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I decided to start a new thread where we might share ideas and suggestions for how to handle descriptions. Here’s my initial contribution to the topic:
Since I started using Yoast a couple of months back, I’ve often included information on *how* I made a particular image, as well as the usual what/when/where stuff.
I’ve also deliberately made the text chatty, right down to saying “I / me/ my” or even “we” (referring to both the critter and me) on rare occasions.
And I’m not shy in pointing out what I think are the appealing aspects of a particular image. It’s my chance to gain a bit of “sell”, so why not?
Nobody would mistake any of this for great prose, but it suits my style to inject a bit of personality and humor, especially since the technique almost always gets me to the coveted SOLID GREEN on Yoast. I can’t see settling for flat-out-boring captions, especially when there seems to be a SEO benefit to being creative.
The three brand-new-on-my-site images that I’ve selected as examples (because they’re very fresh in my mind) show just one kind of bird, the male House Finch, but I’ve done the same with lots of other creatures.
Here’s an image with a lot of text, and it’s “real” information, not just fluff:
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/rear-view-male-house-finch-stock-photo/
Here are two with a bit less text, but what’s there is still unique and relevant to the image on the page:
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/brilliant-red-house-finch-eats-seed-stock-photo/
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/brilliant-red-male-house-finch-stock-photo/
Yoast seems to appreciate this approach. I’d welcome your feedback on it too.
That’s excellent work, Martha, and I’m sure the search engines will reward these efforts.
To me, the downsides of this strategy are
1. You not only have to be creative as a photographer but also as an author (which I’m not)
2. It takes a lot more time to get an image listed.But like I said, I’m absolutely certain that this is the right way to go.
I am impressed with your eloquence. I have tried to do this with some of my images, especially the plants, or I did the first time but have not had quite the same enthusiasm when redoing everything
http://kerioakimaging.com - trying to reopen
http://nail-art-at.kerioak.com - Art and Nail ArtWow I couldn’t do that with my mother tongue let alone English!
Great pictures and text, I’m sure Google and buyers will love this!Thanks, Redneck, Christine, and Rolfo, for your feedback. I left this post last week but didn’t check it again until this morning. Wasn’t fishing for compliments, but I do appreciate them.
Yes, this approach is time consuming. But since my other hat is a writer’s hat, it’s not a burden. And it surely does help that I’m writing in my native language!
Because I’m processing brand-new images, it’s fresh and fun to write about them. I get to relive the trip, including the “wheres” we went and the “hows” I got the shots.
As a plus, this approach is getting virtually all my new images to bright-green on Yoast. So they should show up better in Google searches than the older ones. I’m fine with that, since the older ones already show up via SS, DT, FT, etc. I’m hoping the new exclusives, as they accumulate, will drive traffic directly to my site.
@marthamarks wrote:
I decided to start a new thread where we might share ideas and suggestions for how to handle descriptions. Here’s my initial contribution to the topic:
Since I started using Yoast a couple of months back, I’ve often included information on *how* I made a particular image, as well as the usual what/when/where stuff.
I’ve also deliberately made the text chatty, right down to saying “I / me/ my” or even “we” (referring to both the critter and me) on rare occasions.
And I’m not shy in pointing out what I think are the appealing aspects of a particular image. It’s my chance to gain a bit of “sell”, so why not?
Nobody would mistake any of this for great prose, but it suits my style to inject a bit of personality and humor, especially since the technique almost always gets me to the coveted SOLID GREEN on Yoast. I can’t see settling for flat-out-boring captions, especially when there seems to be a SEO benefit to being creative.
The three brand-new-on-my-site images that I’ve selected as examples (because they’re very fresh in my mind) show just one kind of bird, the male House Finch, but I’ve done the same with lots of other creatures.
Here’s an image with a lot of text, and it’s “real” information, not just fluff:
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/rear-view-male-house-finch-stock-photo/
Here are two with a bit less text, but what’s there is still unique and relevant to the image on the page:
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/brilliant-red-house-finch-eats-seed-stock-photo/
http://bestnaturestock.com/image/brilliant-red-male-house-finch-stock-photo/
Yoast seems to appreciate this approach. I’d welcome your feedback on it too.
I decided to test this on a series of photos from Maui, so I was able to bring them all to Green on Yoast. It is time consuming, but once you get a routine down it is not to bad. It will be interesting how Google reacts to these changes.
I’m not an expert but I tend to keep my descriptions short and fairly to the point. I follow this policy; the name should provide a brief idea of what the artwork is about. The description simply expands on the name little bit.
For example:
Name = “Corn and Milk 01”
Description = “A Corn Cob presented on an Old Wooden Cutting Board with a Glass of Milk.”I have come to realise that all the SEOs and other such services favour “short and sweet” over lengthy descriptions. So it kind of plays along with people’s short attention spans. I think it also reads better on smaller devices and in little description boxes and such.
So I’ve just made it a habit to keep it brief and include only information directly pertinent. If something is obvious then it doesn’t really need to be pointed out in detail. I believe that “Black Cat playing with a Ball of String” will be easier to read and index than “A lovely, Long Haired, Fluffy, Cat plays with a ball of Twine while looking directly at the camera. This Image is suitable for Advertising or Greeting cards.”
Put the word “Twine” into the Keywords and use “String” rather which is easier to translate and/or read for those that do not speak much English.
Essentially the buyer just wants to search for what they need. They will know what they want once they see it. I think the descriptions work for you long before the client sees the image. Search engines index and search Names, Descriptions, and Keywords.
I do write and I have learnt to cut back to a very simple, short, and plain English descriptions. It is just easier for buyers who do not speak English as a regular language.
Jo
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