Did you know that 75% of shoppers make a buying decision based on your product photos? On top of that, inaccurate photos is also the reason for 22% of product returns.
Great product photos is an absolute must for ecommerce stores selling physical products. Here's the ultimate guide to optimizing product photos for your website:
All Product Photos You Should Have On Your Website:
We recommend having at LEAST 3 product photos:
- A white background product photo (similar to what you'd see on Amazon)
- A secondary photo showing the product from a different angle
- A lifestyle image showing your product in a real-life situation (such as on a model, on a desk, etc)
People want to see your product in a variety of situations, so the more pictures you can get the better. Here's a great example of effective product photos we shot for a recent website design:
Size Matters:
Size is important for 2 reasons: 1) making sure your website is optimized for speed and 2) consistency.
First, Shopify's official recommendation for product image size is 2048 x 2048. This renders a perfect square, which is usually a great option for both desktop and mobile.
Second, one of the most painful web-browsing experiences occurs when product images are different sizes. If your main product photo is square, make sure ALL additional photos are square. Selecting a photo that is landscape or vertical shifts the entire page in front of the user, making it difficult to navigate and disorients your customers.
Always make sure your product photos are all the same size.
Quality Matters:
Believe it or not, quality photos really do matter. Not only does a quality product photo share greater detail and look more appealing to customers, it also validates your business. People are typically more willing to buy from a website with professional photos over a site that very clearly has product photos taken on an iphone.
Look at the image below. The image on the left is an image taken on a phone, while the second image is a professional photo we took. Which one would entice you to buy?
Now don't get me wrong, the iphone photo on the left is pretty good! It's passable, especially if you know a few things about photo editing.
But the way the light catches the shadow, the details and the colors popping off the screen on the right just makes it much more enticing.
DIY or Hire it out?
Now that you know what product photos to take and how to size them correctly, the question remains -- should you do it yourself or hire it out?
This really comes down to playing around making a judgement call based on the quality of photos you're able to get on your own. Here are some pros and cons of both, along with some resources to help you get started in either direction:
Do it yourself:
Taking your own photos will likely help you save a chunk of money upfront. You can play around with your own phone, or you could invest in a mirrorless camera, like the Sony A7iii to take it up a notch. Unfortunately, the tradeoff is that any money you may have saved may be lost in sales or returns, as it's likely you won't achieve the same clarity a professional can get.
If you go this route, here's a list of items we'd recommend as you get started:
- Canva Pro (the pro account here is really necessary, as you'll need the ability to remove backgrounds)
- A lightbox (this helps a huge amount with lighting to make sure your product is as detailed as possible)
- A mirrorless camera for those who want it to take things up a notch (we recommend the Sony A7ii or Sony A7iii for beginners)
Hire a professional:
Sometimes the best solution is to hire someone to take your product photos. Though this will cost money upfront, it will help you increase sales, lower the rate of returns and generally produce much better results. Here are a few places we recommend looking into:
- Hire BrandStack - We often include product photos with our website builds - we can also discuss a one-time project just for product photos
- Bosswell Photography - We've personally never hired Laurance for product photos, but I've followed him for years and have friends who have worked with him - every piece of content he puts out looks absolutely phenomenal
- Soona - Soona is an on-demand product photography company that seems to do really great work
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Obviously, product photos are extremely important for your products. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, make sure you're using the best practices above to stay consistent and optimize your website for speed and conversion.