Boost Etsy Sales With Beautiful Images

If you’ve started an Etsy shop and been at it for a little bit struggling to make sales you may need better pictures. At one point I was in denial about my own pictures and what I needed to provide in order to boost Etsy sales. I’m hoping to save you the trouble in figuring it out yourself.

There are no secret formulas in online business. If there is one thing I’ve figured out over my many years in building an online business, it’s that it takes a combination of all the right things in order for an online business to succeed.

So if you haven’t already read my other Etsy posts here are the links:

Today I want to focus on just a small portion of what makes an Etsy shop successful. Pictures are everything.

We live in an ultra visual world. Pinterest is insanely popular and it’s nothing but images. It makes sense that your pictures would be everything when it comes to your Etsy shop. This is the only thing your potential customers have to decide if they like an item or not.

Etsy gives you up to 10 spots for pictures now. It’s because they know there is value in pictures so they are giving you the ability to showcase your products as much as possible. Remember Etsy has a stake in making sure you find at least some success with them, they want to be successful too.

Consider An Online Photography Class

Learning how to take photos and edit photos is the #1 lesson in taking better pictures of your products. You need to consider taking a class that will walk you through that. This class doesn’t require expensive cameras or gear and teaches you how to take great photos and edit those photos directly on your phone.

When I first started my Etsy shop I was broker than broke. I did not have a lot of money to invest in supplies. However, taking an inexpensive course to fine tune my camera skills was all I really needed.

Types of Pictures You Need

You have 10 spots to put pictures. Three of them will be taken by Pinterest, which we will get into a little later. Right now I want to focus on the types of pictures your customers want to see.

Clean Background

Your background should be clear of distraction. You don’t know how many shop critiques I did where the biggest problem was the background on the photos.

While I never call out shops by name, there was one shop that stands out for having pretty bad product photos. I knew the woman was just trying to work with what she had and I felt really bad for her because her products were truly amazing.

She had this 70’s wood paneling on the lower portion of her wall and the top portion was Christmas green. She would set her products on a table and you would see the wood paneling and the green wall in most of her photos.

After a critique she switched up where she was photographing her pictures and they looked 100 times better. She even started making a lot more sales.

Try to use light colored, white, white brick, and white washed wood backgrounds for your images. A simple clean background keeps your product front and center where you want the focus to be.

Another thing to watch out for is Etsy’s website design. They have a clean minimal design for a website. If your pictures don’t blend well with that design it could harm your sales. It’s important to keep your pictures on point so they don’t offend the senses as someone sees them in the search results.

In Use Pictures

You want to make sure you include a couple of in use pictures. If you sell coffee cups have a picture of it in use. A picture of your artwork on a wall. Your outfit on a person. Showcase what your product is used for.

In use pictures help your potential customers to visualize what the product will do for them in their everyday life.

Remember you still need to make sure it is your product standing out not the person using your product or the things around your product. You can use photo editing software right on your phone to make your product stand out more than anything around it. I recommend this class because they teach you how to use photo editors on your phone.

Lighting is Everything

Make sure you are using great lighting. Some of the best lighting you can get is natural lighting. Watch the lighting that comes in through your windows take snapshots of that lighting on one of your products throughout the day. Figure out which time of day produces the best photos.

You can mimic this lighting with daylight bulbs as well if you don’t get great lighting from your windows. Find a clean distraction free corner of a room and set up a photo session. Grab a lamp or two and set up your lighting.

A well lit photo can be the difference between someone buying your product and passing it by. So make sure you test out different lighting options until you find one that works well for you.

3 Pinterest Images

If you aren’t planning to use Pinterest to market your Etsy shop you are missing out on an extremely valuable marketing tool. While Pinterest can be crucial to your Etsy success it is a whole different playing field.

The whole purpose of Pinterest is to basically bookmark awesome images and articles. This is why you need to dedicate at least three of your photo spaces to Pinterest specific images. Sizing for Pinterest images should be 600x900px or 600x600px.

Images should be beautiful, clean, and showcase your product. You can try adding information to the graphic however it’s not necessary for Etsy products. Everything on Etsy will utilize a rich pin to share all the information you need to share. Pin directly from Etsy in order to get that information.

The final reason why you want Pinterest images is, because this gives window shoppers a chance to save Pinterest friendly images so they can come back later to buy. Or they can influence people who follow them to buy.

Final Thoughts

Remember this one thing. Your photos are what draw in the customer and they are the key to the final decision to buy it, make them beautiful and you will make more sales.

If you have any questions regarding Etsy or your photos or would like an extra eye on your Etsy shop to see what, if anything, needs improvement feel free to drop a link in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest and pin this to your business boards.

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