When it comes to your online store, nothing stands out more that the quality of your product images. Within a few microseconds, a shopper can tell if your site is low-budget/low-quality, or a high end store just by the quality that your product photography communicates. E-Commerce Product photography, if done right, can enhance your store, increase sales and help you stick out among your competitors.

Here are some things to keep in mind as well as a few suggestions for enhancing your online store through the use of your product images.

1. Always use professional quality images for your thumbnail and main product images.   Which looks better?

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3. Take your best selling items, and hire a professional product photographer to create top notch product photos. Not only will your images be more unique than your competitor’s, they will usually be of higher quality than the stock images provided by the manufacturers.

4. Never steal photographs from another website without written permission. It will save you headaches later. If someone feels their copyrights have been infringed on, they can complain to your hosting provider, and your hosting provider may temporarily shut your site down to mitigate their own legal risk until the dispute has been resolved. In the case where I do not hire out, I ask my distributors and manufacturers for their permission via email. They usually allow me use of their images.

5. Professional product photography, while it may seem expensive, can actually increase your conversion and ultimately your return of investment. When I first started out, I exclusively used stock images, or did my best to take my own photographs. Eventually, I hired a professional for an item I was having difficulty photographing. I cringed at the $35 it cost me for one shot on a white background. But when I saw the results, and when my sales of that item doubled, I knew it was worth it. Due to the potential costs involved, I only use professional photographers for items that have decent sales to begin with. This way I do not spend hundred or even thousands of dollars on products that do not sell very well. Focus on your best sellers first.

6. Having high quality images increases trust. It conveys professionalism and along with many other factors on your site, shows that you are serious about your business.

7. If you can’t afford a commercial product photographer, try your local community college, or photography school for graduating students. Simple product photography (e.g simple items with a plain white background) can be done easily by someone with decent equipment, lighting kits, and good Photoshop skills (even with good equipment, most images need basic touching up). Hire them on a contract basis for a week or two and get as many photographs out of them in a preset time period, and you will be amazed at how much can be accomplished in just 1-2 weeks. Try Craigslist to locate photographers for short term projects, but check out their references and portfolios. For more complex photography (e.g. shots where a product is staged, such as action shots, or food items), your better off to defer those to those with more experience.