Choosing keywords

Best practices and tips for choosing appropriate keywords

1. Use as many keywords as necessary. Unless you have at least 5 to 7 photographs that represent a concept, you don’t need that keyword. Instead of three photos with HIGH HEELS and four with PUMPS, you only need DRESS SHOES or even just SHOES.

2. Don’t use buzzwords. PHOTOBOMB or SELFIE might mean something today but they may not mean much or may have a completely different meaning a few years from now.

3. Literalism is key. Nicknames, figures of speech and metaphors do not belong in a keyword vocabulary. A photograph of four people sitting around a conference table might suggest BRAINSTORMING, but should be tagged instead with ADULTS, OFFICE and TABLES.

4. Avoid ambiguous words and homonyms. For example, words like ORANGE could describe a fruit and the color; BALL could be a dance or a toy; and TRUCK could be a vehicle or a handcart.

5. Don’t use too many duplicate words or synonyms to describe the same thing. PLAYGROUND and FIELD could both be used to describe a PARK. I used CANINE, PUPPY and DOG to identify photographs of dogs. Pick one or two synonyms that you believe will be used most often in search queries and stick to it.

6. Avoid regionalisms and use words others will recognize and understand. For example, depending upon where you live, RUNNING SHOES, RUNNERS, SNEAKERS, KICKS, PLIMSOLLS or TRAINERS can all be used to describe ATHLETIC SHOES. It’s best to stick to the universal term, ATHLETIC SHOES.

7. Pluralize all words that could be singular or plural. For example, use SHOES, not SHOE; and use CHILDREN, not CHILD. By pluralizing all words, you won’t have to remember whether you used a singular or plural. And in most cases, if you put the singular in as your search term, you will pull up photographs tagged with the plural. In contrast, if you search with a plural term, you are likely to miss any photos tagged with the singular.

8. Please use American spellings for common words with different spellings. For example, use ARMOR not ARMOUR; use COLOR not COLOUR; and use CATALOG not CATALOGUE.

9. Context is just as important as content. Think about adding as many descriptive words as possible to increase the likelihood of the asset being found through a search.

10. If you're unsure, return to the thought, "How will users search for the asset(s)?"