Keywords/Titles

[Davey Towers]

I feel stupid asking this but....... Do I have to use words from the image description in keywords or, do the words in the description count as keywords?

For example: If I describe an image as "A field of corn"  do I then have to add "Field" and "Corn" as a separate keyword?

 

Confused, Davey

[Niels Quist]

The words in the description are not searchable. The words in the caption are to a certain degree. I always repeat the search related words (which often will be most) from the caption in the keywords (Essential, Main or Comprehensive). Also remember that the location field is not searchable.

 

 

http://www.alamy.com/contributors/captions-and-keywords-for-alamy-images.pdf

 

http://www.alamy.com/blog/alamykeywording

[Bryan]

Make sure that the title accurately describes the content of the photo so that the buyer knows exactly what s/he is getting. This often, but not always, means adding the location to the title.

 

(Incredibly there are photos available from Alamy without a title - probably agency shots - and they do sometimes sell.)

 

In that way the location becomes searchable and many buyers search by location. Clearly a generic product shot does not normally need a location and providing one would be counter productive.

 

Put your most important search terms into the Essential field. e.g. Durham Cathedral.  I almost always add more location data lower down, with the country etc in Comprehensive.

 

The description field is sometimes useful if the photo is showing something a tad obscure when a few words of explanation may be appropriate. Only a small minority of my shots have anything in the description field. I take the view, maybe wrongly, that buyers might appreciate a bit of help in confirming that the image is appropriate for them to use, and adding this might assist your cause.

 

Take a look at All Of Alamy to see what search terms are used.

[Davey Towers]

Thanks guys, most helpful and appreciated

[ML Harris]

Thanks for this! I have a further question: do I need to put the same terms in the keywords fields if they already appear in the caption? Will that boost the image's visibility?

[fogwalker]

Hello guys, I have a question regarding keywords - can/should I put the same keywords in essential, main and comprehensive fields or is this not necessary or is it considered keyword spamming?

[Joseph Clemson]

There is a massive discussion on keywording going on at the moment in the thread 'Search engine changes'. You might want to read that, even though it is long, convoluted and far from conclusive at this point.

 

In general though, straightforward duplication of keywords in the different boxes would, for the most part, be regarded as a negative.

[Bill Brooks]

Thanks for this! I have a further question: do I need to put the same terms in the keywords fields if they already appear in the caption? Will that boost the image's visibility?

 

 

Confusing discussion on this question here.

 

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/6732-missing-keywords/#entry113469