Let’s talk search engine optimization a bit, or at least “things I will keep in mind when writing new content here”. When I post a new article here, I generally put a bit.ly short-link on Twitter, which then feeds automatically to my Facebook account. So, if you follow me or are one of my friends, you might have gotten here, to this blog from my updates there. However, I think I tend to get a lot more “business”, if you will, from people searching Google (or Bing, or wherever) and finding an article in my archive here. WordPress keeps a log of the search terms that brought someone in, and I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of those terms.
iStockphoto Directly Related
- free istockphoto credits
- “vetta and agency”
- istockphoto image manipulation
- istock extended license
- istockphoto file sizes
- top searched for images on istockphoto
- istockphoto logos
- istockphoto iphone app license
- free istockphoto 20 “free credits”
- istock multi-seat license
- vetta photo collection
- cant livechat with istock
- istockphoto free credits
I garnered these from a list of search terms from the last 7 days, but they are a good cross section. From this, we can see that obviously, people are interested in “free” credits. No surprise. Buyers also seem to have a good interest in finding more information on the licensing terms, which can be hard to decipher some time. In the past, I’ve done several “what license do I need” articles, and I assume these terms point them to those. It also appears they need clarity on the Vetta and Agency collections, which can and do throw buyers off when they see the higher price points. I’ve received several mails about those prices in the last month or two. The livechat one surprised me – well, not really – I’ve never seen it work, but someone was out there actually searching to see why it didn’t work.
My Name
- sean locke
- sjlocke
- sean locke grease monkey
- sean locke script
- sean locke grapevine high school
- sean locke digital imagery
- sean locke photography
- sean locke chef
- sean locke past calvin klien model
First off, I neither went to Grapevine High School, nor was I ever a model for Calvin Klein, lol. However, it does look like I’ve created a “brand” in some sense here. I know that once I’ve read something I found on Google, I’ll try to find it again by trying to remember the search terms, but if the page author made a strong enough impression, or I’ve been there enough, I’ll use their name as a modifier. For example, I am always using “Dan Heller model release” when trying to find his model release article page to give to people. Or attorney Carolyn Wright for copyright articles.
General Photography
- canon g12 night
- canon g12 flash pics
- microstock g12
- canon g12 shooting tips
- what is copyspace
I don’t really write “how to” articles, but I do have an article on the Canon G12 from a regular owner’s perspective, and that seems to be quite popular.
Stock Subjects
- balloon bouquets
- holding big check
- nurses and patients
- golf image for wordpress
- interior of restaurant photos
Some subject related hits. Not as many as I would like, as I target my “Portfolio Updates” toward people searching for a specific subject series. I’m not sure whether these might come from a web search on Google or an image search. A search of “nurses and patients” in google image search does link to one of my articles here, quite a ways down the search though. I’m a little surprised there aren’t more searches like “nurses and patients stock photo”, so maybe searching for stock content isn’t really on their mind when they link through. These people may actually just be searching to buy a ballon bouquet or articles on nurses and patients.
Miscellaneous
- al’s buffalo bleu fries
- harry potter moving paintings
For a while, I did get quite a few hits on my “Man Vs. Food” restaurant articles. However, I haven’t been to any TV restaurants lately, so maybe the lack of activity has turned Google off of the old articles.
These results come from my “speaking” style of writing. I write like I talk to people – I’m not specifically trying to insert hot SEO terms, just to falsely draw in readers, although if you know any ways to “GET RICH QUICK!” from “LOW MORTGAGE RATES” or “WINNING THE LOTTERY”, let me know. Heh heh.
Anyways, I thought looking at search terms might be some good Friday fun. Hope you have a relaxing weekend.
