Mumbai: Do you know that by 2027, the market for visual search is expected to have grown from its $6.66 billion valuation in 2019 to $28.47 billion? While image search and visual search share a few similarities, be informed that the two are different. The phrase "image search" is much older and allows users to search for images using text-based queries. Still, 10% of Google's daily search traffic comes from Google Images, which was introduced in 2001. Image searches employ keywords and URLs to satisfy the search query, whereas visual search solely uses photos to search for related information.
Read further to understand how to leverage the visual search for next-level user experiences.
Understanding Visual Search
Users who perform a visual search substitute a picture for a text-based query. This picture may be a photo, screenshot from their mobile gallery, or any other captured image. This functions in two different ways:
● Visual search systems use image recognition algorithms to scan photographs that are similar to the image metadata, such as colours and forms.
● The system then retrieves results based on the visual similarities. An AI-based program uses the traits and patterns in the photographs to find related images.
By taking a picture of an item they wish to purchase and uploading it to your preferred search engine (like Google Lens or Pinterest Lens), customers can use visual search to view visually similar products that are available for purchase right away.
How To Optimize Visual Search for Top-notch User Experience
People are more likely to discover your website through photographs, even if you are not in the e-commerce industry. According to recent surveys, Google Photos accounted for 22% of all web searches, meaning more than 600 million visual searches are performed daily. As with text-based searches, you want to ensure your brand appears for the most relevant image searches. These are some pointers for making your website visually search-friendly.
1. Provide Many Pictures: When optimizing a website for visual search, provide visuals of your products or services. Companies should not depend solely on one picture or a brand logo, as that might result in leads passing on your product in favour of a rival.
2. Select Images with High Resolution: Opt for high-quality images if you want to generate leads with visual searches. If your website has high-resolution images, Google can process it to correspond with the user's search term.
3. Conduct Keyword Analysis: Researching keywords is crucial for both search engine optimization (SEO) and visual search. Using keywords in your product image description significantly improves your searches. This will allow Google to search and display your images in the visual searches.
4. Improve the Captions and Titles of Your Images: Make sure your title is descriptive as you write it. A generic file name such as "img203.png" will not benefit Google or your readers. To improve audience comprehension of your image, ensure your title and description contain the relevant keywords. Additionally, it will ensure that your photos appear in the relevant search results.
5. Include a Substitute Text: Include an alt tag or alternative text with your image when you post it on the web. Alt text is a brief, descriptive text attribute applied to an HTML image tag. It was initially designed to provide accessibility to users with visual impairments. The alt text is crucial for Google to understand the content of your images. Google may use the information provided by alt text to match images with user queries.
6. Add Captions: A common error brands make is assuming that their image speaks for itself. Because they are confident that their audience will comprehend the context of their image, they forget to include captions. Captions make it easier for viewers to comprehend images. It can lead to better indexing and higher visibility in search results.
Conclusion
Visual search is no longer a dazzling new tech trend. It is the fundamental component of contemporary eCommerce architecture that helps improve business performance. Online shoppers can find the right products more quickly and easily with visual search than traditional text searches. In today's era of visual searches, it is no surprise that most people will locate your image first before they actually stumble on your website. So, optimizing your website for visual searches is a fantastic new way to increase the number of leads and enhance your user experience.
The author of this article is AdCounty Media chief strategy officer Kumar Saurav.
