I've written before about how important it is for real estate agents to provide lots of high quality photos with their real estate listings. Don't waste your prospects or your own time driving people to properties you could easily show to people through a proper online listing.
Joe Dolson writes along the same line about the importance of product images in general. I think Dolson nails it when he states, ". . . at the end of the day, gut feeling will inevitably play a part - and part of that gut response is going to be based on whether they can visualize your product in their life."
inter:digital strategies: The Importance of Product Images
Images are a critical part of almost any website. Having a well-communicated brand identity can make a huge difference in convincing visitors to return - and having high quality product images can be the difference between a sale and an exit page.
I've had too many cases where, in an otherwise beautiful design, I've had to work with clumsy, out of focus, poorly optimized images. All the copy in the world may not help you if you've got low quality pictures.
The Internet is a place where people can make decisions based on concrete issues - they can look at how an item is manufactured, what materials it's made of, whether it's non-toxic, and read reviews. But at the end of the day, gut feeling will inevitably play a part - and part of that gut response is going to be based on whether they can visualize your product in their life.
What have you done to improve the quality of images on your site? Do they load fast? Look great? Are there enough images to help your customers understand what they're looking at?
For me, the most annoying things image-wise are images that are too small. I'm willing to wait to see large images of products I'm interested in. Assuming I'm willing to wait, is there anything worth waiting for?
