Do More Prints Equal More Visibility On This Site?

"Do More Prints Equal More Visibility On This Site?"

More prints = more keywords/tags = more opportunities to be seen.

"Will having tons of prints help you rank higher in search results?"

I do not recall the ranking parameters ever being fully disclosed, for obvious reasons.

Hi Toby... everyone will tell you yes.. more is better! however I don't agree;-) I'm a quality over quantity kinda guy. The amount you offer doesn't affect your search ranking. Good luck!

I like this! :-)

This is a discussion that gets had every once in awhile....quality over quantity, quantity is important, you never know what someone will buy....etc.

I don't believe more art moves you up in the searches. The only proven way to consistently move up in the searches is to sell your work.

I keep a concise portfolio, my reasoning being that alot of my work (at least currently) is centered around singular area of the country, out here in rural America. If someone were to find an image of mine in a search, and make their way to my portfolio, I only want my best images so that they will stay captivated, and not move on. My name, and my portfolio, is my brand. Quality is my brand.

Many others will upload alot more work than I, and maybe that leads to more sales because you never know what someone will buy, and there are hundreds of real success stories about someone buying huge prints of stuff an artists never thought would sell. I, however, want images that move up in the searches, and sell consistently, not thousands of images that might sell once. Over time, my hope is my approach will lead to a consistent uphill climb of revenue. So far its working, but I've got a LONG ways to go.

Bottom line, nobody really knows. You can even do both strategies keeping your best in albums, and yet have alot more in other albums. Maybe thats the ticket. I honestly don't know, and my strategy will probably evolve over time.

Thanks Barry!

And yes, I agree that more isn't always better. I have a lot of photos that I've been on the fence about offering as prints. I've had moderate success selling over on Etsy and thought this would be a better fit but MAN the competition is stiff here - especially if you like city photography! Of course the listings are unlimited here ($30/year vs .20 per listing on Etsy) so the temptation is to go hog wild with listing prints :).

Toby.....the key here, for me and some others I have talked with, is you have to send your own buyers to your own prints FIRST. Those first sales....are the hardest, because you have to make them by pushing people straight to your art. If you wish to be successful, this is the fastest way.

There are other theories too on how to make those first sales....like finding small markets not represented (JC's Abilene Theory I believe he calls it). Bottom line, there is lots of ways to make it work, if you are willing to figure it out and put the time and effort in.

Once that happens and your work starts selling by the sweat of your brow, you start to become visible, and if you art is of high quality, you will start to make sales randomly through the site.

Great points, Thomas! I see your point about being consistent. Then you'd be known for a particular type of photography (or location).

I can see that random sales will be very difficult here since it's going to be really hard to be found in search. I guess just keep struggling away at it and try to push up those numbers!

Great photos BTW! It's clear you have a lot of techniques down pat. I've just been getting into daytime long exposures.

It seems to me a lot of people that started here a couple years ago and longer will give you advice on how to sell here but its not the same today, or even close. What others have said about a small niche or bringing people here to buy your prints in the beginning seems to work for some.

I think more photos makes it more likely someone will find you in the search. However, unless all the photos are extremely good quality, they will not stay at your site after they find you.

I think fewer photos are harder to be found in search, but if they are all high quality the customer is more likely to stay at your site and look around a while. So in the end they may purchase a photo that they found because they were looking at your portfolio, rather than the photo they found in the search.

I have chosen to keep the number I upload on the lower end - I have recently been removing some as I upload newer better ones - to keep my overall number the same but improve the quality.

I am a big believer in quantity WITH quality. My hands down best seller is one that sat in my maybe file for months before posting it. I have around 100 images that hav e sold more than once and another 400ish that are one hit wonders. At an average sale of $70 that is ~28 Thousand dollars I would not have made limiting my portfolio.

As I understand it, being found via the search here has nothing to do with number of images you have, and everything to do with your sales. Until you sell more than one print, your work won't show up in the search AT ALL--no matter how well you do your keywording tags.

Not true Valerie.

First, your image WILL show regardless if you have had a sale IF that image is not in a saturated category. (See my Abilene theory.)

Second, the more images, or more specifically the more subjects you cover, the more categories you will be found in and the more likely someone will find just what they want. So it does make you more likely to be found just not any single image is more likely to be seen.

All of this is assuming that you are going for hits on a search engine, using a web crawler, which will help drive traffic to your site here.

I have noticed that when I use the "Search Google for this Image," app in Google, most of my images (95%) cannot be found on that search engine. Even when digging several pages deep, I am still not able to find my images, even when I search exact name specific.

It looks like Fine Art America does not let the web crawler find 100% of the images on this site. When I search images that I have on other sites, they are listed there in the search, but not on Fine Art America even though they are on both sites.

I have also noticed that when I am able to find and click one of my images it takes me to the product page, to order the exact print, but when I want to see who the artist is there is no way to go into my profile from there. The site then takes me to other prints that are similar to mine, but not mine, even though it was my print that drove me to the site. Even when I find phone covers, mugs or other trinket sales like post cards, Fine Art America will not drive me into the artists site so that I can see what other prints the artist has to offer.

I found that I have to work to discover the artists name, search for the artist, and then go into the site from that direction. I think there is a better way to do this.

Open up the site so that web crawlers can collect the data needed for Search Engines (Google, Yahoo...), when an image is found and the collector goes to the specific prints, also have a door (Button) straight to the Artists Gallery. This rewards the artists that drives the traffic to the site, help us to brand ourselves and our product, but still gives Fine Art America the exposure it needs as it is also branding.

Just Say'n

Pictolith
Pictures In Stone

more is better - but only if there is quality backing it. if the images look like snap shots, then more won't help. only upload your best. i've been doing this for quite a few years so i've built up quite a few images, i think i'm over 2400 right now. however only half may ever sell. you have to still advertise each one (though i wouldn't do that as you upload or it will look like spam).

you will want to add more keywords and descriptions.

---Mike Savad

the other thing to mention is- some people think uploading the same item with a slightly different view point is a good thing. but it can actually put people off and they may simply leave all confused like.

generally if you have a certain style or a certain look - that will get your further then uploading tons.

---Mike Savad

More is better... of course it is.

Quality... well ya, but again, I good salesman can sell bad art with a higher degree of success then a bad salesman can sell good art.

Really bad art sells every day in the market place. Most buyers only know what they like. They don't know good from bad for the most part.

Look at it this way. Lets say you have the greatest painting (prints) ever painted of a horse. And you have 500 of them. And I have 500 prints five each of a hundred different horses. But they are just okay, some good, some just okay. We go to the same art show. Who is going to sell more prints?

There is no such thing as too many images including different versions of the same subject.

I follow several of the largest sellers on this site. They are constantly up loading the same images in two or three different versions.

So, there ya go, Toby - a variety of responses. You can continue doing what you are doing because you have some good stuff. I looked through your Boston work - and like it. I was there a couple of years ago for five days (for a three day conference). I got to see several of your photo locations and your images brought back vivid recollections of being there in person. I believe you've got the quality to upload any "numbers" you like.

I also clicked to "Follow" you so I can keep an eye on what you do with Boston. I am working on Baltimore images and will be uploading several this fall.

~ Bill
~ USPictures.com

Floyd said:

"There is no such thing as too many images . . . "


I agree that there's no such thing as 'too many' desirable images.

2,000 fuzzy snapshots of your kid playing with your dog, in your backyard at high noon, is probably (almost certainly!) too many.
2,000 solid pieces that intrigue and motivate potential buyers, is probably not enough.

Quality and quantity; in my experience, that's the key to online sales. (And, yes -- 'quality' is subjective.) ;-)

Oh I would love to have 2000 images, I think people sometimes misconstrue my position is that I will only keep 100 images on here forever. Thats not true. I want 2000 images that equal or better the quality of the 100 I have. I could easily have 400-500ish photos on here, if I wanted the numbers, and alot of them could very well sell, but I don't want work I don't consider my absolute best to water down the rest in the name of "you never know". I want my focus to be making those absolute best as high profile as I can.

I think something my Dad taught me growing up applies here. The decisions in life aren't always as important as they seem. You can agonize over what to do for days in some situations, when in reality there isn't a right, or a wrong answer. The important thing, is that you can convince yourself of the direction you want to go, and put forth 110% in that effort while leaving the other "what if" decisions and scenarios behind. Do that, and in most things success will come.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I guess for now I will continue to upload and categorize my stuff. It'll be a variety of things but hopefully the galleries will keep them tied together well.

Thanks for following Bill... Hopefully I'm not overflowing your activity feed getting my shop up to speed :).

Some Time Ago was practicing painting with Photoshop. When I say painting, that means starting with a blank canvas, using only Photoshop brushes. My first painting in Photoshop was a sunset scene with silhouetted palm trees in Palm Springs. For some time, did not put it on fine art America, one day decided to upload it when I did not have anything else. Last week, a 30 by 20 canvas was sold to a buyer from Los Angeles. It varied from magenta's through purples and blue, with DarkGreen palm tree leaves, almost black. You Never Know Why someone Buys Your Work, it could be because of subjects, or just the colors. What You Do Not Play in Fine Art America cannot be so no one can see it.

Have over 35,000 images on just one drive, and three albums with DVDs full of work Ive kept in the past 75 years.
Only time keeps me from putting it all on FAA. :) But, VIEWs are more important than how many images, Ive had about
1.5 Million in the last 18 months... IF they cant find your work, they cant buy it, no matter what the quality.
If you like an image well enough to put it on your wall, when the right person sees it that likes what you like, it may sell.

Personally, I had never liked Picasso, a lot of people do...

. Bob Johnston

It's like fishing from a boat. If you cast 5 lines in different directions you'll be more likely to catch something assuming the bait is something the fish find appetizing.

More images = more tags = more chances to be found.


Isn't it?

Quality and lots of it. Plus, time and a great deal of outside promotion. 6,000+ new images uploaded today. If you are going to be found you need to stand out with a unique voice. Heaven help you if all you have to offer is shots of flowers in the garden and vacation photos.

See...and I've always caught more fish fishing with one....maybe two lines. Making sure the bait was fresh, the presentation was correct, and making sure I could pay close attention to what was happening at hand so I didn't miss a bite.....

more choices better your chances. sometimes.

if you go to a bakery and there are a 1000 cakes and they may look the same, you'll leave confused.

if you go to a candy store and you face that huge wall of jellybeans, or discover that they make 4000 shades of MM's, while it looks like a daunting task, you aim for the flavor you want, or the shade that you want. they have what you need.

usually more images works better with searches, strolling through a huge gallery takes an effort, but even that is doable depending how organized you are. try not to repeat the same images in many galleries thinking it will help you sell better. if a customer thinks they saw those images already, they may skip the rest. i've seen people copy the same image in a dozen galleries. - a landscape with lake, blue sky, trees and a mountain. i found it in - landscapes, wyoming, trees, lakes, images of blue skies, nice days, etc it went on and on. 150 images looked like a 1000 set up this way. but don't do it.


---Mike Savad

A lot of members sell with very few images but.... they market their own work consistently

My theory is that the more images you have here, the stronger presence you have in the organic search. The less images you have, the more you'll have to do outside marketing to bring people to your work.

--Roz Barron Abellera

what having many of the same items does do, is it floods the search. if you sell well enough, the entire page may be that same exact image over and over.

---Mike Savad

Who are yall talking about with the numbered images. I don't see anyone recent in this thread with that in their portfolio.

Robert, that is pushing being rude and a direct attack on another member.

While I know you are being blunt, that is not the way to word that.

"Quality... well ya, but again, I good salesman can sell bad art with a higher degree of success then a bad salesman can sell good art. " Well said, Floyd. I've seen this more than not in my lifetime as an photographer and artist.

Personally, I don't have a large portfolio here yet, but each piece is selective. Like Abbie says its about your outside audience and developing relationships. Many of my buyers have bought more than once from my artwork.

When I worked with a magazine's sales department, the bad salesman were always coming back to the publisher with pleas for deals and reduced prices on ads. The good ones were out there selling value and creating special customized inserts to sell to their clients.

The bad salespeople had no respect for the product they were selling and little knowledge of the industry they sold to. The good ones knew every page of the magazine, talked to the editors and knew the goals of their customers marketing plans.

The bad salespeople were selling ad pages. The good salespeople were selling access to their valuable audience of the magazine.

Like Frank says - the relationship between buyer and seller is more valuable than just a sale.