How To Find The Right Keywords

You joined yesterday so it takes time for the search to catch up to you. Allow 24 to 48 hours for your keywords to be added to the search.

First you need to pay for the Premium Account and upload as many images as you can.

It is not about keywords as much as it is about search ranking which is primarily driven by sales.

People using the say keywords that have higher sales are going to come up. You are going to be buried in the search unless you have higher search ranking.

You are not going to win the battle for search unless you start selling a lot of stuff. But worry about it.

Do the best you can with keywords, titles and descriptions and then forget about the search and concentrate on selling your work OUTSIDE of FAA. Use links that that the buyers back to individual images on your ArtistWebpage, not Pixels or FineArtAmerica.

Keep in mind that thee are people that have been here for several years. The are way ahead of the rest of us and they are selling everyday so the gap is widening everyday. The chances you are ever going to catch up are nearly zero unless you start selling a lot of art.

That does not mean you can not sell here. It only means you can not rely on the search. You have to advertise outside FAA.

Thanks Jeffery. Suppose I have to be a bit more patient :-)

Right, thanks Floyd. I know it is a verrrrrry large amount of members, so weŽll see what happens. You are right about advertising outside of FAA (as well). That is the same everywhere.
I am still considering the Premium account but will give it some thought.

Here is some reading that explains more of what your are up against.

Work Smarter Not Harder To Beat The Big Guys

Response to new FAA member looking for advice

I was making sales for months before I joined as a premium member, and given your very unique style and material I suspect you can as well. That being said, some of them seem out of focus and very noisy and they may not be able to be printed here.

there are many people ahead of you and the search order is based on sales and popularity first. you'll need more exacting keywords on each piece. abstract type pieces are harder to sell, as they are harder to keyword. its best not to rely on the search but to advertise yourself. you only have 1 view on many pieces, so you will have to tell others your here.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Research all your subjects to find more keywords. Be sure to include alternative words for the same thing. If you are using "bees wax', you would also want to be in a search "beeswax" and possibly "wax". Try and have specific words and general. For specific subjects you can rank very high. For general words you can be found when those general words are combined with other keywords, which the search will do for you. I would put in the phrase "pigmented bees wax" also. That's what you called it and someone looking for that might use the phrase.

Hi Tineke,
Im new too, and i have the same problem, I never see my image when I search keywords, I do the search and my images dont pop up, so I dont know.
Janelle

Thanks for the tips and comments. I'll try extending the keywords some more but at the same time bear in mind your valuable comments re priority to sales and mumbers of items.
@ Janelle: hope this helps you a bit as well ☺

Tineke,
yeah I reworded added, erased keywords so many times and It hasnt helped, Im just used to it now. It sucks.

Janelle the first image I looked at has only 5 keywords. Adding even one more keyword would multiply the searches you can be in. All selling is somewhat a numbers game and the odds are stacked against you. But the number of searches you can be in increases exponentially as you add keywords.

Hi Bradford,
Do you want to do it for me. I need help. Key wording is boring, Sorry. I like to do art not keyword.
Janelle

I'll do it if paid Janelle.

Joshua-
If Janelle has 0 sales, and makes 0 profit, how much does she have to pay Joshua? You feel me.
I found a website, given by the other thread, Brad's, so Im good. For now unless I still dont get any sales in the next year.
-Janelle

Janelle...I have to add that I HATE putting in keywords and descriptions both on this site and the other POD I mentioned. BUT...it is a necessary evil. I always tell friends I wish I could pay someone to do this for me. I do not look forward to it and I know it makes me drag my feet regarding uploading. I always say I will upload when I have five new images...but I always go well beyond that because I'm having so much fun making my images and designs. Then I'm stuck with having 20 or more images to upload and keyword, etc. I will never learn. But see...I do agree with you about this...and I'm sure everyone else does too...we'd all much rather be doing our art and creating. We must find a way to bless the work we have to do with typing keywords and descriptions and not think of it as a chore of the highest order! lol If you think of anything, let me know! :)

(edited to add)...it also bugs the living crap out of me to see so many images selling that, when I check, have maybe 3 keywords and NO description! lol Never a break...never.

Please use the search this portfolio link on your profile page If the images are in there then they are in our search

Reasons images are not found

They have not been up for over 24 hours
They are safe filtered
They are not under the exact keyword you are searching for
They are beyond the 2500 images we show in each search filter

Make sure to use unique keywords that fit you images and if you are not found under the general ones that have thousands and thousands of results you will then be found under the unique ones. eg if a flower, Flower is very overused so make sure to use the Latin name also

Use a site like http://microstockgroup.com/tools/keyword.php to find new and better keywords

Hope this helps

Joy-Yeah alot of those that sell have no description or keywords, how does that work? Im going to sleep now. I wish I was a robot that could just efficiently create my art then compute the keywords and be totally self sufficient.

Lady-Yeah I used that website today it gives me hope that I can do it, but only time will tell, so far, still no sales.

ones that sell that have no keywords and such are probably sold directly. people push the one image and it sells. or they go to their folder and it sells that way. however its best to have them in there.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Mike- They sell them directly, so they dont need keywords. How do you sell directly, isnt that what were all doing, Why is this so disturbing.

no. we are posting to a POD, they print it. but customers don't know your here unless you tell them. you have to have a name people remember, a style people can recognize is yours. i have many people looking for my work using my name only. then find the image they want. if you have a salesperson spirit and the gift of gab, you can push certain images to people - like the panda image you have - i can see that selling. it has an audience in mind. its up to you to figure out who and push it. its a lot of work. and waiting for someone to stumble in doesn't always work.

another thing - arrange your store in galleries. people shouldn't have to wade through your work. you also want more work.

while i should push more, i push my site where ever i go, just like when i sign my name here, it goes to my store. its all about link dropping and name recognition. its a lot of work.

it will start though by adding the titles, and descriptions, that alone can make a sale. you have to try everything you can on each piece. it is a lot of work. it would have been nice if you left that other thread open so we don't take over this thread.

you should ask for a store critique.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Janelle pays by using her income from her day job, or her pin money from her rich husband or whatever she's got going on while being an artist but not selling her art, or she takes the time to actually do the entire job of producing art for sale and promotes it herself.

If you want to make money here, or really anywhere you sell art you have to invest one of two things into doing it. Your time, or money from other sources.

Mike- I dont have enough images to make galleries, I dont know what each gallery would be separated into because they're are all different. I cant reopen the thread now, unless that feature is changed, can it be changed? i wont hold my breath. The panda painting was for my principle, his daughter had a baby and its now in her room, you can see the post they sent me on my Facebook page same name as my website ( Janelle Dey Art), if you want.Its so hard, I need to work on each image as well as continue making more but if Im doing it the same way ive been doing, I wont be getting any sales no matter how many works I have. I need a store critique, badly.

Joshua- Im doing my best, trying to be as good or better than the top sellers. That doesn't help me because the issues i have is the selling and promoting/marketing, editing part.

you do actually. you just don't need a lot of galleries. just something to break them up. i think the idea that everything is different - that's what you have to focus on. the fact you have no specific theme, or style, means the customer won't know what they are looking at either. if you don't have enough subjects to make galleries, then you'll have to make more subjects. you can open the thread if you ask abbie or jc, they have the power.

if you can make more images on the level of the panda, then it would sell. not that the other stuff won't, but its more focused and more easily recognizable.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

You complain that you're not getting sales, the fact you've few keywords is pointed out and someone offers to try and take care of the keywording for you. You refuse, you talk about yourself in the third person like some nutjob living under a bridge, and continue to complain that you aren't doing a good job at the promoting/marketing/editing part.

Something of a vicious circle there.

This is a for profit website. I don't do jobs for strangers for free. Maybe someone will come along to offer to.

Joshua- No Thanks YOu. I want to be self sufficient.

Mike- Abbie or JC, if I could quickly find their profile links, this may take a moment. I do different styles to get outside the box and find new creative inspiration, its often based on my mood or time availability. I did enjoy doing the panda, and I do want a style that can be recognized.

@janelle

everything here is a job.

good title - means someone may look without seeing the picture
good keywords -- its not that hard, it really isn't. attracts google and people
good descriptions helps google and people. tell us about the item. where is it? why did you take it? who is it for? chance are if you can't think of description of why you made it, it may not be worth selling.

then - actually this is the first step - you have to have work meant for someone in particular. if your making random things without a mind of who they are for - they will sit forever.


if you have someone willing to keyword your things - you'll have to invest beyond this site. if you were making money, you wouldn't need the service. if this were a real brick store, you would have to find the money some place.

everything here takes creativity, from making an item, to displaying, to describing, keywording and marketing. it all takes skill. complaining about it in every single thread, won't get you any place. if your hoping someone will hold your hand through the process if you mention it enough, it still won't happen. if your waiting for someone else to advertise for you, it won't happen. you have to make it happen yourself.

the first question you always have to ask is -- would i hang it myself in my own house? and where would it go (i'm talking buying it, framing it and displaying it). if you can't figure out where it might go. or the quality isn't up to you own home standards, then it won't be for a buyer either.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

if you want a critique on the store, open a new thread

if you want a style, choose the one you did with the panda. otherwise everything looks like a classroom assignment.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I concur.Everything in one accord.
-Janelle

Hi all.
I'm closing this discussion now. If you like to continue please do on your own thread. Thanks a lot. I learned a lot!
Hope to meet you again ☺