What is visual search? Have you heard about this term before?
Today, images are a very important part of online shopping. After all, will you buy something on the internet without seeing a preview?
In fact, one study says that about a third of US online shoppers look for visual content before buying. Thus, making it clear that images are a vital part of any listing.
That is why the most sector that benefits the most from visual search is e-commerce. Thus, making it rise to become a vital driver for e-commerce growth.
But what is visual search? And why is the e-commerce sector benefiting the most from it?
What is Visual Search?
Most online shoppers look for an item using keywords. For example, you may want to look for a navy blue bedsheet. The same with your favorite one that got an unremovable stain.
So, you may type in the phrase “navy blue bedsheet.” Sometimes, you may get the result you want fast.
But there are times you may need to scroll for a long time before getting what you want. So, this is where a visual search can help you.
You can take a picture of your favorite bedsheet and upload it on a visual search tool. With this, you can get the results faster and it is more accurate.
Thus, giving even better results than a text-based search. But how is this possible?
It makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. This tool can get smarter each time. The more images they get of the same item, the more they can recognize it better.
Thus, it lets us search with the use of real-world imagery. Also, the result these tools give can be information about an item or similar images.
Further, it can even give links to e-commerce stores for your convenience. Going back to the bedsheet sample, the tool can give you a link to where you can buy one.
Thus, making things easier for you. As you can now see, this is the reason why visual search especially benefits the e-commerce sector.
With this, it makes for easier and faster product discovery. As a result, the conversion rate can get higher.
So, how can e-commerce sites make full use of this amazing tool? If you have one, you need to do the best practices.
Best Practices for e-Commerce
In upping your e-commerce game, you need to make sure you do not neglect the power of images. Today, these are not only present for decoration.
It can help with the product discovery with the right strategy. Take note of these:
- Add alternative text. Or “alt tags.” This appears in place of images as it loads on the screen. Also, search engines read this. So, give them the right info about your image.
- Use descriptive filenames. Avoid using “IMG_20210312.jpg” and describe the image itself. Make it unique and clear.
- Use structured data. This is to give the search engines as much information as possible. For example, read about Google’s guidelines for this.
