You’re a natural entrepreneur. You had a brilliant idea, made it come to fruition by starting an ecommerce business and now you’re ready to market it. You’ve heard about using SEO strategies like local listings and you’ve also considered social media. In fact, they’re probably already in your business plan.
But then you’ve probably also heard a bit about employing image searches as an SEO marketing tool and you’re thinking about implementing it into your overall marketing plan.
To help you get it right, here is a list of the benefits of image search for ecommerce.
- Help people find your store through Google Images
You already know the retail industry is changing because of the internet. So, why not use all possible tools available? Search engines like Google can help market your online store significantly.
In fact, Google Images accounts for a drastic number of searches, aggregating photos from YouTube videos, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon posts and more. According to data from Jumpshot and Moz, the searches from Google Images get views 10 times more than with search engines Bing or Yahoo.
Google Images can also serve as a stepping-stone to attract online users to your products and services. If they like what they see, they may click to visit your web store, social media page or blog roll content.
- Nail the basics of image optimization
The first step is to add descriptive file names so your images can be found. You’ll want to add optimized alternate text as well, in case images don’t load.
Additionally, Google employs useful software to understand how alternate text relates to understanding image context. For example, let’s say a company names their product “BMX Word Magnets” and a user searches the term “biking word magnets.” BMX Word Magnets owns the first organic result in Google Image search. Correctly utilizing naming and image alt text means shoppers are more likely to see your image when they search certain desirable terms.
- HD images are great for showing off your products
Nuanced HD photographs are great for showing off your products. No matter your design or industry, a clean and professional look sells.
For the best result, HD images should always appear natural. People don’t want to see a forced stock photo or highly curated photograph that just doesn’t seem realistic. After all, we’re using technology in hopes of connecting in a real way, so make sure your images are as natural as possible. A good way to accomplish this is to show your products in a typical setting with people using them. This will make them seem more real to customers.
- Compress your images for faster load times
Another thing to remember is to compress your images for faster load times. We’ve all been on Google Image search when we see a great thumbnail photo, but then after clicking on it, it just takes way too long to load. Nobody has time for that.
Internet users are already scrolling quickly and they usually won’t wait for a product image to load—especially if they’ve never interacted with your ecommerce site. If you compress your images, they will appear more quickly, inspiring shoppers to buy.
There are many paid and free image compression tools you can utilize to do this. Plus, using a plug-and-play free website template, you’ll be able to populate your website with clean, simple and focused images.
- Use real people to show off your products
Additionally, shoppers trust other shoppers. You should absolutely harness the power of user-generated content to create trust and conversations about your business. What’s more, adding photos of existing customers demonstrates authenticity.
With these benefits, using image search as a marketing tool is a no-brainer. After all, a great entrepreneur is always seeking new ways to get their ecommerce site out there. Just remember the basics, compress your images and always be real.