Are Your Images Worth A Thousand Words?
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a good picture on a retail or ecommerce site can be worth much more.
With market research suggesting that product photography can boost sales of items as mundane as screws and security cameras, photography is a critical component for any company wanting an effective online presence. Good photography can retain visitor attention and create a more lasting impression than even the most professionally written paragraphs.
Choosing The Perfect Image
Here are five golden rules for good photography on any website:
- Make it relevant. While service-based websites may require the use of fairly generic images rather than product shots, these should still have some pertinence to the site’s subject matter. A copywriting agency should choose artistic blurred edges pictures of a keyboard or easel rather than pointless close-up images of fruit or seascapes.
- Ensure there are no copyright infringements. Many people run a Google Images search and download any graphics they like the look of, without bothering to check if they’re in breach of copyright. There are sites filled with copyright-free photos (including Wikimedia and Stockvault), though taking your own photos also avoids legal issues.
- Stay away from clichéd photos. While royalty-free photos are readily available, many of them are too generic. For example, some shots of suited executives shaking hands belong in a PowerPoint presentation rather than on a company website. Businesses trading on the expertise of their founder should use a smiling portrait shot, or images relating to the execution of core duties.
- Don’t overdo it. One well-judged image on the center of each page will be quite sufficient if the website isn’t retail-oriented. Photos require additional download time and processing by web browsers, while broken links can lead to the appearance of unprofessional “This image cannot be displayed” placeholder text.
- Be willing to pay for the right shot. Websites like Getty and Shutterstock charge for their images, but they’re often visually stunning and far better than any copyright-free alternatives. Don’t be afraid to invest in eye-catching visuals if they suit your website.
Taking The Perfect Photograph
Having established some general ground rules, these are the crucial factors behind achieving successful product photography and how you can use photography to boost the success of your next project:
- A choice of images. Don’t just photograph something from the front and assume that will suffice. Electrical devices should be snapped from the rear so customers can see the ports and connections, while clothing needs to be displayed from multiple angles. It may be advisable to create a 360-degree virtual tour of larger items.
- Expandable photos. Save bandwidth on mobile devices by displaying thumbnail images, which people can expand with a single-click. Install a photo slideshow to allow larger images to be viewed in succession, rather than having to close one and open the next. Full-sized pictures don’t need to exceed 1024×768 pixels.
- Avoid too much compression. There is a fine line between rescaling an unnecessarily large JPG and compressing it so much that the image degrades. This involves a degree of trial and error, but once you know that your smartphone photos can be resized to 35 per cent without pixellation, images can be processed in batches very quickly.
- Take product photos against a white background. This is a trick as old as product marketing itself, yet small firms are still known to snap their products in unprofessional environments like propped up on a kitchen worktop with cereal boxes in shot. Thick white cardboard with a matt finish can provide a non-reflective background that’s easy to crop out, and which doesn’t detract from the image’s primary focus.
- Consider in-use shots. We’re all familiar with sofa adverts featuring smiling children reading books, or jewelry ads showing close-ups of the products being worn by models. For luxury items like designer clothing, this can resonate more with potential customers than the (easier and cheaper) white background images described above.