to list their products on sites such as Google Shopping.
The Bottom Line on Optimizing Your Product Photos
Shoppers’ buying decisions depend on an ecommerce website’s interface and product photo quality. Since it’s a well-known fact that product photos play vital roles in online sales, try to optimize your images with the above techniques to positively influence customers’ perceptions and increase their likelihood of making a purchase.
After all, as the old saing goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words!”
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Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
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