Optimizing Amazon Product Images
Introduction:
In this article, we will provide a guide on how to optimize Amazon Product Images and discuss the benefits of optimizing Amazon Product Images.
We will discuss:
1 – The Technical requirements of the Main Image
2 – The different types of additional images: Lifestyle images, competitor charts, Feature presentation
3 – Things to avoid
When you go inside a mall, a fast-food restaurant, or a theme park, what draws your attention? It is not the experience yet, but the sights you see. In the case of theme parks, entrances are designed to be grand and festive. The images you see stimulate and elicit responses of excitement and expectation.
That experience is similar to what you need in optimizing the product image that you put up on Amazon. It should engage people and catch their attention. Remember that visual stimuli deliver 80 percent of the information you need to perceive the world, and it takes precedence over all other senses. So what people see and how you present it matters a lot if you want to have a successful Amazon listing.
Here are a few things that you should remember when optimizing product images on Amazon: Basic Image Requirements, the Image, Additional Images, and things to avoid.
Technical Requirements
Product images submitted to Amazon must meet the following technical specifications.
- TIFF (.tif/.tiff), JPEG (.jpeg/.jpg), GIF (.gif) and PNG (.png) format
- Image pixel dimensions of at least 1000 or larger in either height or width preferred
- sRGB or CMYK color mode
- File names must consist of the product identifier (Amazon ASIN, 13-digit ISBN, EAN, JAN, or UPC) followed by a period and the appropriate file extension (Example: B000123456.jpg or 0237425673485.tif)
Note: Spaces, dashes or additional characters in the filename will prevent your image from going online.
Amazon Site Standards for Product Images
For images named by product identifier without a variant code or named with the MAIN variant, and display as the main image on the product detail page, Amazon maintains the following site product image standards:
- The image must be the cover art or a professional photograph of the product being sold. Drawings or illustrations of the product are not allowed.
- The image must not contain gratuitous or confusing additional objects.
- The image must be in focus, professionally lit and photographed or scanned, with realistic color, and smooth edges.
- Books, Music, and Video/DVD images should be the front cover art, and fill 100% of the image frame. Jewel cases, promotional stickers, and cellophane are not allowed.
- All other products should fill 85% or more of the image frame.
- The full product must be in frame.
- Backgrounds must be pure white (RGB 255,255,255).
- The image must not contain additional text, graphics, or inset images.
- Pornographic and offensive materials are not allowed.
- For more detailed information please follow these links below: Amazon.com Help: Product Image Requirements and Product image requirements
The Main Image
The main image of your product should stand out because it is the first thing that grabs people’s attention when they go to your product page. According to the National Retail Federation, 67% of customers value the quality of a product’s image more than the product information, description, rating, and reviews.
White background to make your product stand out
For an eye-catching main product image, follow these guidelines:
- A clear image of the actual photo of the product must be used
- It must be taken in a well-lit environment
- Mind the framing of the product in the image and provide some margin on the sides
- The product in the photo ideally should not touch the border of the entire image
Additional Images
Use a wide range of angles and perspectives of the product. The images should be arranged in a logical order from top to bottom in the image selection column. Imagine holding the product in your hand and examining it.
Use all available image slots on your listing (approximately 9). Aside from the variety of angles, use the other slots for a combination of any of the following depending on what you need to emphasize:
- Lifestyle images – it is the name in photography and visuals to any image depicting people in a life-related activity. Be it one person, or a larger group of people, if there are people doing things while interacting with the product, then it’s a lifestyle image. For example, if you are selling cereal, then the image would show a person holding a spoon with the bowl and cereal box on the table.
- Details – take a picture of the labels, ingredients, directions for use, or other important information on the product.
- Context – show what your product looks like in relation to its surroundings. For example, you are selling a blender. Show images of the product on the countertop in a kitchen.
- Infographic – it is a useful tool to give an overview of your product at a glance. It gives the buyer easy-to-understand representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.
- Competitor chart – gives details about the features of your product compared to your competitors’ products. It can be as simple as having 3 columns to show information. The first column shows the features, the second column is your product, and the third column is the competitor’s product. And put a yes/no under each column to show your advantage over the competitor.
Other noteworthy images for presentation: size ratio of the product, uses, benefits, and unique characteristics of the product. You can also include the packaging that the product comes in.
Things to avoid
Avoid including product accessories in the image that are not included in the actual purchase. It can cause confusion to the customer. Do not use additional graphics, texts, logos, watermarks, or inset images. Show only what customers will receive.
Lastly, preview the images before you publish them on Amazon. It should give you an idea of how your product will be displayed. Remember, a well-thought-out optimized image presentation can work miracles for your listing.
Tool used to review your Amazon Product listing Image score
Helium10 extension https://www.helium10.com/tools/x-ray/
Tools used to optimize Amazon Product images:
Photoshop = To resize images and create Lifestyle images
Removebg.com = automatically removes the background of Main Image
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
In summary, we provided a guide on how to optimize Amazon Product Images and discussed the benefits of optimizing Amazon Product Images.
We discussed:
1 – The Technical requirements of the Main Image
2 – The different types of additional images: Lifestyle images, competitor charts, Feature presentation
3 – Things to avoid
