Product Photography Tips and Tricks for E-Commerce

Successful E-commerce stores, like LimeLush, know that product photography sells the product.

There are several benefits associated with shopping online instead of visiting a brick-and-mortar store. You don’t have to leave your home; there’s typically a larger selection from which to choose; and the prices are usually cheaper thanks to the low-overhead associated with e-commerce stores. However, one of the drawbacks is that you can’t see products in person, which may discourage some consumers from shopping online.

E-commerce store owners must take extra steps to ensure their products are presented in the most attractive manner possible. Thankfully, the right photos can help you achieve this goal, encouraging shoppers to buy your store’s products.

Take Multiple Photos

There’s no rule stating that you can only upload a single photo for each product. On the contrary, uploading multiple photos – from a variety of different perspectives – can prove useful in helping shoppers decide if it’s the right choice for them. So, take multiple photos of each product for your e-commerce store to increase transparency and product presentation.

Use JPEG Format

When creating product photos, it’s best stick with the JPEG file format instead of GIF, PNG or other types. While JPEGs are larger, and therefore take longer to load, the quality is simply unmatched. Product photos in JPEG format look sharper and more detailed, allowing shoppers to see nuances that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Equipment Matters

As explained by the e-commerce platform provider Shopify, the camera is a “vital part of product photography.” You can’t expect to take professional-quality photos using an old point-and-click camera. At minimum, you should use a DSLR camera with an adjustable lens. Setting your camera up on a tripod will also help to stabilize it, preventing motion-blur from occurring.

Watch Image Size

Pay close attention to the image size of your product photos. Websites have a finite amount of space in which images can be displayed. And if your product image is too large, it may get cut off. So, how large should your product photos be? It really depends on where they are used. For a full-page product listing, 1,000px by 1,000px is usually the limit. Of course, most e-commerce stores display product photos in smaller “boxes,” in which case the limit could be 500px by 500px. The bottom line is that you need to determine exactly how much space you have available, basing your product image sizes around it. I’ve mentioned this before, but just in case, Image Optim is still my favorite image compression software — it’s a quick download, and simple drag-n-drop of your images.

Optimize Images for Search Engines

You aren’t out of the woods just yet. Assuming you want to capture additional traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, it’s recommended that you optimize your product photos. This is done by giving them a relevant file name, and adding a brief description of the product in the form of an alt-text attribute. Doing so encourages search engines to list your product photos in their index (e.g. Google Images and Bing Images), which can drive tons of new visitors to your site.