When you’re shopping online, you want to see what you’re thinking about buying. You want to know as many details as possible, including colour, size, general appearance, texture, you name it. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a good picture can really sell a product.
So how do you make sure you’re using your images effectively on your website? Here are some tips that’ll make your images shine.
Always check your file size
You might think that having a gigantic image will give your customers a great view of the product, but every second someone is waiting for an image to download is a second they can leave. Not to mention how much space they’ll eat up on your hosting package. Keep your images small and lightweight, and then, if needed, add in an image file reducer like the Smush plugin.
Go for white backgrounds
A good clean background is a great way to show off the features of your product, whether it’s the shape, the colour, or the texture. If your supplier doesn’t provide a white background image, you can remove the product from the background by carefully going over it in the editor of your choice, or you can try Remove.bg to quickly strip those backgrounds out.
Don’t forget an action shot
If you can add multiple images to your product, a good shot of the product in use is a great way to show it off. Whether it’s someone wearing your t-shirt, a steaming cup of tea with your mug, or a carefully knitted up swatch of your handspun yarn, having a great action shot is a great way to inspire customers to buy.
Get those close-ups
Want to show what the back looks like? How about a side profile? Want to show off that awesome pattern so they can see every single detail? Use close-ups! Take those giant images you haven’t shrunk down yet, and crop them down into particular elements. You think this product’s pretty awesome, so why not show it off?
Make sure your thumbnails are actually thumbnails
I’ve seen this happen way too many times. You get a page with over 50 products, and each one has a full-sized image as their thumbnail, only shrunk down in size by the HTML, not the actual image. If your site is going to reduce the image to a 100 x 100 pixel square to be a thumbnail, then make that image size. Not only will your site load faster, but you won’t run into any weird aspect ratio issues down the line.
I hope these tips help, and that you create some great images for your site!
(Featured image by Domenico Loia on Unsplash.)
