Change View Options:
Search Engine Optimization
Alamy’s new website is the latest step in the company’s efforts to improve the online experience for creative and editorial customers. The company has taken a phased approach to the site re-design and is initially launching with a new homepage, search results, image pop-up and lightbox tool.
Most professional photographers believe Flickr is a site they should
avoid because someone might steal their pictures. They think of it as a
place where amateurs put the pictures they want to share with family and
friends. Todd Klassy is using it very effectively to market his images
in his part-time photographic business.
SuperStock, a leading stock photography agency specializing in
Contemporary, Travel, Fine Art, and Vintage imagery, has launched
SuperFusion, a new collection of value-priced royalty-free images
gathered from around the world. The collection features images from top
professional photographers including microstock stars Yuri Arcurs, Ron
Chapple, and Andres Rodriguez.
If you haven’t visited the Corbis web site for a while it may be time to
take another look. In 2010 Corbis decided that it was time to update
the search technology they had been using since 1995. The
project involved a series of architectural changes with two primary aims
– improving performance (speed of delivery) and relevancy of the
search results delivered. This story discusses some of the changes and modifications.
Masterfile has upgraded its website with a suite of timesaving tools for creative professionals. "The new
Masterfile.com is a game changer. It makes the task of sifting through millions of images an enjoyable, rewarding and ultimately creative experience," says Steve Pigeon, President.
In the digital world everyone loves to work for free. Particularly when it is an opportunity to help someone else earn money as a result of their efforts. With that in mind
Magnum Photos is looking for
volunteers to help them tag their online archive. If you’re interested sign up
here.
After reading my story “
Getting Images Seen” on how Getty Images orders search returns John Lund did some searches for his own images on the Getty web site. He came up with some additional insights. Check out the full text of his article on his
blog.
Today, the biggest problem for professional photographers is how to get their images seen by potential customers. Most photographers would agree that the way to get the widest possible exposure for their work is to get their images on gettyimages.com. Sources at Getty Images tell me that 96% of the company’s sales come from images customers find on the first three pages of the search returns. Customers have a choice as to how many thumbnails they want to see on any given page -- with a maximum of 100 allowed -- so three pages of images would be a maximum of 300.
Picnache.com has put together a list of the top 1000 keywords used by customers to search for stock photos in the last 6 months to 2
years. This dataset was compiled from about 500,000 searches and
prioritized according to which words were used most frequently.
Here are links to a few items I spotted on the Internet that are worth reading. They include observations on the Getty Images search engine, World Assignment photographers and Should I Work For Free.
Grover Sanschagrin of PhotoShelter has published a very interesting analysis entitled “What Google Trends Says About Wedding & Stock Photography, and Photo Websites,” complete with charts that illustrate the trends.
In the investment world it is a proven strategy to diversify your portfolio. The same is true as a professional photographer. This article explores different ways to diversify your income from printed coffee mugs to fine art prints to pay-for-click advertising...and the time to start is now!