Sell More Photos Online By Using The Right Keywords
Letò€™s face it, itò€™s a chore or a boring chore that most of us hates. I have tried to make it simpler and easier by trying out various systems and I have come to the conclusion that whatever I do I donò€™t enjoy adding keywords to my images. However, it has to be done so I have developed a system which I find does make the job easier.Unless you keyword you image file correctly the chance are that the libraries will reject them on the grounds of ò€˜Inappropriate or poor keywordsò€™. Itò€™s hard enough to get images accepted these days for quality and subject matter so you certainly donò€™t want to be rejected for poor keywords. Remember that the keywords that you choose can make or break your Microstock sales figures.
What I have done is to create a template for Excel (which can be downloaded FREE OF CHARGE here). It is a very basic four column spreadsheet that will allow you to build a directory of descriptions and keywords for your image files when you upload them to a Microstock Library.
The first column is the ò€˜Categoryò€™ of the image such as ò€˜Portraitò€™ or ò€˜Yorkshire Dalesò€™ etc although I do abbreviate the categories to suit the column. As long as you know where to find the keywords then any text will do. In the second column I enter the ò€˜Titleò€™ of the image and in the third the ò€˜Descriptionò€™. The fourth column is where I enter all the appropriate keywords.
Putting this system into practise, I keyword my Microstock Images as I tweek them in ò€˜Photoshopò€™. For example if I have shot a view of the Yorkshire Coast, Iò€™ll look for an existing image similar to the one that Iò€™m working on. If I can find one I simply copy and paste the keywords into the data file. If I canò€™t find one thatò€™s exactly the same but is similar then Iò€™ll select, copy and paste the appropriate keywords. If there is no previous image data that is close I create a keyword file in Excel.
If you donò€™t have the software to add keywords to the image file then simply copy them from Excel and paste them into the template on you ò€˜File Upload Pageò€™. I have found this method simplifies the whole process of uploading especially when uploading similar image files.
The next time that you upload some images to a Microstock Library, why not give the directory a try? Once you get into the swing of using the directory it will become easier and almost automatic. Another advantage of this method is that you can write, edit and adjust the data for the photograph without opening it. I sometime keyword when I get home from a day out whilst it is all fresh in your mind. Then all you have to do is tweek the image, upload, and copy and paste the keywords and description, sit back and wait for the photograph to sell.