CHAPTER 5
MAKING $10,000 A PIXEL: optimizing Thumbnail Images in Search Results
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words PAGE 74
Make Thumbnail Images Large and Informative PAGE 75
Include Supporting Text PAGE 77
Go Easy on the Borders PAGE 79
Keep the Focus on the Image Content PAGE 80
Help Customers to Judge an Item's Actual Size PAGE 81
Be Creative in Choosing Informative Images PAGE 82
The old adage a picture is worth a thousand words rings just as true when referring to search results. To make your search results more efficient to use, more relevant, and more attractive, images reign supreme. Nothing else on your search results pages can come close to offering the same potential as thumbnail images for dramatically increasing your conversion rates and revenues.
Although your Web site's image requirements are likely unique, you might encounter some common pitfalls when using images in your search results. The good news is that you can easily avoid most of these mistakes with awareness and a little foresight.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Why do most Web sites use thumbnail images in search results? Following are two good reasons:
- Helping users identify relevant search results
- Reducing pogosticking—that is, customers' bouncing back and forth between search results and the items at their links' destinations
Research consistently shows that well-crafted images make excellent use of the limited screen real estate on search results pages and play a crucial role in providing the ...
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