When people shop online, they can’t pick up a product, feel the fabric or turn it over in their hands. Your product images have to do that job for them.
Good images answer your customers’ questions before they ask them. They show the quality, size and detail of what you’re selling, build trust in your business and give shoppers the confidence to click “Add to Basket”. Poor images do the opposite. Dark, blurry or limited photos leave people unsure, and unsure shoppers rarely buy.
So, what kind of images does your online shop need? Here are five types every product page should have.
1. Images That Can Be Zoomed
Zooming into an image to see it in more detail helps turn a browser into a buyer, as they can see the finer details and quality of the product up close. Stitching, textures, materials and finishes all become clear.
Zoomable images also build trust with your website visitors. They show that you’re not trying to hide any part of the product, and that you’re confident in its quality.
2. Images That Can Be Viewed in 360°
Building on the point above, images with a 360° view show your website visitors every side of your products. Being able to see the whole product makes it much easier for shoppers to decide if it’s right for them.
A 360° view also helps people picture the product’s proportions and imagine where it will fit in their home or their lifestyle. If 360° images aren’t practical for every product, a range of photos from the front, back, sides and top can do a similar job.
3. Images That Show Features
If you’re selling a backpack with a waterproof inside pocket for a water bottle, make sure your images show it. Why show only the outside of the bag and describe that pocket in text when an image can show it far more effectively?
Close-up shots of key features, such as pockets, zips, controls, adjustable parts or special materials, help shoppers understand exactly what they’re getting. They also highlight the details that make your product better than the alternatives.
4. Images That Show the Product in Use
These images can be staged with models, but they can also work much like a customer testimonial. Showing your products being used (worn, played with, driven and so on) by real people shows your website visitors the products in context.
This gives shoppers a sense of the product’s size in a real-world setting, as well as when and where it will be useful to them. A coat photographed on a rainy street or a garden chair shown on a sunny patio helps people picture themselves using it.
You can also share photos from happy customers. Real customer images are a powerful form of social proof and show that other people already love what you sell.
5. Images That Can Be Shared
Let’s not forget the business side of your online shop. Adding sharing options to your product pages means your website visitors can easily show products to friends and family who may be interested.
It also means visitors can quickly share your products, and by extension your brand and business, on their social media accounts and platforms such as Pinterest. That means a bigger audience and more exposure for your shop.
A Few Technical Tips
Great images need to work well behind the scenes too:
- Keep file sizes small: large images slow your website down, and slow shops lose sales. Compress your images and use modern formats such as WebP.
- Use consistent backgrounds and lighting: a consistent style across your product images makes your shop look professional and easy to browse.
- Add alt text: describe each image in its alt text. This helps visually impaired shoppers using screen readers and helps your products appear in Google Image search.
- Check them on mobile: most online shoppers browse on their phones, so make sure your images look sharp and zoom easily on a small screen.
Let Your Images Sell for You
Your product images are often the deciding factor between a sale and a lost customer. By offering zoomable and 360° images, showing off key features, showing your products in use and making them easy to share, you give shoppers everything they need to buy with confidence.
If you’d like help building an online shop that showcases your products at their best, get in touch with Whelan Web Design. We’re an Irish web design agency working with businesses across the UK, helping them create online shops that look great and sell more.
