TKHanson Consulting

Google Base - SEO Through Products Part 3

Last post I talked about descriptions and their impact on SEO. This post I will be touching on the importance of Images.

Images are very important. Many people are visually stimulated and wont trust things until they see for themselves. This is were images make or break your conversions. Seeing is believing and believing brings home the bacon.

Since we have the image for the product available, now we must optimize its presence.

The file size and image dimensions are discretionary on your part. The larger file size will make it harder for others with slower internet speeds to quickly access your information, but you do not want a granulated image that blurs the image. So, find a good medium and go with that. I use a simple formula when I edit images, most people have 1MB or faster connections speeds these days, so I try and keep the images equal too or no more than 2x the speed of the average viewer. Not a scientific method but it works for me.

Dimensions are all dependent on the site you are working on. I use the Magento Commerce Shopping Cart Engine so I can change things as i need to fit the design. Most common sizes I run with are 100px x 100px for thumbnails, 300px x 300px for product page displays and the largest being for detailed photos are 600px x 600px.

The alt tag often gets over looked or omitted. This defines what the image is displaying. So, make it short and simple. If the image displays a #2 Lead Pencil then the alt tag should mirror this. Google asks for descriptive text around images to better display the page to the crawlers. Google's bots have the same limitations that blind individuals do, they cannot see images. Lets not forget... when Google wants something you best be doing it!

Image placement is important. It for the most part will be the selling point for any sales done on an e-commerce site. The image should be the first thing that is seen when the product is displayed. I like the flow for the customer to be along these lines:

1. Category page shows the product thumbnail above the product name below.

2. Product page displays the larger product image above the description for the product and left of the price, add to cart button or any other purchase information.

3. Detail image is the focus when expanded. Easily done with some Java script.

Image galleries are nice as well. Different angles, settings, lighting  among others can spur the imagination of the buyer or lead them to  another more profitable version of the product after seeing the details  of another variant of the product. The more you can provide to the  customer the more comfortable they are with purchasing from you.

This will ensure the customer that what they are seeing is what they are going to get. Projecting confidence is key with an online business. If the images are terrible and don't appear to be accurate then the confidence of the user is lost and nothing is purchased.