Get more value from your visuals

Desmond says: “Use visual commerce, which means using contextual images for e-commerce.

Also, for any business that works with products, instead of using plain product photos, use contextual photos with different settings based on AI.”

Is there a type of image that you would recommend?

“I recommend using context-rich visuals.

Think about lifestyle photos and AI-generated product imagery that make the online shopping experience more engaging and trustworthy. That could be 3D renders or lifestyle photos, or it could be using AI to create video based on those high-quality images.

If it's a physical product, by showing someone actually using the product, in an everyday context, AI will start to understand how that product is used.

While it’s not necessarily about video, you can also use AI to make those images into videos. You can essentially create user-generated content for your products using AI.”

Is there an optimum number of images per page, and should these only be published on your website?

“It really differs.

For our partners, we always have one plain product photo that just focuses on the product itself. We also have a lifestyle image. If it’s a washing machine, you would have a picture of the washing machine itself and create a lifestyle photo of the washing machine in the bathroom, for example, or in the kitchen, because that is where some people would have their machine.

What's important is to give the user an example of how they can use the product. Not only showing them what it looks like, but also the different settings in which they could use it. Then, they have an idea of how the product will look within their household.”

Is it important to have different photos from your competitors?

“Yes, because that's possible now. We’re seeing big brands like IKEA doing visual commerce and using high-quality, advanced, context-rich visuals.

Now, with AI, you can do it as a smaller company as well. If you’re selling a refrigerator, you can put it in different types of kitchens, to give it a more modern style or a more old-school style. That way, as a potential customer, you have a better idea of what it might look like in your own home.

From an SEO perspective, if you can give the user more of what they want, that will have a positive impact on revenue. We have also done several tests with our own e-commerce partners, where we have seen an uplift in different metrics.

If you're an e-commerce shop and you’re provided with an image from a manufacturer, you can ask AI to take that image and say, ‘Show me this washing machine being used in a bathroom,’ or ‘in a kitchen,’ or ‘with someone putting a load of white clothes into it.’ You can use AI to create lots of different scenarios.”

If you asked AI to create a video on the use of a product, would you upload that to YouTube and embed it on your website?

“It really depends.

Let's take an example of a client of ours who sells real estate in Dubai. However, they sell new projects and, if you have a new housing project, you don't know how it will look when it is completed. You only have photos. We used our AI to make a video, with images of the houses, but also with elements like the water moving, so it really looks like you're there.

We put that on the landing page on their website, not on YouTube, and the video was picked up in different search engines because we optimized it with all the elements that are important.

That was the first test. Now, though, we're going to also put all of those videos out on YouTube to see what the impact is. YouTube is a big search engine, so I would always recommend putting it there as well.”

Is there any particular file type and file size that you would recommend for images?

“Whether you are using JPEG, PNG, or WebP, I would always use the most optimal version and the most modern format.

When it comes to the image size, it really depends on the type of image that it is and the product page itself. There isn’t a specific pixel dimension, size, or format that you need to use because it depends on your website.

It also depends on the image. Is it an image with a lot of details, like an entire living room, or is it just an image of a person holding the product? It really depends on the amount of detail.”

Are these images primarily viewed on your website, or are they taken by AI search engines and displayed there as well?

“It's not only SEO; it's wider. We use those images on product pages. We use those images in Google Shopping (so, in our advertising). We use those images in our email marketing campaigns. It's not only beneficial for SEO, but it's also beneficial from a business perspective, as part of a wider marketing strategy.”

How can you automate the creation and publishing of these images at scale?

“Let me walk you through the steps. First, audit your current visuals. Map out which images you're using across product pages, categories, and ads. Identify the high traffic, low conversion pages.

Then, start with some AI variation testing. You can use like a tool like Midjourney, Dall-E, or Runway to generate multiple variants. Try creating a lifestyle image versus a neutral image, a light image versus a dark image, or a modern kitchen versus an old school kitchen.

Then, test them to see if it’s working. You can test one product category for a few products, depending on the size of your business. If you see that it's beneficial, you can then automate that workflow.

With tools like n8n, Make, or Zapier, you can connect it to your product feed, and you can connect it to automatic prompt generation via ChatGPT or Gemini, so it will automatically create the images. Then, you can also automatically connect it with your CMS so it can be uploaded.”

How would you connect this to your CMS?

“I use a tool like n8n or Zapier. In the workflow that you create there, you can connect all those different apps using their APIs, because all those tools need to talk to each other.

For example, in your workflow, you can publish a new page on your CMS that contains an image. Then, once that page is published, it will take that image and automatically generate additional images using AI. Then, those images are automatically published to the same page. That’s an example of one of our workflows.

What's also important is to ensure that you have the correct alt text, compression, image sizes, and structured data for images as well.”

How do you measure the ROI of doing this?

“If you are implementing it on ads, what's the CTR on the ads? If you are adding it to your organic listings, what is the CTR? Are people clicking more? Look at time on page and engagement. Do visitors explore deeper? Look at the conversion rate per session and per channel. Do these visuals close the deal? Look at return rates. Are customers getting what they expect? Look at customer satisfaction via reviews or NPS. Do the visuals improve trust?

From an e-commerce perspective, and from my own experience, if I order a plain product and put it in my living room, I might then realise that it doesn't look nice with that modern aesthetic. If I knew that beforehand, it would help with the return rate.

They're important KPIs that we can use to make it concrete, but the most important one is revenue. Are you getting more revenue on these campaigns? From an organic perspective, are you seeing more conversions?”

Do you have to get permission from the original image providers before altering them, and how do you ensure brand consistency when you do?

“That is the learning part, and that's why it's very important to remember: rubbish in, rubbish out.

You can create a good example image, but it is also very helpful to give the workflow input from your brand book. Be very clear about the guidelines that the workflow needs to take into account in order to create the desired output.

It might not be perfect the first time, but then you can customise your prompts and give it some feedback. It’s the same with people. If you brief somebody but don’t provide them with everything that they need to know, the output won't be as expected. It's the same with this process.”

Desmond, what's the key takeaway from the tip you shared today?

“Don't underestimate the power of visuals.

Visual commerce is key, and image SEO is no longer about just compressing files and writing alt text. It's about using AI and automation to deliver scalable, context-rich visuals that improve both rankings and conversions.

For businesses, this means that you no longer need studio budgets to compete with big players. You can build real-time, testable, automated, visual systems that drive growth.”

Desmond Boateng is Digital Strategy Director at DGTLBase. Find out more over at DGTLBase.com.