Have you ever entered a website, clicked over a product image, and then waited for an eternity just to take a close look at a product?
That’s a glaring sign of a poorly optimized image! While many of you might think this to be trivial, it has serious adverse effects on your brand reputation and search engine rankings. Even worse, it makes your website appear amateurish to potential consumers! That, at the end of the day, might be the reason why your website cannot drive sales!
However, you can easily take care of product image optimization if you adhere to some best practices. So, before you resort to the best plugins for Squarespace, let’s just take a look at some of these hacks that can prove to be incredibly effective to make your products shine, and drive more sales.
Product Image Optimization- Why Does That Matter?
Before we delve into the “how” of the issue, let’s discuss the “whys” first.
So, image optimization isn’t all about making your product images look attractive. Rather, it is an element that helps enhance user experience, which helps drive sales for your business.
Here’s why it’s a crucial part of the job-
- It helps create a strong first impression
High-quality, crisp images showcase your products in the best light. This conveys professionalism and helps build trust with potential customers. Blurry or distorted images can make your products look cheap and unappealing, and might drive customers away!
- It helps enhance page load speed
Large, unoptimized image files are the biggest culprits behind slow-responsive website pages. In today’s fast-paced digital world, slow loading times is equal to loss of business! It frustrates users to the core, and they tend to hit the back button impulsively! This leads to high bounce rates and lost sales. Therefore, product image optimization is essential for a snappy, responsive website.
- It assists in mobile-first indexing
Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites. And nowadays, a majority of the total world population prefers to shop on their phones. So, the images of your Squarespace website need to look perfect on smaller screens as well. Optimized images ensure a seamless mobile experience. Not just that, but it also improves your search engine ranking and visibility.
- It allows better zoom functionality
High-resolution images allow customers to zoom in and examine the finer details of your products. This functionality is particularly important for items like clothing, jewelry, or artwork, where texture and detail are the key elements that a customer sees before completing the purchase. Image optimization helps better zoom functionality, and therefore, increases the chances of your sales significantly.
- It brings along SEO Benefits
Optimized images, which include descriptive file names and alt text, can improve your website’s SEO. This helps potential customers find your products more easily when they search with the relevant phrases or keywords through search engines.
Did you know? Universal filter- the most robust filter plugin for Squarespace, can make it a breeze to filter/ sort any and every data on your Squarespace site, and supports both 7.0 and 7.1 versions seamlessly! Integrate it, and enhance your website’s user experience substantially.
The Cheat Sheet to Optimize Product Images
Step 1: Choose the correct dimensions
Aim for product page images between 1500px and 2500px wide. This particular resolution maintains sharpness without sacrificing load speed.
Also, remember to use thumbnail images between 300px and 600px width. This allows for a smooth as well as responsive design.
Step 2: Compress Images Before Upload
Use compression tools like TinyPNG or Adobe Photoshop to decrease file size without compromising the overall image quality. Try to maintain image file sizes below 500KB for optimal site performance and clear visuals.
Step 3: Choose the Correct File Format
Remember to use JPEG format to save product images. It offers the perfect balance between quality and file size. Also, use the PNG extension to save images that need transparency. However, be aware of their potentially larger file size.
Step 4: Test Across Devices
Squarespace automatically adjusts images for mobile and desktop viewing. So, check your Squarespace product image size on various devices. This ensures proper scaling and clarity.
Squarespace Plugins and Extensions That You Can Use
There are a handful of the best Squarespace plugins and extensions that can help you in the process!
For instance, the TinyIMG is a Squarespace extension that can compress your product images without compromising the overall quality. This can contribute to a smooth and seamless user experience!
On the other hand, the Lazy Load Summaries Block is another Squarespace plugin that can help improve your overall website performance. While not exactly an image size optimization tool, Lazy Load prioritizes the loading of ‘above-the-fold’ content. This saves initial loading time, and therefore, translates to a much better user experience!
Wrapping It Up
Your product images do more than what meets the eye! They are the reflection of your brand. What’s most important is, that it helps enhance sales and SERP rankings of your Squarespace website.
So, before scouring for plugins at a Squarespace Plugins Store, make sure to go through the aforementioned tips, and you’ll be on your way to drive more traffic, and increase sales volume significantly!