Keywords-please Explain How To Use Them For The Better

Not to be snarky, but use words that describe the image. Use your name and variations of it. Think of ways to help people find you and your work

use commas between key words.
spaces are optional, you can get more keywords in if you don't use spaces, though.
Don't spam by using keywords that do not describe the image. Don't be misleading.
Consider synonyms, scientific names and variety names, and a range of descriptive words from specific to general.
For example, if you shoot a waterfall in a park in Toccoa Georgia, consider:
Waterfall, Toccoa, Georgia, GA, (park name), cascade, water, cataract, stream, woods
if such words would describe the scene. Keywords may not show up or be utilized on Google and other search engines, so use the most important keywords in your description. Make sure your title words are in the keywords, also, generally.

Don't forget to describe important attributes of your image.

here is a checklist to broaden the types of keywords you might consider:
Literal - e.g. “boy, girl, children, beach, sun, sand, sky, car, shadow”.
Attributes - e.g. “happy, smiling, walking, blue, young, old”.
Location - be specific, e.g. “The White House, Washington DC, USA”; generic, e.g. “office, school, home”. specific to general: Location name, street name, neighborhood name, city, county, state, country, region
Interaction - e.g. “chasing, playing, moving, touching, shouting, flying”.
Concepts - e.g. “heat, power, happiness, strength, humor, teamwork, tranquility etc”.
Broad subjects - e.g. “lifestyle, travel, sport and business”.
Techniques - e.g. “predominant colors or shapes, black and white, grainy, blurred, digital manipulation”.
Media: oil, pastel, digital, sculptural
Standpoint - e.g. side view, rear view, from above, from below
Environment - e.g. spring, summer, autumn, fall, winter, sunset, sunrise, indoor, outdoor, interior, exterior
Composition - e.g. close up, macro, extreme close up, low angled, full length, cut-out, isolated
Minimalism - e.g. nobody, empty
Redundant - e.g. shots, pictures, images, macros
Pose - e.g. looking at camera, smiling, angry, standing, lying, sitting, walking, facing front
Human - e.g. one man, three women, crowd, queue, group, people, person
Qualifiers - e.g. large, big, small, multi-generational, black, white, caucasian
Abstract - e.g. odd, unusual, concept, quirky, funny, humor/humor
Decades - e.g. 1940s, 1950s, 1960s
Nationality - e.g. european, dutch, british, english, american
quantify: singulars, plurals
spelling: american, british, common misspellings, common foreign words (trunk/boot, wine/vino, quart/litre/liter, hippo/hippopotamus/hipo)

keywords are the words that describe the image. that's it. if you have a picture of a cow, you shouldn't name all the barnyard animals. if a duck isn't sexy, don't add that word. if the color is red, don't say yellow. its stuff like that.


this has almost no words.

feline,white,furry,fuzzy,pet,sitting,lazy,pillow,window,animal,vet,veterinarian,purrfect,your name, etc.. this has printing issues btw, it's soft.

you want to name as many things as you can in the image if its there and easy to see. if you know the type of cat it is, name it. in latin too. misspellings as well. what's the cat doing? it's looking, staring, dreaming, wondering. etc you can be creative with the words, as long as it fits what it is.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Ask yourself, if you wanted to find this specific piece on the internet using a search engine, what would you key in?

When you come up with keywords, don't forget to think about other aspects to the piece than just what's physically in it (color, location, objects). What mood does it evoke? Does the subject have a different name--scientific name, nickname? Are there textures within the piece? What makes it unique?

Starting with a detailed description helps. For example on the image here the description and keywords are fine but there needs to be more. Then when you have described the image in specific detail use those words as tags . For many subjects it helps to research them a bit. Start with Wikipedia but dig deeper to find keywords you may have missed. Use both general and specific words. In the example below you did well putting in both "blood orange" and "orange", but you missed "citrus". And is the other fruit a pear?. You also should have "table". Also to be thorough you want the more general words that apply like "food" and "fruit". I would also include "flame" and "candlelight." Don't worry about how much the general words apply as long as they do apply. IN other words do not try and eliminate yourself from searches. Searches will combine words in unexpected ways so give them the words. For example if the buyer uses the words "candlelight meal" in a search query, if you have the both those words individually this piece would be in that search.

Put in the seasons if they apply and the time of day if it applies. Also put in the specific and general geographic location if it applies. I always use my name also. If someone searches you name and a subject you have to have your name in the keywords to be in that search.
As for keyword apps. I have rarely ever uncovered any new words using them and I find that many of those that do pick words that do not apply. But give them a try.

I was trying to find that list for my post, Gregory. :) Glad you added it!

Thanks Joseph.

Thanks for the list Gregory, that really helps.

Thanks for your help Mike.
Do you mean the painting Purrfect Contentment is too soft to print well, if so how can that be fixed?

Thanks Christi and Bradford.

All great information, this has explained key words very well.

Very much appreciated.

Gay

got a scan it. up close we should see canvas and brush marks. your name should also be sharp. i didn't check the rest though. if it was bought, they would give you a day or two to fix it.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Puurfect Contentment is very soft when viewed with the preview. However the file is very large and you are not offering the larger sizes. At the smaller sizes it just might squeek by, I can't say without seeing it. But the goal is not to just pass inspection. Learn to view your work at 100% on your screen. There is no reason a scan or photo can not be very sharp. A good clear signature is a sign that the whole thing is sharp As mentioned canvas texture and brushmarks should not be softer that they appear in real life. Check all your work.

Thanks for explaining image softness, Mike and Bradford.

I will have to borrow my Son's digital camera.
My camera is older and is only 4 pixels.

I will retake a photo of the purrfect contentment painting.

I think the most important key word, which also can be a key phrase, you know, should be ......... Gay Pautz ________________________, ... and fill in that blank with whatever your subject is. For example, ... Gay Pautz pumpkins, Gay Pautz thingamajingles, Gay Pautz doodads, Gay Pautz you get the idea.

If the subject has a unique twist, then include this in the phrase too, ... for example, ... Gay Pautz haloween pumpkins, Gay Pautz creepy doodads, etc [I'm using ridiculous examples, but hopefully you get where I'm coming from.]

Thanks Robert, I will have to add my name to all my image key words.

I retook the image of Purrfect Contentment and saved it first as 300 resolution tiff image and then saved the unchanged file size to a jpg.
Now I can see the detail of the fur when it is viewed full size.

I will go through all my images now to check the key words and file sizes.

Thanks so much for all the information.

Gay