In our last Keywording Tips blog, we talked about some words that photographers tend to leave out of keyword lists that they should be including. In this blog, we’ll turn things around and talk about a few words that really should be left out of keyword lists.
Incidentals- Just because you can see something in a stock image, doesn’t mean that it needs to be in the keywords. Stock photography buyers who search on the word “trees” don’t want to have to wade through dozens of images that barely show a few trees in the background in order to find the images that show nothing but trees. A good rule of thumb is to only include a word in a keyword list if you would be happy seeing that image come up in a search for that word.
Wrong Information- Many stock photography buyers absolutely have to make sure that the information they have about an image is completely accurate for legal reasons, and they won’t buy an image unless they’re one hundred percent sure that the information in the caption and keywords is correct. Things like locations, scientific names of plants and animals, and ingredients in food are just a few of the facts that some buyers need to know are accurate. Don’t ever guess when you’re keywording stock images. When in doubt, leave it out!
Trademarks- It doesn’t happen often, but legal issues can arise out of trademarked terms in stock photography keywords. Common words like Band-Aid, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Jacuzzi, Popsicle, Post-its, Q-tip, Rollerblade, and Tarmac are just a few examples of trademarked terms that are often found in keywords. Since it’s better to be safe than sorry, these terms should not be used as keywords.
When it comes to keywording stock images, more isn’t always better. Putting quality before quantity will help you get the best results from your stock images’ keywords.
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