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Keywording


Peter Noyce

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OK, so we have the 'lets talk about pics' sub section how about a 'lets talk about keywording' section.

 

As a bunch of image makers we hopefully know how to make a photo but the best photo in to world will sit there unfound and unloved (and more importantly unsold) without keywords.

 

It's a topic that comes up from time to time in the other sections but it's so important it's got to be worth a raise in status. 

 

I'm not just talking about the 'can you identify this...' enquiries but 'more, less, include in all three, essential only, UK and US spellings' etc. My browser just underlined enquiries presumably as it wants me to use the US preferred inquiries.

 

Maybe even some input from Big Al.

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Great suggestion, Peter Noyce. However, wherever it may be structured in forum, I'd appreciate dedicated place for keywording questions and advice, since it's so crucial.

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I think that's an excellent idea. Keywording is THE most underestimated factor in the process of selling photos, and probably the most neglected even by those you realise its importance.

Some time ago I was introduced to the use of 'concept' as a keyword - never thought about using it, but look at the number of searches it comes up in.

I quite often think of a good keyword for an image and realise it would work well with 100 of my old images too.

And we could spread the word to PLEASE stop adding 'photo' as a keyword, unless its a photo of a photo.

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Great suggestion Peter and I hope it's taken on board.

 

For myself, I'm always in a quandary with the effective weighting of keywords and the best order of applying them, i.e. should I ess key as (e.g.) Thailand Monk, or Monk Thailand - Thailand People or People Thailand.

 

Fingers crossed for a dedicated section.

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  • 1 year later...

A Forum section dedicated to keywording would be extremely beneficial for photographers, image buyers, keywording professionals (like ourselves) and of course for Alamy. We'd certainly welcome the opportunity to share some of our top tips and ideas from our experience working with Alamy photographers, stock libraries and on-line retailers concerning best practise. Ultimately, the only way customers can find and buy images on-line is through keyword search. Even small/specialist libraries rely on keywords in-house to retrieve relevant content within a digital collection. With a reliance on photographers uploading and keywording their own images, it would make sense for Alamy to improve the keywording process within the Portal, as well as invite keywording experts to share resources with photographers via the Forum. We're always interested to hear from photographers about their keywording experiences on Alamy, and find ways to improve search and sales of their work as a direct result of improved keyword application.  

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I think that's an excellent idea. Keywording is THE most underestimated factor in the process of selling photos, and probably the most neglected even by those you realise its importance.

Some time ago I was introduced to the use of 'concept' as a keyword - never thought about using it, but look at the number of searches it comes up in.

I quite often think of a good keyword for an image and realise it would work well with 100 of my old images too.

And we could spread the word to PLEASE stop adding 'photo' as a keyword, unless its a photo of a photo.

 

Looking at AoA we should all add Alamy to our keywords, even when it's not an image of either the website nor the offices. There are days that it's the most searched for keyword.

Oh and V of course.

 

wim

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I think that's an excellent idea. Keywording is THE most underestimated factor in the process of selling photos, and probably the most neglected even by those you realise its importance.

Some time ago I was introduced to the use of 'concept' as a keyword - never thought about using it, but look at the number of searches it comes up in.

I quite often think of a good keyword for an image and realise it would work well with 100 of my old images too.

And we could spread the word to PLEASE stop adding 'photo' as a keyword, unless its a photo of a photo.

 

Looking at AoA we should all add Alamy to our keywords, even when it's not an image of either the website nor the offices. There are days that it's the most searched for keyword.

Oh and V of course.

 

wim

 

 

I'm not sure I want a "professional" researcher to find any of my images if they are hunting for "Alamy" at Alamy.

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I think that's an excellent idea. Keywording is THE most underestimated factor in the process of selling photos, and probably the most neglected even by those you realise its importance.

Some time ago I was introduced to the use of 'concept' as a keyword - never thought about using it, but look at the number of searches it comes up in.

I quite often think of a good keyword for an image and realise it would work well with 100 of my old images too.

And we could spread the word to PLEASE stop adding 'photo' as a keyword, unless its a photo of a photo.

 

Looking at AoA we should all add Alamy to our keywords, even when it's not an image of either the website nor the offices. There are days that it's the most searched for keyword.

Oh and V of course.

 

wim

 

 

I'm not sure I want a "professional" researcher to find any of my images if they are hunting for "Alamy" at Alamy.

 

 

How come it's the most popular search?

 

wim

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I'd like a British - North American thesaurus so I could check those things. Of course, such software would also be useful in understand posts on this board. I mean ... if somebody says that they are properly whinged now that they weigh in at twenty nine stones ... it would be worth it to know what they were saying.

 

On a similar note - if the British currency is the Pound, why isn't it divided into ounces?

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I'd like a British - North American thesaurus so I could check those things. Of course, such software would also be useful in understand posts on this board. I mean ... if somebody says that they are properly whinged now that they weigh in at twenty nine stones ... it would be worth it to know what they were saying.

 

On a similar note - if the British currency is the Pound, why isn't it divided into ounces?

 

In a sense, it is - or at least was:

 

Meaning "unit of money" was in Old English, originally "pound of silver."

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