What's in your title and description of your images?

Here's a little guide to read buyers' minds. You've already read the Bible of Keywording. Now you need to know the importance of the title and the description of your images.  We all know that stock photography is related to generic topics. And if there are generic topics, there are also generic titles and descriptions. But times are changing and so is the number of uploaded images. There are currently over 21 million images on our site and one million more uploaded each month. This asks for a diversification of the information the images are uploaded with. © Vignes81 (Help) There are tens or even hundreds of stock photos with the same topic, same location, buildings, museums, you name it. So how do you differentiate them? What can we do so the buyers don't have headaches when they're searching for a specific image? The titles and the descriptions are the main information that the buyers see after they place a specific keyword in the search option. Keep the generic information for your first photo, but try to diversify it when you have two, three or even more images with the same subject. Relevancy is the key to sales The importance of your images' specific information that has to be found in title and description has been talked about over and over again. And there are still questions about this topic that will arise. So let's continue this saga to help our clients find, and buy, your images. Make your very similar photos' info relevant by starting with the title and the description. Add generic data, but also be sure to differentiate them by including specific details to at least one of them. We've seen thousands of possible search terms that a buyer can use when they search images on Dreamstime and Social Media. They use both generic and specific terms in order to find what they want faster. Whether they use “lake”, “museum” or extremely descriptive words: “crater lake in mount mazama at night”, “people in front of louvre museum” etc., make sure your title and description are as specific as these searches, at least for one of your images with the same subject. If your titles are “Crater Lake, Mount Mazama, Oregon, USA, at night”, “People standing in front of Louvre Museum”, chances are your images will be the first in line. Let's talk about adding specific data for images with similar a topic that have exactly the same title and description. If you have two or more images that look similar, they must be differentiated in the keywording used to tag them. When you upload two or more similar (but still conceptually different) images illustrating a lake, and you add generic terms such as “lake”, “water”, “sea” words in the title and description, when you have two or more similar images, we recommend that at least one of them be described more specific in terms of exact location, time of day, abstract formats etc. as this will help your images reach new customers. It is useful to think of naming your titles and descriptions like this: TITLE: The title should sound like a title. Think about your photo as a work of art. It should be titled in a way that provides plenty of details, but sounds like a title and not just a string of words. For instance, “Man and Woman Standing on Beach at Sunset”. If you have multiple like this, get more specific. One might be titled “Man and Woman Standing on Beach at Sunset” while another in the series might be “Man and Woman Standing on Beach at Sunset Facing Camera” and another “Man and Woman Sitting on Blanket on Beach at Sunset”. DESCRIPTION: The description should expand upon the title by providing a few more details of the image, such as: “Photo of a man and woman standing on a beach in San Jose, California during sunset”. What you can do is: Add location details: where was the image taken? – country, city details. Was your image taken at Crater Lake, located in Oregon, Mount Mazama? Add these details because there are many buyers that look for specific photos and this way your image will be shown immediately in their searches. This is also the case when you upload an image featuring a hotel. What exactly is the name of the hotel, where is this hotel located? Have you photographed your dog in the photos? Add the specific breed in the title, description and also in the keywording. Add time details: when was the image taken? – Was it dusk, was it dawn, was it night or daytime? If you have these details, add them because buyers are very detail oriented. They might be looking for a specific time of day and you can help them ease their searches and find your image. Add abstract terms. Buyers might be looking for images that convey a certain emotion even if the image represents a beach. Tagging images with keywords that describe emotions or thoughts the image could represent can help. For instance, an image of a beach (depending on how the image is taken) might be tagged with “adventure”, “inspiration”, “exhilarating”, “hopeful”, “bright”, “exciting”, “calm”, “gentle”, “stormy”, “beautiful” etc. Add composition details. Tags such as “portrait”, “landscape”, “fisheye”, “time lapse”, “bokeh”, “tilt shift”, “wide screen”, and others that tell something about the composition might help buyers find certain images as well. Add the format of usage. Photographers can also tag based on how an image might be used such as “background”, “wallpaper”, “screen saver”. There are buyers who buy photos to use them in mobile applications, downloadable wallpapers or simply as backgrounds to illustrate different websites. If you add “background” to specific images, they could use them to create e-cards to which they can add text to, or these images can be bought in order to be printed and used to decorate an interior. Moreover, specific information will place your image in new search results, not only in the current ones, so this is a great chance to “hit” new customers. Put yourself in the buyers' shoes and think like them.