Image and Video Keywording Tips

Keywording Advice for Stock and Microstock
Useful for any Image or Video Library

Do You Like Keywording?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Either way, we are here to help.

You are here because you know that keywords are how buyers find images, and you know that you want to do a better job to improve your sales.

But without industry standards to follow, it's difficult to know what you are doing.

We've been in the business of keywording crazy numbers of images for photographers, stock houses and publishers, and from this experience, we've become the keywording evangelists.

Daily Tips for You.

So we are taking all of our experience and sharing our knowledge to help you improve your keywording by taking the mystery out of the process.

Keywording may not be rocket science, but there are tricks and techniques that will give you a significant advantage.

Here you will find a daily tip on how to maximize your exposure and increase sales, by showing you synonyms and variant spellings, explaining how search engines work, and helping you understand the logic (illogic) of a buyer searching for what they want.

What Else We've Been Up To

Our Software

We make KeywordSmart, the most powerful image and video keywording software on the market. Free trial by clicking here.

The Keywording Glossary

KeywordsSmart has begun the Sisyphusian undertaking of writing the first comprehensive and definitive Keywording Glossary.

Search Tips

Because searchers and buyers need a little help too, we've also been publishing Image & Video Search Tips for a while now, helping buyers understand the subtleties of keywording, how search engines work, and how to improve their search experience by finding more appropriate results in less time.

We are:

Jody Apap

Our CEO and Keywording Guru. He's keyworded 250,000 images, and spends way more time thinking about keywording than a healthy human really should.

Rachel Hyman-Rouse

Our glorius CBD, Rachel spreads the gospel of KeywordSmart and all we are trying to do to make the world a better place.

The Details:

About Keywording Tips

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Tip #194 Video Framing I: Extreme Closeup

You should use the keyword phrase EXTREME CLOSEUP anytime the video shows anything smaller than the head or face of a person or similar size shot of any object.

Tip #193 Image Framing IV: Wide Angle View

WIDE ANGLE VIEW has five synonyms:

  • WIDE ANGLE
  • WIDE ANGLE LENS
  • WIDE-ANGLE VIEW
  • WIDE-ANGLE
  • WIDE-ANGLE LENS

Tip #192 Image Framing IV: Overall

OVERALL and it’s commonly used synonym OVERVIEW should be used anytime the image or video shows most or all of a clearly defined area, such as a room, garden or field.

Tip #191 Image Framing III: Macro

A MACRO should be thought of as a super closeup of a DETAIL.

The subject of the image should be only a very small part of the object, and the image should be showing fine details that would most likely be missed by the human eye.

Some examples:

  • hairs on a honey bee
  • reflection on a drop of water
  • individual grains of sand

Tip #190 Image Framing II: Detail

A DETAIL should be thought of as a closeup of a CLOSEUP.

In other words, the subject of the image or video should be only a part of the object, the object should most likely be identifiable, but the focus is on a small part of it.

Some examples:

  • fabric on a sofa
  • the leg of a chair
  • bark on a tree

Tip #189 Image Framing I: Closeup

CLOSEUP is for when the shot is taken from (yep you guessed it) very close.

The image or video needs to be filled primarily with the subject, and the viewer should see most or all of the subject.

Don’t forget the variant spelling CLOSE-UP and CLOSE UP as well.

Tip #188 Image Framing vs Video Framing

Framing essentially describes how close to, and how much of the subject is in the image or video.

Image framing and video framing use different terms, and it is essential you know them and use them correctly as keywords.

Tip #187 Underwater Shots

If the image or video was taken UNDERWATER, you should also use several different keyword phrases:

Tip #186 From Shore POV

If your image or video is taken the shore looking out across a large body of water, then you should use all three of these keyword phrases:

Keep in mind you must be able to see some land in the foreground, to show the image was taken from shore.

Tip #185 To Shore Point of View

If your image or video is taken from a body of water looking back to the shore, then you should use all three of these keyword phrases: