The benefits of using the right pictures with products are innumerable. They can also trigger something very important in prospects’ minds- the idea that what you are selling and what they are buying is real. In the world of ecommerce, separating yourself from the intangible and duplicitous is crucial to padding your conversion rates.

It’s been said that, amongst other things, pictures inspire emotion in viewers. For this reason, pictures are a marketing tool that online businesses shouldn’t treat lightly. After all, connecting with your buyers and prospects is exactly what you should be doing and using pictures is another way you can do it.

Choosing a picture that illustrates the benefits of using a product has proven advantageous by increasing conversion rates. Readers want things spelled out for them in the simplest terms possible. The same principle applies to pictures that accompany text. Moving products means conveying to the reader why they should buy your product. Much like crafting a benefit-heavy headline, you should choose a picture that clearly demonstrates a benefit to help sell your product- especially in markets where similar products abound. Select a clear, uncluttered picture that shows prospects how they’ll gain from purchasing your product and they’ll be sure to respond by buying it.

Consider your product images’ sizes in relation to the other images. Obviously, you don’t want your product’s thumbnail picture dwarfed by other, unassociated images. This isn’t a warning against using thumbnails though, as they can be useful in offering smaller-scaled versions of products in online catalogues or other indexes. But instead of simply resizing a photo, maximize a thumbnail’s impact by cropping the photo to reflect the most important parts of the item, then scaling the cropped photo down to a thumbnail size. This will help viewers identify the product and see the most relevant parts of it, even in its new, space-saving form. Add a "zoom in" or enlargement feature to your pictures if your products’ details are important to buyers. Smart business owners will also consider offering rotational functions, dragging options and alternate views (including those of the product’s bottom), since all angles are important to the viewer’s sensory experience.

Use product pictures to their potential by linking them to an order form or a shopping cart. But don’t let these be the only images that lead there. Any pictures associated with the item, including those that convey benefits, can increase conversions by linking them to order forms and shopping carts, too. If you track visitors’ viewing habits, you’ll find that these pictures will also be clicked on and used to purchase products. Don’t forget to place product pictures in shopping carts that link back to original items and their descriptions. There’s a psychology behind this, as potential buyers will be convinced to follow through with the sale if they understand that they are only a few steps away from owning the product.

Generally, prospects respond better to pictures placed to left of text because they help to streamline reading. Warung Digital notes that pictures should be "high on the page and close to the product"- this, so that prospects will see the pictures and associate them with their corresponding item. But Brian Chappell also says that placing images "at the fold" can encourage visitors to travel down the page to view more products. Both of these strategies can work to increase your conversions.

The nature of some businesses require images of people to represent benefits, products or services. While images of people may at first seem like a wrench thrown into your design, using pictures of people is fine and can even help sales, as Robert Kingston points out that selecting faces and positioning them so that they appear to look at call-to-actions actually increase conversion rates.

And while this post emphasizes the impact of images on conversion rates, we shouldn’t discount words- especially those that hover below your images. Captions grab readers’ attention and can be invaluable tools to get them to read product descriptions. Keep your captions short, strong and tempting. Leave the detail for your product descriptions.

Words of warning…

Choosing the wrong pictures can be detrimental to your business. A badly designed website (and that includes graphics) can lead to a sales slope and decreased trust from prospects. Subliminal Pictures warns that low resolution pictures, in particular, contribute to a prospects’ decision to "bail" before a purchase can be made. Get your pictures professionally taken if you don’t trust your own eye and consider coming to an agreement with the photographer so that only you can use the pictures.

While pictures can be beneficial to your business, having too many of them can also hurt it. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" and this, especially, applies to images on websites that try to keep the very clear message of "Buy now!" Multiple pictures threaten to obscure your product and leave your prospects wondering just what they are buying, who they are buying from and what pictures stand for- the worst possible scenario for any business owner who wants to communicate clearly, move a specific product and be remembered.