Mastering the art of Shopify Image Optimization 2023
Unleash the power of image optimization on Shopify to boost conversions and sales.
Images on a Shopify store
Communication via visuals plays a crucial role in making a lasting impression on customers in ecommerce and particularly Shopify websites.
It is known that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.
Visual elements like images and videos are essential tools that help customers connect emotionally with the product being sold. Impactful product imagery leads to increased conversions and improved customer loyalty. Therefore, using attractive product photography is an excellent method of drawing attention to your products and ensuring visitors take notice of them. By incorporating lifestyle images, you provide context to your viewers and build trust in your brand. It strengthens customer relationships and boosting the chances of repeat purchases.
The power of pictures and video clips cannot be overstated; customers frequently search for product images to aid in their research. Research says that people tend to absorb 65% of the information if you pair it with a picture, but only remember 10% if the text is used.
Merely uploading photos won't suffice if you want to entice potential clients...
Just uploading pictures to a Shopify website without proper optimization and strategies in place will not necessarily generate significant amounts of traffic or sales. While high-quality product images are important for showcasing products and attracting customers, they must be optimized and utilized effectively as part of a Shopify image strategy. Image optimization plays a crucial role in maximizing the potential of an ecommerce store by helping drive organic traffic from search engines and enhancing the shopping experience for users.
Image optimization
Image optimization refers to the process of improving the quality and performance of images uploaded onto a website or platform to enhance user experience and maximize engagement metrics such as views, clicks, and shares. It involves techniques like resizing, cropping, compression, format selection, and metadata manipulation to optimize images for fast loading speeds, clear resolution, and efficient resource consumption. Effective image management strategies are vital for an Shopify store's success. Image optimization significantly influences how easily images get indexed and ranked on search engines. Additionally, optimized images use fewer resources, allowing for faster loading speeds and greater overall efficiency.
Image optimization essentially takes care of the following aspects
- Deciding appropriate image resolution based on the devices and screen sizes
- Planning the correct Shopify product image sizes and Shopify image file sizes for the correct rendering and loading on the website
- Planning correct Shopify image sizes based on product and its categories
- Deciding the right image formats based on the online website and platform
- Removing background from the images to produce the correct product focus
- Planning appropriate badges and watermarks for the Shopify product images
- Adopting the best Shopify image SEO practices
What does Shopify image optimization bring to your store?
Reduces page load times and enables easy navigation even on slow internet connections
Increases clickthrough and conversion rates with visually appealing product images
Enhances mobile responsiveness and completes more checkouts for mobile users
Boosts SEO through optimized alt tags and file names for search engines to understand product content and relevancy
Prevents overcharges for bandwidth/storage costs
Supports responsive web design optimization for faster viewability
Improves overall user experience, keeps visitors engaged for longer durations
Loads pictures rapidly on social media for better user experiences
Complies with web accessibility standards using Alt Text
Ensures consistent image quality and loading times across multiple selling platforms
What is the “Right” way to present your images for SEO ranking
The “right” image : Having the right images on your content is just as important as ensuring it is accessible, attractive, and engaging for users. Images are vital to SEO because they provide context, make content more appealing and engaging, and drive user engagement. They're also important because they provide search engines with valuable context. In addition to speeding up page load times, image optimization increases user engagement and search engine rankings. Google’s algorithms are increasingly focused on image analysis, and the more they can glean from your images, the better are your rankings. Images can also help to improve your SEO by helping with your click-through rate. If you have relevant images in your post, you can increase the chances that readers will click on the image, leading them to a different landing page.
The “right” alt tags : Having accurate, relevant alt tags for each image will improve the likelihood that Google’s algorithms will recognize and index that image. Additionally, the more you populate your site with high-quality images, the more likely Google is to rank your site higher. Using the correct alt text on your site can assist Google to understand your image and the page on which it resides. For visually impaired individuals, alt text describes the picture. If an image is not loaded, its alt text will display. The alt text should be a keyword-rich sentence that describes an image. The alt text should be relevant to the image. It also should not be not too long with no spelling or grammar mistakes. Even if images are not loading because of a glitch, search engines can still read the alternative text to help rank a page.
The “right” file name : Choosing the right file name is vital for both your page SEO and search engine image results. To maximize SEO power, choose descriptive, relevant file names before uploading any image. File names should be comprehensible to both machines and humans. Including descriptive titles, descriptions, and file names on your site helps Google and users better understand your website. It is best to strategically place your keywords in the image text on your website so that Google and users can better understand your site.
The “right” titles : To ensure that all of your text components are meaningful, place them strategically in the text that will be prominent in the search engine results. Avoid using symbols like underscores because Google algorithms don't recognize them. Every word you employ should have a purpose in a search result. Although image titles aren't as significant for SEO, they may provide additional context through alt text. Because users are most interested in image titles, they can provide additional context to the image.
The “right” caption : The image caption, unlike the file name or alt text, is visible on a website page and therefore has the potential to enhance user experience. Using image captions, rather than file names or alt text, may reduce your bounce rates and maintain your credibility with search engines.
The “right” sitemap : An image sitemap is just like a regular sitemap; it gives search engines additional information to help them crawl a website. An image sitemap may lead search engines to pictures that are difficult to find, particularly those accessed with JavaScript code. We can expand an existing sitemap to include images, or a new one might be created just for them.
What can you do to optimize your Shopify images?
Use web-friendly formats
To enhance the performance of your online store, convert raw image files to web-compatible formats such as JPEG, PNG, or GIF before uploading them. By doing this, you will reduce their file size, making them load faster. Choose JPEG for photographic images and images with gradients, opt for PNG when working with transparent or text-overlayed images, and consider using the modern WebP format for better compression and quality -- although its compatibility across various browsers might be limited.
Resize images before uploading
Use integrated resizing features within popular image editing programs to optimize your website's images for fast loading speeds. Customize photo and graphic dimensions to fit specific display requirements while preserving key elements -- preventing oversized visuals that impede smooth navigation.
Experiment with compression settings
Compressing images for websites requires testing across diverse browsers since their rendering engines react dissimilarly to varying amounts of compression. Ensure optimal viewing experiences by checking how pictures appear in several browsers and experimenting with alternative, appropriately compressed versions. Avoid overcompression, causing noticeable picture degradation, and aim for balancing quality and file size.
Use content delivery networks (CDN)
Boost global image loading times using CDNs, storing cached images on edge servers near users, reducing network travel distance and response times. Enjoy increased protection against unauthorized usage through enhanced security measures guarding images and assets, ultimately easing server burden and facilitating quicker, customized location-based delivery for end-users.
Employ lazy loading
Limit image preloading unless essential. With proper implementation, only nearby image to a user's scrolling position are first loaded, while others stay concealed until later use. Lazy loading suggests waiting before inserting image files into HTML img tags until we initiate web app scripts or user actions.
Test page load speeds with dev tools
Testing equipment enables developers to examine genuine end-user loading periods under networking circumstances like those encountered by clients who visit sites regularly. These devices assist in recognizing problems or sluggishness influencing webpage loading.
Cache frequently accessed images locally
Overloading servers occurs when frequently refreshing images without reason. Local caching in contemporary web browsers store popular images straight onto users’ devices rather than continuously requesting fresh ones from source servers. It decreases transferred quantities and speeds up image acquisition considerably over the long term.
Scale images dynamically and minimize redirects
Automatic dynamic image resizing adjusts images according to device screen resolutions so web pages can exhibit them correctly. Avoid using unnecessary image redirects, as they add additional loading time. Directly link images to their final destination.
Image Sprites and file names
Use image sprites for icons, logos, and small images displayed numerous times throughout your website. Image sprites contain various tiny images within one larger image, resulting in fewer server requests and improved loading times. Use descriptive file names that accurately represent the content of the image. This helps with SEO and makes it easier to manage your image files.
Regular maintenance
Regularly review and optimize images as part of your website maintenance routine. New products and updates may introduce new images that need optimization.
The ShopJets Image Optimizer for Shopify
Shopfy image optimization helps to bring in a good balance between good quality images and a faster website. It makes product images on your website look both interesting and light. Lighter websites bring in higher search rankings and more customers. As a recap, we now know that pptimizing images usually involves focusing on elements such as image type, size, ALT text, file format, and image description keywords. There are many methods for optimizing images, including using the correct image size, optimizing them for social media, viewing them on a cell phone, creating an image sitemap, and adding structured data. We will now introduce our Image Optimizer for Shopify
Techniques including image resize/cropping, image compression, conversion, image enhancement, image SEO, watermarks and overlays, and image enhancement are part of image optimization. Online shopping is becoming more popular, and optimizing images can help you draw relevant organic traffic to your Shopify store. You can find several image optimization tools in the Shopify app market.
What makes the all-in-one Image optimizer different?
The all-in-one Image Optimizer is a comprehensive Shopify image optimization tool. It bundles all the tools in a single place, preventing unnecessary use of many tool sets. The current tools available on the market include only a part of optimization tools. The Shopify store must switch between two or three applications to achieve the optimal image they desire. We can deliver all the optimization techniques at an economical price since in one single package.
The feature set
The all-in-one Image Optimizer for Shopify bundles many other image optimization tools into one single set. The other features that are offered include
- Resize and Crop - All your product photos will be automatically resized, cropped, and replaced in your online store so that everything is uniform. The image resizing and cropping produces images without loss in quality
- Compression - With the help of Image Optimizer, images are automatically compressed to reduce file size without affecting quality to an unacceptable level, resulting in faster image transmission over the internet or download time. Store loading time, user experience, and SEO all benefit from compressed images.
- Conversion - Image conversion allows the user to upload the images in JPEG, PNG, or webp format, and the processed output also can be any format depending on the user. Default is JPEG images as they provide the best quality for the smallest file size.
- Image SEO - Automated addition of alt text and image names for improving SEO.
- Background removal - The subject in the foreground is automatically detected and intelligently removed from the background. Our neural network AI-based algorithm has been extensively trained on retail images and works accurately. You will be able to remove the background of any photo from your products with just one simple click.
- Image enhancement - Improve your images, sharpen, adjust, alter their contrast, brightness and produce clear and crisp images.
- Image upscaling - With the help of neural networks based algorithms, upscale your images. Our AI-based algorithm produces high quality images from low resolution images without pixellation.
- Watermarking - You can add customized watermarks to your product images to protect your images or add any other message or branding you want to display on your product images.
- Batch edits - The application can optimize images in a batch, therefore, saving time and money.
- Overlay, badges - Shopify owners can now choose from a wide range of theme badges and stickers to add that extra element of brand personality to their product images. Image backup - Having images as one of the most significant assets of any store, the Image Optimizer app backs up the originals before altering them.
What makes our ShopJets Image Optimizer stand out!
What is that sets the ShopJets Image Optimizer from its competitors in the market. We now elaborate on what differentiates the all-in-one Image Optimizer from the rest of the applications on Shopify. The all-in-one Image Optimizer is known to produce high quality images using AI-based algorithms at a cost which is competitive and nominal when compared to the competitors on the market.
Background removal
When you sell products on the website, you need high-quality images to boost your conversion rate and sales. But if your product photos are cluttered or have distracting backgrounds, shoppers will be less likely to buy from you. Image backgrounds can be distracting or even messy, which may give the impression that your product isn’t high-quality. If you want to improve your image quality and make your photos more professional, then you need to remove the backgrounds. Background removal makes images more attractive and easier to use in marketing materials. It is a great way to showcase products without an obstructed view. There are many different ways to remove backgrounds from images. The best way to do this depends on the photo and the image that you want to keep in focus.
The all-in-one Image Optimizer application performs automatic background removal using artificial intelligence. The application uses neural network architecture to train the models. The model is trained for the retail product images. Exhaustive training with the retail images renders high accuracy and quality for the processed image. The AI-based technique employed in all-in-one Image Optimizer renders an accurate removal of the background. Often, other applications tend to ignore loose items hanging from the products like belt. Let us illustrate the feature along with an example.
Most applications in the Shopify market remove the loose hanging items from the main image along with the background. It makes the product look incomplete. Customer will not get a full product picture, thereby causing them to abandon. The all-in-one Optimizer performs an accurate removal of just the background. Apart from the accuracy, this optimizer stands out by offering a competitive price as well. While the other competitor applications in Shopify offer roughly 35 cents per edit, the all-in-one Image Optimizer offers the same for 16 cents per edit. When considering these factors, the Shopify owners will likely find our application to be the best option for background removal.
Upscale feature
The all-in-one Image Optimizer for Shopify uses neural network AI-based upscaling techniques making the enhanced visuals look more crisp and realistic. When upscaling images, the objective is to improve the visual quality at higher resolutions. Most applications use an interpolation method to upscale an image. In contrast, AI upscaling begins with a low-resolution picture and predicts an image that would be downscaled to match the appearance of the initial low-resolution photo. The upscaled photos must be trained on many photographs to achieve accurate prediction. The deployed AI technology can then take low-resolution footage and produce high-quality sharpness and enhanced details that no traditional scaler can match. We offer this feature at the rate of 16 cents per edit as compared to other applications that charge twice as much.
Image enhancement
To ensure your product images resonate with customers and drive sales, you need to make sure they are optimized for the best possible user experience. Poorly-lit, poorly-framed, or unedited product images can negatively impact sales. Image enhancement is a process of enhancing (or improving) the image for better analysis. It may be removing noise or improving the contrast, enhancing the intensity, etc. One can find many Shopify tools for image enhancement. The all-in-one Image Optimizers offer image enhancement as part of the package. The application offers batch processing as well. If the images are clicked in the same lighting and setup, then image enhancement can be performed together as a batch thereby saving time and energy.
The all-in-one Image Optimizer can optimize images all at once. This will be a huge benefit for Shopify owners who use many applications across the platform to achieve their goals. Our pricing plans are very competitive and accommodating. We provide a wide range of picture optimization tools at a bargain price. Our small basic service includes all the fundamental picture optimization tools at a competitive price. Other software on Shopify provides less functionality for a higher cost. We are able to provide affordable AI-based picture optimization services too. Our pricing brands almost offer twice as many AI-based edits for a nominal increase in the price. The AI-based optimization options offered at a nominal price are a game-changer for the platform. The app is very easy to use and you don’t need any special skills to operate the app. We offer customer support and help that can be availed at any time through email. We are always at your service and we are always there to help you. If you have queries on our Shopify image optimizer, kindly refer to our FAQ