Top 10 Keywording Tips for Stock Photographers

Posted on 02. Sep, 2010 by Glow Images in Interesting News, Keywording Tips, Recent Posts

1. Don’t overlook the basics- Sometimes keyworders get so wrapped up in the little details of stock images that they miss some of the obviously important elements. Put the basics first; try describing the people, setting, and action before you enter any other keywords for an image.

2. Avoid mistakes- If you’re not 100% sure that your information is accurate, don’t include it in the keywords for stock photos. And always run spellcheck.

3. Don’t over-keyword- Stick to the things that are important to your images, and avoid including background objects and incidentals in keyword lists.

4. Location can be everything- If you know the geographic location where the image was shot, include it in the keywords.

5. People matter- Make sure to fully describe all relevant people in your stock images. Include keywords that indicate gender, age, ethnicity, hair color, facial expression, amount of body visible, and relationship to other people in the image.

6. Think conceptual- Remember to include some conceptual keywords in your stock photos, but don’t go overboard.

7. Synonyms are your friend- You should include common synonyms for your keywords, but you shouldn’t copy the whole thesaurus.

8. Avoid trademarks- Keep trademarked terms out of your keyword lists to avoid possible legal trouble.

9. Be consistent- Once you’ve come up with a keywording system that works for you and your stock images, use it for all of your keywording.

10. Experiment a little- If all else fails, do some searching on the stock photography site you submit your stock images to. Type in some of the words you use in your keyword lists and see what kind of results you get. Check out the keyword lists for images that are similar to yours.

Tags: Glow Images, glowimages.com, keyword, keywording, search data, seo, stock images, stock photography, stock photos