Product Photography SEO: How Images Drive Organic Traffic and Sales

Most ecommerce businesses focus entirely on text-based search, ignoring the massive traffic potential of Google Images and visual search.

Key Statistics

• Google Images — Accounts for 20-30% of all Google searches. For fashion, home decor, and luxury goods, that figure is higher
• Google Lens — Over 12 billion visual searches per month. Users photograph products in the real world and search for where to buy them
• Pinterest — A visual search engine in disguise. Product pins with optimised images drive significant referral traffic
• Shopping results — Google Shopping increasingly shows image-heavy results. Better product images get better click-through rates

The chart above shows the rapid growth of visual search channels. Google Lens alone has grown from 3% to over 34% of product discovery traffic in six years, making image optimisation a critical acquisition channel.

Image SEO has technical foundations that most sites get wrong. These basics must be in place before any creative optimisation matters.

File Naming

• Descriptive filenames — Use "handmade-italian-leather-tote-bag-tan.webp" not "IMG_4521.jpg"
• Hyphens between words — Google reads hyphens as word separators. Underscores are treated as joiners
• Include product attributes — Colour, material, brand, and product type in the filename

Alt Text Strategy

• Descriptive, not keyword-stuffed — "Tan Italian leather tote bag with gold hardware, front view" is good. "Buy cheap leather bag tote bag leather bag UK" is spam
• Include context — Mention colour, material, angle, and use case where relevant
• Unique per image — Every image should have its own alt text, even multiple angles of the same product
• Skip decorative images — Background textures and design elements should have empty alt attributes (alt="")

Format and Compression

• WebP as default — 25-35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality
• AVIF for hero images — Even smaller than WebP, ideal for hero product shots
• Multiple sizes — Serve thumbnail, product page, and zoom-level versions via srcset
• Lazy loading — Load below-fold images on scroll. Never lazy-load the primary product image

The quality of your photography directly impacts both conversion rates and search visibility. Google's algorithms increasingly evaluate image quality, and users make purchase decisions based on product images.

Essential Shot Types

• Hero shot — The main product image on a clean background. This appears in search results and Google Shopping
• Scale shot — Show the product in context with recognisable objects or being worn/used. This answers the "how big is it?" question
• Detail shots — Close-ups of materials, stitching, hardware, labels. These justify premium pricing
• Lifestyle shots — Product in its intended environment. These drive aspiration and emotional connection
• 360-degree or video — Interactive views reduce return rates by 25-30% for apparel and accessories

Luxury Photography Standards

• Lighting — Natural or carefully controlled studio lighting. Avoid harsh shadows and uneven exposure
• Consistency — Same lighting, angles, and styling across the entire product range. Inconsistency signals unprofessionalism
• Resolution — Shoot at the highest resolution possible, then serve optimised versions. Users will zoom; the detail should be there
• Colour accuracy — Incorrect colours are the top reason for returns. Calibrate your monitor and shoot with a colour checker

Visual search is the fastest-growing search modality, and product-centric businesses stand to benefit the most.

Google Lens Optimisation

• Clean product isolation — Google Lens works best when the product is clearly separated from the background
• Multiple angles — More image angles give Google Lens more data to match against user queries
• Structured data — Product schema markup helps Google understand what the image shows and surface it in relevant searches
• High resolution — Google Lens needs detail to match images accurately

Pinterest Visual Search

• Vertical images — Pinterest favours 2:3 aspect ratio images (1000x1500px ideal)
• Text overlay — Add minimal text to pins for context, but don't obscure the product
• Rich Pins — Enable product Rich Pins to show pricing, availability, and descriptions automatically
• Board organisation — Organise by product category, not by campaign. This helps Pinterest's algorithm understand your catalogue

Schema markup helps search engines understand your product images and display them in rich results.

Essential Schema Properties

• Product schema — Include image, name, description, brand, and offers properties
• Multiple images — List all product images in the schema, not just the primary one
• ImageObject — For key product images, use ImageObject schema with contentUrl, caption, and encodingFormat

Google Merchant Centre

If you sell products online, submitting your product feed to Google Merchant Centre is essential for appearing in Google Shopping and image search product results. Image requirements include:

• Minimum 100x100px (250x250px for apparel)
• No watermarks, logos, or promotional text on the product image
• White or transparent background for primary images
• Product filling 75-90% of the image frame

Track these metrics to understand how your product images perform in search:

Key Metrics

• Google Images traffic — In GA4, filter organic traffic by landing page and check if the source includes "images.google"
• Search Console image report — Filter to "Image" search type to see impressions, clicks, and average position for image searches
• Page speed impact — Monitor Core Web Vitals (especially LCP) to ensure images aren't slowing the site
• Conversion rate by image quality — A/B test product pages with improved photography vs current images

Competitive Analysis

Search your target keywords in Google Images. Note which competitors appear, what their images look like, and how they're optimised. Reverse-engineer the patterns that rank.

Our SEO services are built around this exact framework, designed for businesses that need predictable growth.