How do you get your pics on page 1?

[Karl]

Hi,

I recently uploaded some images of Brighton Pavilion, and when I did a search, I found them on page 22. How do increase my chances of getting them onto page one, where I assume they have a better chance of being spotted and purchased?

 

Regards

K

[Niels Quist]

16 minutes ago, Karl said:

Hi,

I recently uploaded some images of Brighton Pavilion, and when I did a search, I found them on page 22. How do increase my chances of getting them onto page one, where I assume they have a better chance of being spotted and purchased?

 

Regards

K

 

Very hard work in many ways. Brighton up your images  - avoid too many darkish similars. Keyword intelligently, etc.etc. Very difficult with nearly 200 million media files here.

 

Or simply drag and drop ☺️

 

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Niels Quist

[Steve F]

Hi Karl,

The position of your images is mostly a function of your CTR rank (zooms of your images by particular clients of Alamy divided by the number of your images that show up on searches but are not zoomed (views)), but also we believe, partly a function of your sales as well. You will make sales here, but it takes time. Sales are often reported by Alamy a few months after they've actually been made.

 

The best way to improve your position is to have really good keywording and good quality photos and subjects. I haven't had a look at your portfolio, but I suggest you have a look on the forum for Keywording, there's lots of useful information. I would also have a look at "Portfolio Critique" on the forum too.

 

Good luck,

Steve

Edited November 14, 2019 by Steve F

[M.Chapman]

8 minutes ago, Karl said:

Hi,

I recently uploaded some images of Brighton Pavilion, and when I did a search, I found them on page 22. How do increase my chances of getting them onto page one, where I assume they have a better chance of being spotted and purchased?

 

Regards

K

 

Ensure you have brighton pavilion in the Caption and as a supertag phrase (i.e. enter both words into Alamy Image manger without a comma between, press + to add them, then click the star so it turns blue). After that it's down to your Alamy rank which depends on a number of performance factors which Alamy don't disclose, but are believed to be based on things like your CTR% and possibly sales history. The position of an individual image can also be improved if it's been zoomed before using the same search term, and for some searches Alamy may prioritise newer images.

 

Mark

 

[John Morrison]

27 minutes ago, Karl said:

Hi,

I recently uploaded some images of Brighton Pavilion, and when I did a search, I found them on page 22. How do increase my chances of getting them onto page one, where I assume they have a better chance of being spotted and purchased?

 

Regards

K

 

If we knew the answer, we'd all be page one! 😎

[Harry Harrison]

Actually I only get 1260 images for the search 'Brighton Pavillion' here, but in any case that's quite a lot to compete with. As has been said, there is a lot on here about how to improve ranking and it is something of a dark art because Alamy don't release details of what affects it, and may change the algorithm in any case. Given that I can't know either I notice that your image has a pretty short caption but a lot of keywords. One of the theories is that the caption may be more important than the supertags, which are themselves more important than keyowords. It's just a theory but there is some substantiating evidence for it amongst experienced contributors.

 

The good news is that with that one image you are in a perfect position to make some changes and see if it affects the ranking (wait for the server to update to see). Are all those keywords strcitly relevant? If the image comes up in irrelevant searches that will decrease its ranking, not saying they aren't relevant, just posing the question. Could you add 'Royal Pavilion' to the caption perhaps? 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Harry Harrison

[Karl]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

 

Regards

K

[spacecadet]

20 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Actually I only get 1260 images for the search 'Brighton Pavillion' here,

That's because the correct spelling is pavilion- 7352 results.

[John Morrison]

4 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

That's because the correct spelling is pavilion- 7352 results.

 

Here, in a nutshell, is the secret of keywording. Good spelling is vital (which immediately puts people at a disadvantage if English is not their first language). The standard of spelling in UK is probably going down rather than up (due to texting, text prediction, abbreviations, etc. We're losing the ability to write, with a pen, on a sheet of paper). And yet... the stock picture business relies on being painstakingly accurate with captions and tags. One word, miss-spelt (mis-spelt? miss-spelled? mis-spelled?), could make the difference between a pic turning up in searches... and never being seen at all. Of course, if a word is commonly miss-spelt - like pavillion/pavilion - then it may be worthwhile to include both as tags...

[spacecadet]

22 minutes ago, John Morrison said:

Of course, if a word is commonly miss-spelt - like pavillion/pavilion - then it may be worthwhile to include both as tags...

Yes- 1260 out of 7352 evidently did. I even have a few deliberate ones here and there myself- can't remember which words, and I wouldn't be able to find them- my spelling's too good!😀

Edited November 14, 2019 by spacecadet

[Alan Beastall]

Karl, some good images but far too many similar ones. For example there are about 80 images of the sea crashing over the sea wall on a stormy day. I always work on the principle of only selecting about 10% or less so these 80 can be easily reduced to 8 of the best. It is a learning curve for all of us even for me 40+ years trying and still learning. Look at other photographers work and be inspired.

Alan

 

 

[John Morrison]

Karl… Though there’s no magic solution to getting your pix higher up Alamy’s ranking, I can recommend a couple of approaches (both best sorted out now… before your portfolio grows any bigger). As already pointed out, you need to weed out the similars. And you need to revisit your captions and tags. For example, a shark surrounded by fish is captioned ‘seagull circling for trash’. The wall was built by ‘Hadrian’, not ‘Hadrien’. Your dog may be called ‘Nelly’… but putting her name in a caption makes no sense! As a caption, ‘Last shot of the day. A seagull came swooped down and stole a chip and I stole a shot’ says both too much and too little. Be more literal… and watch your spelling…

[Harry Harrison]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

That's because the correct spelling is pavilion- 7352 results.

Thanks! Oh well, it demonstrated something I guess, and not just that I can't spell 'pavilion'. In fact it has been spelt with 2 'l's in the past and Google comes up with a lot of references. I'd say put in both.

 

https://sbpc.regencysociety.org/the-pavillion-brighton-sussex/

[Allan Bell]

Pavilion = Building

 

Pavillion = Domestic staffing agency based in New York.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

I noticed your sepia images. As a general rule, upload the color image. If a buyer wants it in sepia or black and white, he/she will convert it to his/her liking. If you feel compelled to upload sepia or black and white, upload the color beside it. This is the place to damp down your arty impulse and let the end user become arty.

Not saying arty is wrong, there are so many more complicated, skillful ways to be arty, which is fine, because the end user may not have those specialized skills or if they do, the time to do them. But simple color renditions can easily be done by the end user.

Brighter is better. And lifting deep shadows is a good thing.

Youve been here for 8 years, but you have a small port. If you delete a lot of those similars, the core offering is even tinier.  I’m a firm believer that uploading every week or at least a time or two a month seems to advance placement. I could be 100% wrong, but I’ve noticed it with my own port. Who knows, frequency of uploads may be part of Alamy’s secret sauce.

 

Betty

[meanderingemu]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

Pavilion = Building

 

Pavillion = Domestic staffing agency based in New York.

 

Allan

 

 

 

Pavillon French spelling.... 

[JaniMarkus Hasa]

Getting your images on page one is quite easy. Shoot what others don't shoot. 

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, David Pimborough said:

or the bell of a wind instrument

 

How dare you call me windy.😃

 

Allan

 

[Sally]

On 14/11/2019 at 09:18, Karl said:

Hi,

I recently uploaded some images of Brighton Pavilion, and when I did a search, I found them on page 22. How do increase my chances of getting them onto page one, where I assume they have a better chance of being spotted and purchased?

 

Regards

K

Agree with all of the above. Take M602BA for example. Where is it? You have tons of keywords for it but I suggest that most are irrelevant to the image. When your images turn up in searches for particular keywords but are not zoomed, your CTR will drop and will affect your overall rank, resulting in your images being further and further down. 
 

Words like coherent,  business-like, ship, lug, methodical, ferry do not fit this image.

 

it looks like you are using a dictionary or similar to add keywords eg synonyms for ‘speed’ like swiftness. Check AoA to see if the less common words for a simple term are being used by clients to search. In my experience someone is much more likely to search for ‘speed’ than ‘swiftness’. Think about what words you would use if you were searching for a particular type of image.  
 

I have considerably reduced the keywords I use as time has gone on, with better results I think.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Sally

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, JaniMarkus Hasa said:

Getting your images on page one is quite easy. Shoot what others don't shoot. 

 

Yes, that will improve your position, but what the vast majority of stock photographers don't shoot will be less popular, but you may have a better chance of sales when you are not competing against 7352 similar images, and that doesn't take into account images at other agencies. If shooting popular subjects, and if at all possible, try for eye catching different compositions, in different lighting etc. Also follow the advice in posts above. If shooting less common subjects, try to anticipate future demand, not easy.