Where is the problem?

[sinandogan]

Hello,

I have been installing Alamy for about 1 year. 
During this time, I uploaded 18875 images. Unfortunately, my total sales quantity is only 6 photos.
I don't know what am I doing wrong? 

I make the necessary explanations for my uploads. Maybe I'm adding too many tags?

 

Portfolyo : https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/1018314.html

 

My statistics are as follows.

 

Period : 01 Oct 2022 to 30 Oct 2023
Total views for sinan doğan: 5520
Total zooms for sinan doğan: 12
Total CTR for sinan doğan: 0.22
Average CTR for sinan doğan: 0.07
Top performing pseudonym: SINAN DOĞAN(CTR: 0.22)
Last month average CTR on Alamy: 0.56

Edited October 31, 2023 by sinandogan

[Mr Standfast]

A quick look tells me you are selling Turkish Architecture images. Perhaps the demand for Turkish Architectures is a bit specialised.

 

I suggest you add some images of life in Turkey, the sort of pictures picked up by tourist publications, it does not have to be great photography just Turkish people in a cafe, doing ordnary things, washing the car that sort of stuff.  Look at the papers, books and websites to see the sort of images people are buyin.

 

Some ideas here:

 

https://www.alamy.com/category/everyday.html

 

https://www.alamy.com/category/middle-east.html

 

Basically somebody doing something is more attractive to a picture buyer than an empty building.

 

Good luck.

 

PS I'll let others comment on converging verticals etc.

[Robert M Estall]

18875 is a lot of images in a year! That is impressive, so what is the problem? There are several: Yes, your material is pretty specialised so as suggested, clients are going to be a bit infrequent. A year is quite a short time in the stock business, so sales may well improve. Do you have the same images on any of the micro sites? That would explain a lot!  Your architectural shots will be competing with work by photographers who have learned how to straighten up the verticals. It's not rocket science but it takes a bit of learning and the right software.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Robert M Estall

[Ognyan Yosifov]

4 hours ago, sinandogan said:

Hello,

I have been installing Alamy for about 1 year. 
During this time, I uploaded 18875 images. Unfortunately, my total sales quantity is only 6 photos.
I don't know what am I doing wrong? 

I make the necessary explanations for my uploads. Maybe I'm adding too many tags?

 

Portfolyo : https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/1018314.html

 

My statistics are as follows.

 

Period : 01 Oct 2022 to 30 Oct 2023
Total views for sinan doğan: 5520
Total zooms for sinan doğan: 12
Total CTR for sinan doğan: 0.22
Average CTR for sinan doğan: 0.07
Top performing pseudonym: SINAN DOĞAN(CTR: 0.22)
Last month average CTR on Alamy: 0.56

With nearly 19,000 images, you should have at least 5520 views per month, not for the rolling year...

[wiskerke]

Learn how to use All of Alamy to see if clients are actually searching for the subjects in your images.

See what clients are looking for when they search for %Turkey% or %Dyarbakir%.

 

The explanation by Alamy:

This tool allows you to see all searches from customers who have spent money on Alamy within a specified date range.

If you are contemplating which images to submit* to Alamy, you can use this tool to research how often a subject is requested and how many sales, zooms and views were recorded.

Please note that the link from each search term displays the current search results for a particular word or phrase.

* or which keywords to use (wim)

 

Could it be keywords? Or just the subjects? Study the searches in which your images come up and assess the competition.

Also check if there is any interest at all in your subjects. Even with some great images, if there are no takers, you're screwed.

You do know how to use AoA or All of Alamy in full? (Many instructions on this forum.)

 

Put the date back as far as it will go, which at the moment is 01-Oct-2022. You are now searching the rolling year. Tomorrow the date will be 01-Nov-2022 and it will stay that way the whole month.

Put a keyword or -phrase in the Search Term box like this: %diyarbakir%. The %% are a database thing.

Try your search term with and without %% to see what they are doing. Like photo montage; %photo montage% ; %photo%montage%. 

 

For %dyarbakir% you get these searches in 12 months:

diyarbakir	3
Diyarbakir singer	1
newroz Diyarbakir dancing	1
newroz Diyarbakir tanz	1
tear gas diyarbakir	1
2F4MG97 Diyarbakir	1
dance Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
dancing Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
Diyarbakir celebrate Newruz 2022	1
Diyarbakir dengbêj	1
Diyarbakir festivities	1
Diyarbakir festivities 2022	1
diyarbakir fortress	1
Diyarbakir newruz	1
diyarbakir turkey	1
Diyarbakir Tuul and Bruno Morandi	1
Neujahrsfest Diyarbakir	1
party dance Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
Diyarbakir celebrate 2022	1
diyarbakir turkey tigris	1
Kurdish New Year Diyarbakir	1
Kurdistan, Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
newroz Diyarbakir	1
Diyarbakir celebrate Newruz	1
Diyarbakir Prison	1
Neujahrstanz Diyarbakir	1
Neujahrstänze in Diyarbakir	1
newroz Diyarbakir dance	1
turkish troops diyarbakir	1

Nothing more.

 

You have 628 images of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.

There are 3,274 images of that Selimiye Mosque on Alamy in total.

4,655 of any Selimiye Mosque.

Look at all images that are on Alamy of that mosque. Now pick the 3 of your images that are better than all the others. Delete all the rest. And you may sell some of those 3 if they appear on the first page.

Another method: pick your 3 best ones and start deleting other images of that mosque until those three appear on the first page if you search for Edirne Selimiye Mosque.

 

All searches for  %Edirne% :

Edirne	2
edirne 2HA17AE	1
edirne city	1
Edirne turkey	1
edirne old mosque	1

 

And for %Selimiye Mosque% :

Selimiye Mosque	1
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex	1
Selimiye Mosque night	1
Selimiye mosque, nicosia cyprus	1

 

A search for %Cizre% :

cizre bridge

1

All year.

 

Now do searches like that on all your subjects like Qom or Isfahan. And note what clients are looking for and which keywords they are using for that. Note that names of places can be written differently in different countries. Like Isfahan is also written Ispahan. Use things like wikipedia for that. Also remember to use UK and American English spelling and words.

 

I do not agree with the advice to always straighten buildings. (Converging verticals.) It's good to give clients a choice, but it's just a style thing. It is true that most Architecture Guides/Magazines/Books will expect buildings being straight. But even those sometimes use an image with converging verticals or a sloping horizon. Just to bring out a certain impression of the building. Like Brutalist or Scary Architecture (today is Halloween in some parts of the world).

 

wim

[Mr Standfast]

14 hours ago, wiskerke said:

Learn how to use All of Alamy to see if clients are actually searching for the subjects in your images.

See what clients are looking for when they search for %Turkey% or %Dyarbakir%.

 

The explanation by Alamy:

This tool allows you to see all searches from customers who have spent money on Alamy within a specified date range.

If you are contemplating which images to submit* to Alamy, you can use this tool to research how often a subject is requested and how many sales, zooms and views were recorded.

Please note that the link from each search term displays the current search results for a particular word or phrase.

* or which keywords to use (wim)

 

Could it be keywords? Or just the subjects? Study the searches in which your images come up and assess the competition.

Also check if there is any interest at all in your subjects. Even with some great images, if there are no takers, you're screwed.

You do know how to use AoA or All of Alamy in full? (Many instructions on this forum.)

 

Put the date back as far as it will go, which at the moment is 01-Oct-2022. You are now searching the rolling year. Tomorrow the date will be 01-Nov-2022 and it will stay that way the whole month.

Put a keyword or -phrase in the Search Term box like this: %diyarbakir%. The %% are a database thing.

Try your search term with and without %% to see what they are doing. Like photo montage; %photo montage% ; %photo%montage%. 

 

For %dyarbakir% you get these searches in 12 months:

diyarbakir	3
Diyarbakir singer	1
newroz Diyarbakir dancing	1
newroz Diyarbakir tanz	1
tear gas diyarbakir	1
2F4MG97 Diyarbakir	1
dance Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
dancing Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
Diyarbakir celebrate Newruz 2022	1
Diyarbakir dengbêj	1
Diyarbakir festivities	1
Diyarbakir festivities 2022	1
diyarbakir fortress	1
Diyarbakir newruz	1
diyarbakir turkey	1
Diyarbakir Tuul and Bruno Morandi	1
Neujahrsfest Diyarbakir	1
party dance Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
Diyarbakir celebrate 2022	1
diyarbakir turkey tigris	1
Kurdish New Year Diyarbakir	1
Kurdistan, Diyarbakir, Newroz	1
newroz Diyarbakir	1
Diyarbakir celebrate Newruz	1
Diyarbakir Prison	1
Neujahrstanz Diyarbakir	1
Neujahrstänze in Diyarbakir	1
newroz Diyarbakir dance	1
turkish troops diyarbakir	1

Nothing more.

 

You have 628 images of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.

There are 3,274 images of that Selimiye Mosque on Alamy in total.

4,655 of any Selimiye Mosque.

Look at all images that are on Alamy of that mosque. Now pick the 3 of your images that are better than all the others. Delete all the rest. And you may sell some of those 3 if they appear on the first page.

Another method: pick your 3 best ones and start deleting other images of that mosque until those three appear on the first page if you search for Edirne Selimiye Mosque.

 

All searches for  %Edirne% :

Edirne	2
edirne 2HA17AE	1
edirne city	1
Edirne turkey	1
edirne old mosque	1

 

And for %Selimiye Mosque% :

Selimiye Mosque	1
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex	1
Selimiye Mosque night	1
Selimiye mosque, nicosia cyprus	1

 

A search for %Cizre% :

cizre bridge

1

All year.

 

Now do searches like that on all your subjects like Qom or Isfahan. And note what clients are looking for and which keywords they are using for that. Note that names of places can be written differently in different countries. Like Isfahan is also written Ispahan. Use things like wikipedia for that. Also remember to use UK and American English spelling and words.

 

I do not agree with the advice to always straighten buildings. (Converging verticals.) It's good to give clients a choice, but it's just a style thing. It is true that most Architecture Guides/Magazines/Books will expect buildings being straight. But even those sometimes use an image with converging verticals or a sloping horizon. Just to bring out a certain impression of the building. Like Brutalist or Scary Architecture (today is Halloween in some parts of the world).

 

wim

Some posts are too good for just a green arrow!

[spacecadet]

18 hours ago, Ognyan Yosifov said:

With nearly 19,000 images, you should have at least 5520 views per month, not for the rolling year...

With a mixed collection, I'd agree. OP's is very narrow.

[Steve F]

Hi Sinan,

Some great advice above. Agree on the fact that your collection is not very diverse. I try to be take pictures of as many different things as possible and I find that helps with sales.

 

You are adding too many tags, you are correct. Probably why your CTR is low. See this thread, point 3:

https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/16969-ill-jump-in-no-matter-what-it-does-to-my-confidence/?do=findComment&comment=344671

 

Converging verticals - varied advice above. It would generally be better to use software to correct for this, although you can use converging verticals for a sense of scale, e.g. looking up at a tall building from the base. It's not a good look however if you have e.g. an off centre tower:

 

Minaret looks like the leaning tower of Pisa and the whole building looks like it's leaning backwards. I would expect a view of the building from this distance to have vertical lines for the building.

 

Hope all this helps.

Steve

 

 

 

[sinandogan]

Thank you everyone. 
In conclusion, would it be better to write 10 directly relevant tags and stay in orange rather than 50 tags and stay in green?

Edited November 1, 2023 by sinandogan

[NYCat]

7 minutes ago, sinandogan said:

Thank you everyone. 
In conclusion, would it be better to write 10 directly relevant tags and stay in orange rather than 50 tags and stay in green?

 

Yes.

 

Paulette