One of the problems that online commerce faces is that the customer cannot access the item physically. Therefore, it is completely necessary to offer maximum information about a product. All information that is relevant to the user will be the way to attract and generate trust.

Images are one of the most important aspects when it comes to offering information about a product to a user. This is because they are the most visual part and can generate greater attraction for the user. Hence the importance of knowing how to optimize the images that are going to be used in an online store. It is key that the user who enters from conventional search engines on mobile devices or computers clearly sees what they are interested in buying.

What is optimizing a photo? 

Before we get into the keys to optimizing photos for an online store, it doesn't hurt that we explain precisely the concept we are referring to when we say "optimize." Optimizing a photo is simply compressing it so that it does not lose quality and that it fits different mobile devices, such as a smartphone or a computer. This is one of the big problems of current ecommerce, and that is that the needs of the different devices must be taken into account before designing any online store.

The task we have described before seems simple, but it is not. By compressing an image, you can obtain one that does not meet the quality standards that a website needs today. A customer who enters and sees pixelated or unclear images of the products they want to buy will not pay the slightest attention to your store.

This is one of the reasons why knowing how to optimize images properly is essential. There are others, and as we told you before, the image is the only way that the consumer can really get closer to the product they have selected. That's why I have to give so much importance to the image. And from very different approaches.

Before optimizing, photograph

Let's start at the beginning, since there is nothing to optimize if you do not choose well the images that you are going to place in the online store.

The photo of a product will largely depend on the type of item you are selling in your store. The images needed by a website that is dedicated to selling computer products are not at all similar to those of a fashion e-commerce or home decoration items.

A good tip, especially for platforms like Shopify, is to upload at least 5 images of the product in question. Less gives very little information about the product, and you absolutely have to escape from this problem that will mean that your sales will not reach the level you expect.

The amount that we have indicated before is the minimum, but you should not saturate the image bank of a product either. With a quantity ranging from 5 to 8 photographs, you can give the client the graphic information they need in an appropriate way.

One thing you should not forget if you have a fashion store or similar products is to introduce images that put the product in context. If it is a dress, use a model; If it is a piece of furniture, introduce it into an environment where it fits aesthetically.

What we want to tell you is that you always have to give the customer as much information as possible so that they can clear up the logical doubts that may arise when purchasing virtually.

Start optimizing: the key is in the weight 

Well yes, one of the big keys that make it necessary to format images and optimize them is what they may think. As a general rule, in the total volume of an online store, images represent around 20% and this influences the time it takes your store to load.

Google recommendations for images.

Loading time is so important that Google has a series of recommendations regarding it. For the Internet giant, the highest-rated pages in its algorithm are those that load in about 3 seconds. Hence, optimizing images well is essential for an ecommerce. What's more, there are studies that indicate that around 40% of users abandon pages that have loading times longer than 3 seconds. Therefore, you have to control the weight of the images very well so that it does not negatively influence the loading time of your website and, therefore, the conversion rate.

The size of the images: always think about a smartphone

Since mobile devices made an appearance in our lives, the needs of the web began to change. A computer monitor or laptop screen is not the same as the front panel of a smartphone.

A huge image is incompatible with a smartphone. Here you have two options. The first is to introduce small images that fit the mobile screen. We do not recommend it, since users who access it from a computer will miss some quality.

The second option, which is the best, is to create a mobile version of your store. It may be an expense at first, but this way you will ensure that all the content, including photos, adapts to the user's needs.

Software to optimize images

Taking all of the above into account, it is difficult for you to adequately find the solution to your images and their optimization without using specialized tools. There is a wide variety of these tools on the market, just do some research on them and choose the one that best suits your needs and budget.

Likewise, if it is a process that is complicated for you, you can leave it in the hands of an expert to guide you and execute this important part for an ecommerce.

Optimize an image from SEO

Once we have chosen the images with the optimal dimensions and design for our online store, we have to continue with the optimization process.

SEO optimization of images is a fundamental part of the process since it will help Google take them into account for the organic positioning of our ecommerce.

No matter how beautiful a photo is or whether its visual content is the most innovative in terms of perspectives, colors... Google is currently not able to read the visual content of an image. That is why SEO is responsible for optimizing the fields enabled to describe an image, in this way Google will understand and interpret what an image is about. This way you will know the relevance it has in the environment in which you are located and you will know how to position it.

The SEO tags that will be relevant to implement in an image will be the Title and the Alt text. Shopify allows us to edit these fields when uploading an image, this way they will be optimized and taken into account when positioning and attracting traffic organically.

Important SEO aspects to optimize an image in your ecommerce

Images are a fundamental aspect for an ecommerce, it is a means by which you can capture attention and generate trust in the user and get them to convert. However, a user will not access an online store if it is not well positioned in search engines, even if its images are the best on the market. Therefore, we also have to optimize the SEO aspect of the images. We will have to look at:

Title - For the title of an image, it is best to use descriptive text so that Google understands what the content of an image is about. For example, if a desktop computer is shown the title should be “ desktop_computer ” and not “ img_2038 ”.

“Alt” Tag – This is the alternative text that is attributed to the image. In this section you must include keywords on which you want to position the image but without overdoing it. Google will use this tag to know what is happening in the image or the intention intended with it. The description must be oriented to the intention of the website.

Format The preferable format for images is .jpg, although there are no display problems with other formats, JPG loads faster and for SEO, usability and user experience it is a point to take into account

As you have seen, optimizing images for an online store is key to avoiding problems with search engines and to providing adequate customer service. In that sense, it is a task that you should not underestimate.

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