Monday, November 23, 2009

Why be specific with your image descriptions?

The image description field is a very important tool that contains most of the keywords used in image searches. The descriptions should describe the image as much as possible. When a customer is searching for a specific image such as the New York skyline, the words 'New York skyline' become the key search terms and the description field is the first read field in the search. Thus, the images containing the words New York skyline in the description will be the first to appear in the search results. Many artists try to get cute with their descriptions thinking it will get their images noticed when in fact it does the opposite. In some cases they turn the descriptions into a titles such as "Magic of Broadway" or "It's My Kind of Town" which will cause the images to result in a lower return than if they used image specific keywords. The images will get buried and, in some instances, become the result of a search for an unrelated image . For instance, when a customer performs a search using the keywords "small town" or 'magic', they will be frustrated when the search results in a man performing a magic trick or a barn out in the country instead of images depicting the New York skyline.

Your photos and illustrations deserve specific descriptions to get them noticed. To get the best search results stay away from cute titles and put in descriptions that fit your images. Using cute titles and descriptions not specific to your images will only frustrate you and our clients.

Here are some solutions that will help you gain better search results:
1. Be very specific-If the image is of a young couple embracing describe it 'young couple embracing'. Do not title it 'puppy love'.
2. Use exact descriptions- Name the city or landmark. If the image is of Mount Rushmore then name it as such. Do not describe the photo as 'American Heroes'.


As you can see, descriptions are very important and affect the way your images come up in searches. Thus, the more information you can provide the better. Customers rely on descriptions and keywords when searching for specific images. So, the more specific you can be in your descriptions and key words, the better chance of having your images found and the more chances you will have at getting a sale.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Rejected Images, Part 2

As our image collection grows, I want to point out several reasons why images get rejected and help our contributing artists better understand our rejection policy. Currently, about 50% of the images submitted to PhotoSpin get rejected, even though they may be posted on other stock companies' web sites.

Here's some reasons why:

- Images that do not serve a purpose get rejected. The images need to serve a purpose beyond being nice photos.
-Images that do not have a good resale value get rejected. The images that sell are ones that have a resale value. In another words, how can the customer use the image? Good lighting, composition, and design increase the resale value of the image. Flower close-ups are not very exciting unless extremely well done.
-Vacation images that do not create a statement about a specific location will get rejected. Photos or snap shots that do not create a statement about a location make it difficult for the customer to search for a quality image that shows a sense of place.

Images are our business and we want to offer our customers targeted and compelling images. If our images do not keep our customers searching, they'll get tired and move on to competing sites.

Our standards are very high for a reason, we want to keep our customers happy. Thus, we only accept the best. Our customers have come to expect this and we will continue to maintain a strict upload policy to ensure the integrity of the site.

I hope this helps.