title: "How You Can Use Google Images to Drive Sales to Your eCommerce Store" date: 2024-09-11 slug: /how-to-use-google-images-to-drive-ecommerce-sales word_count: 2000 images: 5

How You Can Use Google Images to Drive Sales to Your eCommerce Store

If you're unfamiliar with Google Images, it's a specialised search engine that allows you to search for images and photos from across the internet. When you enter a keyword or phrase into the search bar, Google returns a list of visual results that match your query.

Google has made a significant change to its search results through an agreement with Getty Images. This shift replaced the "View Image" button with a "Visit Site" option. The reason for this change came from Getty Images' complaint that the "View Image" button encouraged image theft.

This creates an opportunity for eCommerce businesses and their product listings. With users now directed to the rightful owners of the images they click on, it provides a great way to improve traffic to your website. As more people are directed to visit the site, your sales can increase as potential customers have better access to product visuals. However, few website owners are taking advantage of this feature yet.

In this guide, we've put together a list of tips to help you optimise your product images for Google Images and drive more sales to your eCommerce store.

Basic Image SEO Optimisation Tips
Additional Tip: Use Unique and Professional Product Images
Pixel by Hand Product Photo Editing Services
FAQ

Basic Image SEO Optimisation Tips

It's essential to fully optimise your images if you want them to be competitive in image search results. This optimisation allows Google to associate your images with relevant queries, just like traditional web page ranking works. Make sure that every single one of your photos is optimised for its best chance at appearing at the top of the results.

If you want your images to rank high in Google's search results, the web page they are located on must be optimised for SEO. Additionally, when determining which pages will display images related to a certain query, Google takes into account both how authoritative and specific each page is. Product pages hosting relevant photos should rank higher than category pages, since their content is more closely associated with any given query.

When optimising your images, follow these key practices:

Give Your Product Images Descriptive Titles

When you name your image file, make it descriptive and relevant to both the photo and its web page. For example, if you have a picture of a white blouse, name it something like "white-blouse.jpg" instead of leaving the default filename such as "IMG-01234.jpg". This helps Google understand what is being displayed so it can show up in relevant search results.

Add Descriptive Alt Text

When boosting image rankings, inserting a descriptive phrase into the alt text field is critical. Not only does it help with SEO and visibility, but if an image fails to load, users can interpret what was intended based on its corresponding alt text. This also greatly improves the user experience for those who are visually impaired, as screen readers rely heavily on this information.

Add Product Image Captions

Enhancing your more influential images with captions improves the user experience for viewers scrolling through content, particularly those skimming the material. Captions help visitors relate the image more quickly to your content and add search engine-optimisable keywords.

Structured Data

Structured data (or schema markup) must be added to your website whenever possible. This is especially critical for eCommerce sites — it outlines specific details about your page so Google can quickly extract them into search results. Adding product schema to each of your product pages reveals important information that searchers seek, such as a product's name, description, price, and availability.

Image and File Size

Optimising both the dimensions of your images and their file size has a huge impact on page loading speed, which is paramount for user experience and search engine optimisation. A fast-loading page can help boost your website's ranking in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

Ensure Images Are Responsive

It's essential that your website, along with its images, is adaptive and resizes properly depending on the display size. With mobile devices becoming more popular year after year, responsiveness has become an important ranking factor for Google.

Create an Image Sitemap

An image sitemap is an add-on to your typical XML sitemap, designed to help Google find images on your website quickly. As websites become increasingly reliant upon JavaScript, this tool has become all the more essential for helping Google locate and index your visuals.

Want to ensure your product images are optimised for search? Start your free trial with Pixel by Hand and let our editors prepare your images for maximum visibility.

Analyse the Content Around the Image

When content is closely related to a visual, it gives Google the necessary context to classify your image into precise and relevant search results. Make sure that your copy complements your visuals for optimal rankings.

Format Images Correctly for Fast Loading

Large images are a major contributor to slow loading times and can even cause a complete failure on slower connections. Images account for more than half of a web page's data volume on average. It is essential to compress your image sizes and use photos with the appropriate dimensions instead of relying on browsers to resize them. Doing so will reduce loading times and enhance user experience significantly.

Additional Tip: Use Unique and Professional Product Images

Stand out in the overwhelming pool of visuals by using professional and creative images that capture your audience's eye. Refrain from using stock photography. These photos do not represent your brand, and they can be easily purchased by competitors as well.

When people search, they usually connect images to whatever website appears first. If that page isn't relevant to their query, they won't click on that image again. If you use generic photos that everyone has access to, you'll be invisible compared to competitors who have exclusive, unique visuals.

Here are a few tips on product images for your website:

Use multiple types of product shots — Consider taking photographs in a studio setting with a plain white backdrop, or close-up shots to showcase details. Natural shots and images of someone matching your target demographic using the item are also highly effective.
Avoid using images from manufacturers — Manufacturer images are frequently used by other companies selling the same products, making them appear quite unremarkable.
Encourage user-generated content — By encouraging customers to post about your products on social media, you open up a wealth of content opportunities and expand the reach of your brand. Customer photos help generate greater recognition within Google Image search results and through their followers who become aware of your brand.

Reach out to your customers on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook — ask them to share their experiences with hashtags related to your brand. Additionally, try adding live feeds of user-generated images to your site, as this creates a fresh source of engaging material.

If you want your business to succeed in the digital realm, staying updated on current trends and seizing new opportunities is key. The online world shifts rapidly, and website owners must adapt quickly to evolving technology. Those who neglect this will find competitors have already surpassed them.

Pixel by Hand Product Photo Editing Services

Image optimisation goes beyond coding and technical SEO — it involves user experience as well. With professional services like product photo editing, you can ensure that your website stands out with perfect visuals.

Photo editing involves adjusting the exposure, colour balance, and highlights to ensure your images look perfect on any device. Professional image editors will also adjust the white balance and sharpness of an image to help it stand out and appeal to viewers. Furthermore, they can correct flaws in product shots due to poor lighting or camera angles that would otherwise detract from the overall appearance of your website.

With over 10 years' experience and 380+ eCommerce clients, Pixel by Hand's product photo editing services are tailored to meet the needs of diverse businesses. Our team of skilled editors can help you create stunning visuals that capture the attention of potential customers. We use advanced techniques such as colour correction and grading, masking, cropping, background removal and replacement, retouching, clipping paths, ghost mannequins, and image manipulation to ensure each shot is perfect.

Using professional product photo editing services is an excellent way to make sure your images stand out and attract potential customers. It also saves you time and money in the long run, since it eliminates the need for costly equipment or hiring a photographer.

Send us your images for a free sample edit — see exactly how Pixel by Hand can enhance your product photography for Google Images. Get started here.

FAQ

How long does it take for product images to appear in Google Images? It varies, but typically Google indexes new images within a few days to a few weeks. Having a well-structured image sitemap, proper alt text, and fast-loading pages will speed up the process. Submitting your sitemap through Google Search Console can also help.

What image format is best for eCommerce SEO? WebP is currently the best format for web performance, offering excellent quality at smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG. However, ensure your platform supports WebP and always provide JPEG fallbacks. For product images requiring transparency, PNG remains the standard.

Does image file size really affect my search rankings? Yes. Page speed is a confirmed Google ranking factor, and large, uncompressed images are one of the most common causes of slow-loading pages. Aim to keep product images under 200KB where possible without sacrificing visible quality.

Should I add text overlays to my product images for Google Images? Generally, no. Clean product images without text overlays perform better in Google Images and are more versatile across your website and marketplaces. If you need text for promotional purposes, create separate banner images rather than adding text to your core product photos.

How many images should each product page have for optimal SEO? Aim for 5-8 images per product, covering different angles, close-ups of details, and at least one lifestyle shot. Each image is an opportunity to rank in Google Images for different search terms, so use descriptive, unique filenames and alt text for every one.

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