Shopify Image Optimization: 8 Easy Tips (2024)

If you own an online store, you should master the art of image optimization. Did you know that photos can directly affect traffic and conversions to your website?

Images are typically the most important aspect of page performance, which can impact both traffic and conversions if it is slow.

75% of online customers make purchasing decisions based on product photographs.

High-quality product photos had a 94% greater conversion rate than low-quality images.

In this post, we’ll show you Shopify image optimization tips to increase page speed, conversions, and search traffic.

What is Image Optimization?

Image optimization is the technique of changing images so that they load faster and are understandable by robots.

The most significant factor here is speed optimization. High-resolution photographs have enormous file sizes, which makes them load slowly.

Image optimization is the process of lowering file sizes using methods such as file format conversion, resizing, and image compression while maintaining image quality.

Why is image compression important?

The file size is crucial, especially in terms of loading times. There must be a balance between image quality and file size so that the image looks good while still loading quickly and without requiring excessive storage.

HTTP Archive data shows that unoptimized images account for an average of 75% of an entire webpage’s weight. This can hurt your website’s performance.

Image optimization reduces the weight of your webpage and is a fundamental principle of excellent e-commerce web design, resulting in the following benefits:

1: Compressed Images Load Faster

LCP refers to the time it takes for your largest image (or content block) to render on a device fully. You’ll get a good score if this takes 2.5 seconds or less. One of the primary reasons for picture compression is to ensure that all of your images render promptly.

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According to the BBC, for every additional second that a website takes to load, 10% of people leave

2: Compressed Images use less Storage Space

Depending on your web host (the firm in charge of keeping your website data), your storage quota could range from a few gigabytes to unlimited.

Because films and images are always the largest types of information you store, it is sense to minimize their size as much as possible without significantly sacrificing quality. That is what compression accomplishes.

3: Compressed Images have no Effect on Resolution.

Reducing a picture’s resolution necessarily lowers its quality because you eliminate pixels from the image. Image compression maintains the same amount of pixels; therefore, the compressed image will look as sharp on the screen as the original.

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Different image formats

There are various image types you’ll encounter online, but the three most prevalent are:

JPEG:

A lossy compression format typically results in inferior-quality images but has the advantage of much smaller file sizes when compared to PNG. It cannot be used with translucent photos.

Pros

• Smaller file size
• Allows for faster loading of website pages.
• Compatible with the majority of applications

PNG:

PNG is a lossless compression format ideal for high-resolution, transparent images like logos and crucial site elements. The disadvantage is that this produces substantially higher file sizes than standard JPEGs, which is not recommended for most photographs.

Pros

• Image quality remains unchanged when editing.
• More colorful photos are possible due to the increased color depth.
• Allow for transparency in image backgrounds.

WebP:

Google created the WebP file format, which is modern and supports translucent backdrops and smaller file sizes (both lossy and lossless compression). WebP lossless images are 26% smaller in size than PNGs. WebP lossy images are 25–34% smaller than similar.

Shopify Image Optimization Tips

1: Compress Image

A decent rule of thumb for e-commerce photos is to keep the file size to less than 70 kilobytes. However, this may vary depending on the quality of the photograph required.

Shopify provides WebP and manages thumbnails. While this is a useful start, you should constantly look to compress your photos further and get your Shopify store’s load speed as fast as possible.

However, compression is classified into two types: lossless compression and lossy compression.

• Lossless Compression: These are minor file size reductions with no quality loss.
• Lossy compression: It reduces image resolution by deleting less important or imperceptible information to the human eye.

So, how do you minimize or compress image file sizes?

You may alter images using a variety of internet programs. Adobe, for example, provides free image editing software for tablets and smartphones: Photoshop Express.

2: Use the right file type

You should only consider two image types for your Shopify store:.jpg and.png.

• JPEG provides the finest overall mix of image quality and file size.
• PNG images have good resolution and transparent parts, but the files are large. In addition, if they are excessively compressed, the image quality suffers.
• WebP: Google’s creation that offers smaller file sizes than JPEG while preserving high quality. The majority of e-commerce photos are highly recommended.

For example, if you have a photograph with a lot of information and color, a JPEG format can be the ideal way to keep the quality while lowering the size. However, a PNG file may be more appropriate if you have a logo or design with sharp lines and solid colors.

Using the correct file format guarantees that your photographs look their best and are optimized for your online store.

3: Write alt attributes

Alt attributes are text replacements that can be displayed when a browser cannot properly render pictures. Create short alt text that appropriately represents the image.

Alt tags give alternative text for images and are necessary for accessibility. They also help search engines comprehend what your photographs are about. Make sure to include relevant and useful keywords in your image alt attributes.

Here are some straightforward guidelines for alt attributes:

• Describe your photographs clearly, like you did for the file names.
• Include your products’ model or serial numbers in the alt attributes.
• Don’t Overstuff Keyword – Don’t overload your alt attributes with terms (e.g., Ford Mustang muscle car buy now low best price on sale”).
• Alt characteristics are not appropriate for ornamental images. Excessive optimization can result in penalties from search engines.

4: Name the image accordingly

It’s a missed opportunity to use generic titles for your Shopify store images, such as IMG_79865.PNG. When ranking sites, Google considers picture titles, so descriptive titles that include relevant keywords can significantly improve your store’s SEO.

Consider this scenario: someone searching for “red sneakers with white laces.”. If your image of the sneakers is titled IMG_9873.jpg, Google will not recognize it, and it will not appear in the search results.

However, if you title it “red-sneakers-white-laces.png”, Google will recognize the image and be much more likely to display it to someone searching for those keywor Shopify images ds.

Here are some tips for appropriately naming Shopify images:

• Incorporate descriptive keywords: Include the main product, color, material, and any other pertinent information in the title.
• Maintain a concise style: Aim for 3-5 words to make the title easy to read and understand.
• Separate Terms with Hyphens: Separate terms with hyphens to make the title more legible and search engine-friendly.
• Do not use special characters or numerals. Use letters, hyphens, and underscores only.
• Keep consistent: All of your photographs should be named in a similar format.

These tips will help you create educational and search-engine-optimized image names for your Shopify store, improving its ranking and attracting more customers.

5: Make sure images are responsive

Regardless of your store’s sales, some customers arrive via mobile devices. With Google’s mobile-first approach, you want customers to have a smooth experience, and supplying responsive graphics is critical.

Ensuring that your images adjust to the screen size is simple: use a current and responsive Shopify theme, and it will take care of the rest. These themes generate HTML blocks that direct browsers to load images in specific sizes dependent on the device.

Source: Shopify

6: Use unique images

Shopify stores can become quite image-heavy. That is why you should endeavor to construct each image attentively and meaningfully.

Before approaching a new image, answer the following questions:

• Purpose and functionalities: Is the image primarily decorative, designed to draw attention? Is it a practical product image that consumers will zoom in on to see more details? Is it intended to exhibit the entire product or to highlight a single detail?
• Placement – will it be placed as a hero image on my homepage? Is it one of the countless collection images?
• Equipment – Do I need reflectors, backgrounds, and lighting to create a distinctive image for this purpose? If so, should I engage a professional product photographer, or can I do it on my own?

Determine the image’s proportions, angles, and other features based on your responses.

7: Create image sitemaps

An image sitemap is an XML file that organizes all of your website’s photos for search engine crawlers. An image sitemap enables Shopify users to explicitly target their images for search engine indexing, making them more easily discoverable by potential buyers.

Shopify stores can use an image sitemap to ensure that their images are correctly and accurately listed on major search engines. It can help Shopify users reach more potential consumers by ensuring that their Shopify store’s images appear in the relevant places.

You can add the following line to your robots.txt file to reveal the path to your sitemap.

Sitemap URL: http://example.com/sitemap_location.xml

Alternatively, you can submit the sitemap to Google through the Search Console.

Google provides various rules for picture publication that can help your website rank higher in SERPs.

8: Test and adjust images

Consider your aims and goals carefully before beginning testing. Which is more important to you: faster page load times, greater SERP performance, or more total website conversions? Then, when you modify your photographs, experiment with these various elements.

SEO test:

You can’t truly test how enhancing image SEO affects overall search rankings, but there are several useful SEO tools for ensuring you’re following best practices. Use the AdResults tool regularly to ensure that all of your photos have alt tags and keep track of the rankings of the URLs you actively enhance.

Testing page speed:

This is an extremely basic one. Enter your website address into SpeedBooster to determine how fast or slow your site is today.

Testing conversions:

Your conversions and the tools you already have will play a big role in how you test for this. However, the most important thing is precisely defining a conversion and explaining why you have that statistic. Test for conversions such as time spent on a website, email, push notification, or Messenger marketing sign-ups, things placed in a cart, and, most commonly, purchases. And after you’ve begun testing, don’t change the measurements.

Shopify Image Sizing

Shopify permits a maximum file size of 4472 x 4472 pixels (20 MB), which is not recommended.

Shopify recommends 2048 x 2048 pixels for square product photos, which may vary depending on the theme and desired resolution.

The key is that the size of the image will make a major difference in file size and quality; both too big and too small will be problematic, so try to size it to fit perfectly (no more than 2x). The exact size it will be shown on your website.

Conclusion

You devote significant time and attention to developing attractive images, ensuring you get the most out of your time, resources, and creativity.

You understand how to fully utilize alt attributes, the differences between file kinds, and when selecting each option. Now, it’s time to go to your website and optimize your photographs.

We hope you liked our detailed article on Shopify optimization tips for increasing website traffic.

In addition to implementing the image optimization tips shared above, ensuring your Shopify store is fully optimized for search engines is crucial for maximizing visibility and driving traffic. That’s where our ecommerce SEO services come in. Our team specializes in tailoring SEO strategies specifically for ecommerce platforms like Shopify, helping your store rank higher in search engine results and attract more potential customers.