Why Your Website Needs Professional Ecommerce Photos
Your ecommerce site may be smartly designed and easy to use, but if it doesn’t feature high-quality photographs then it may fall short. People want to see what they're buying before parting with their money, naturally — and when they’re shopping online, they’re unable to review items in person, forcing them to rely on media.
Each year, the number of people who shop online grows, with an estimated 62% of Americans making more than one purchase every month. So, if you want to stand out from the crowd, investing in high-quality professional photography can do much to encourage visitors to stick around and buy from you instead of going elsewhere.
Not convinced yet? Let’s go into some more detail about why it’s so important that you invest in professional imagery for your ecommerce site:
Photos communicate what words can’t
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and it’s true. You can conjure up the most dramatic and elaborate product description imaginable, but if a visitor isn’t interested in parsing it then it won’t achieve much — but if you can put a well-composed photo in a prominent position, they won’t be able to miss it.
It’s important to remember just how much bluster there is online, with unscrupulous ecommerce sellers being prone to stretching the truth (particularly on sites like eBay and Amazon). And while it’s true that images can still be used deceitfully, that tends to happen using generic images taken directly from manufacturers: if you provide photos you’ve clearly commissioned, they’ll be fairly convincing and engender significant trust.
They’re vital for standing out from the pack
Even if you have one or two unique products, there’s an excellent chance that you mostly offer products available elsewhere — and when you’re trying to earn conversions for such items, you need to keep in mind the level of competition you’re up against. Can you beat your rivals when it comes to price, or availability, or delivery? Likely not. But you can beat them when it comes to presentation.
By making an effort to have top-notch photography for your entire range of products, you can set your site apart. Shoppers who spot your product listings in Google will be more inclined to view them as worthy of investigation relative to those of your rivals, despite the products themselves being exactly the same. Give it a shot and you’ll find out for yourself.
Online standards keep rising
As we just touched upon, great images can help you stand out — but a lack of great images can increasingly do that too, albeit for all the wrong reasons. So if it’s tough to sell you on the positive impact of upping your imagery game, you may be more convinced by the truth that website design standards keep rising and you’ll be left behind if you don’t make an effort.
Consider that every aspect of online business is cheaper and easier than it was just a few years ago. Need basic copy to bolster your descriptions? Spool it out with an automated system such as CopyAI. Want a new store on a budget? Whip up a WooCommerce installation through a platform like Cloudways: no technical expertise needed. It’s getting so difficult to have an outright-bad store that you need to do more to make yours good.
Image quality impacts brand reputation
Every aspect of your website influences how people view your brand, and image quality is no exception. Given how important presentation is in the ecommerce world, having mediocre images won’t just make shoppers less likely to buy those particular products: it’ll also make them more inclined to view your entire brand as unworthy of support or attention.
After all, there’s nothing much stopping any given business from having decent imagery. It brings some expenses, yes, but it isn’t so costly that only big corporations can afford it. It’s reasonable, then, to infer that an online merchant will bargain-basement imagery either doesn’t care about website quality or is ignorant about what matters. Either one is bad.
Doing it yourself is hard and inefficient
There’s a thought that often occurs to a penny-pinching merchant: can’t I just do the photography myself? After all, everyone has a smartphone with a decent camera these days. Stick up a basic backdrop, snap a few shots from different angles, and there you go, surely. All the work done with almost none of the cost.
In truth, though, this is generally a very bad idea. Not only is it surprisingly difficult to take decent product photos when you’re a mere amateur (the point-and-click approach will quickly lead to problems), but it’s also woefully slow. A professional photographer, on the other hand, will be able to set up the backdrop, sort out the lighting and power through all the shots you need much more effectively and efficiently. This investment will save you money.
Overall, if you’ve yet to invest in professional product photography for your ecommerce business, you’re leaving money on the table. Line up a session now and start taking presentation seriously. Your conversion rate will thank you!