Do keywords sell images?
Yes. Keywords sell images.
But proving it has been a pervasive problem throughout my 20+ year career as a keywording strategist.
And you do need proof.
Otherwise, nobody believes you.
“I don't believe it. Prove it to me and I still won't believe it.”
Douglas Adams, “Life, the Universe and Everything”
We are addicted to proof
How is success measured? Depending on the sector or industry we work in, success might be expressed in terms of financial growth, audience engagement, or social impact and influence. Some forms of success are easier to measure than others, but that does not make them less valuable. One commonality however is that, regardless of what products or services you’re selling or providing, you need a way to quantify what’s working and what’s not working. You need to prove, one way or another, if x or y product or service is performing better, and invest resources accordingly.
The creative sector is not immune to this need for proof.
Yet, in spite of all the smart technology available to us, we still can't say for certain what leads a customer to buy a specific product online. E-commerce platforms try to trace the customer journey, measuring bounce rates, producing “heat maps”, and producing user interaction data indicating how people engage with a site.
But not all platforms are designed with powerful E-commerce reporting technology. There are plenty of other ways we search for content that do not deliver the same level of hard "proof".
In his book "Leaders Eat Last" Simon Sinek suggests:
"Technology has turned us into performance addicts"
There is a belief in the tech world that if we can't measure it, then it's no use to us.
If we can't track and trace and asset in a search system, then it is as good as invisible, and we may as well give up.
The purpose of proof
Over the years, DAM (Digital Asset Management) has paved the way as the “single source of truth” for organisations managing digital assets such as photos, videos and other creative files.
Many DAM systems can tell us exactly where an asset has been used, by who, for what purpose, as well as when it was last updated / replaced and when it's due to expire. Data like this is not only useful intelligence for sales and marketing teams, but it proves the status of an asset at every step in its lifecycle.
The benefit of tracking assets in your DAM for commercial businesses has become almost an obsession (as reinforced by Sinek).
Tracking and measuring performance is vital to business growth, but there is one caveat; it relies on the application of relevant and accurate metadata. And with ever increasing volumes of assets to tag, the demand for adding metadata continually intensifies.
Our addiction to performance tracking brings a financial and personal cost. Adding relevant and accurate metadata demands brain power and time, something AI proponents are keen to redress.
Measuring success in stock libraries
There are over 1 billion stock images available online today. And all of them need metadata to be found online.
Unlike DAM systems with built-in governance, it is more challenging to track images as they move through a stock library:
Libraries do not always have the technology in place to accurately track performance
Libraries are often reluctant to share insights about their algorithms
It is almost impossible to know which specific keyword led a customer to purchase a specific image (without asking the customer direct)
Sales reports cannot prove which keyword sold an image. They only confirm that the image was found, and that is was suitable for the client brief. The customer intent, or the reason why an image was chosen over another similar image, remains largely unknown.
Stock libraries continually monitor search logs to identify trends, report gaps in content, and improve the customer experience.
Ultimately though, there remains a gap between user intent and search behaviour.
How keywords sell images
A great photo with no keywords will never sell
A good photo with bad keywords will probably never be seen
A good photo with good keywords might be seen and might sell
A good photo with great keywords will be seen and might sell
A great photo with great keywords will rank the highest and sell the most
Even if the keywords are spot on, the image might not be what the customer had in mind.
The right keywords + the wrong image = no sale.
What keywords don't do
Keywords alone can't sell poor content. They just make it more noticeable!
Keywords must be accurate and relevant for an image to be visible. But ultimately, the customer decides if the image is right for them or not.
Questions for stock photographers
Do you have enough content? Low volumes may decrease your search ranking on stock library sites
Are you uploading new content regularly? Stock libraries favour creators who publish regularly, as opposed to sporadically
Are you optimising your metadata? Be warned, adding generic image numbers and internal tags that have no meaning to anyone else frustrates customers
Are you invested in keywording? Do you have a sustainable process for adding relevant, accurate and consistent keywords to really boost visibility to your images on stock library sites?
Summary
Ultimately, we cannot rely on keywords alone to sell content. Sales success relies on content that is produced to a high standard, that is relevant, fresh and regularly uploaded, on trend, and all wrapped up with meaningful metadata.
One thing is for sure though, keywords increase visibility, and that is the biggest part of the battle.