Keyword Analysis

[Phil]

A interesting data-rich article if one can digest the information.  While the data was from SS it should apply to keywording on all platforms.

 

https://xpiksapp.com/blog/microstock-keywording-analysis/

[spacecadet]

49 minutes ago, Phil said:

it should apply to keywording on all platforms.

I'm not so sure about that. The popular keywords are generally ones I haven't used for a decade or more- since I didn't know better, in fact.

I'm fairly confident that I've never had a sale associated with a microstock- type abstract term at all. This doesn't strike me as too useful for the usual secondary editorial collection on Alamy.

[M.Chapman]

A flaw in the analysis is that it doesn't (and can't) capture which keywords were most effective in generating sales.

 

Mark

[Marianne]

I have a small portfolio there & have made $$$$ with backgrounds (mostly blue backgrounds) there so it’s spot on but as we know, micro is different than Alamy. All of Alamy shows only 25 recorded searches containing the term background in the past 30 days, 16 zooms and one recorded sale. Sure there are image searches a customer might do on both sites but someone needing a background has way more choice elsewhere while, if they need a photo of the late Queen (condolences to my British friends again) Alamy is probably their first choice. It would be mine. 
 

Of my last 20 licenses there, 10 were backgrounds licensed to London (3) Jerusalem, S Korea & various US cities. And all but two have been online & selling for over 10 years. The sales history and whether an image starts strong ( a matter of luck IMHO) then keeping its rank (more dependent on the strength of the image) is something the analysis ignores but it accounts for a huge variance in whether an image makes you $$$s vs a few bucks on sites where repeat sales matter) And sales history is important on all sites. Macro stock micro or POD. I paused my account there for a year & a half when they lowered  commissions  & when I revived it a few months ago, old popular files started selling.  I have images that have generated $$$s because they started strong there while only earning a few dollars elsewhere. 
 

We can do the same analysis here with AOA and looking at our zooms to improve our keywording & by looking at images sold.  Keywording is important until AI image search takes over. Then based on AI suggestions I see all bets are off. Humans do a better job knowing what a concept represents than machines. 
 

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Marianne

[John Mitchell]

I glazed over while reading all this (TMI IMO). However, isn't it just common sense that if you use use mainly common ("highly competitive") keywords without taking time to include more precise words and phrases, then your images aren't going to do well in search results and hence won't rank very well. Or did I miss something?