Metadata Guidelines

Note: Is English not your first language? We have translated our Metadata Guidelines into a few different languages, found here.

Titles

What are titles?

Titles are concise, factual descriptions of your assets that help customers find your content while providing useful information about each work. A good asset title is relevant, simple, and appropriate.

What are the requirements for a title on Eezy?

Titles should be specific and unique per file. Titles should be 3 to 8 words long, contain no more than 200 characters, and have the first letter of the sentence capitalized (excluding small words like “of” and “the”). Titles can include periods, commas, dashes, and apostrophes, but no other special characters.

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Why does Eezy recommend unique titles?

When Contributors are creating the titles and descriptions for their submissions, it’s important to be as accurate as possible. Our customers are often searching for specific subjects, themes, or concepts, so unique titles better the chances are that your asset will be discovered.

Descriptions

We no longer require a description, your title should be a short concise description of the photo, clip or design.

Keywords

What are keywords?

Keywords are part of your asset's metadata, words or phrases that describe the asset. When someone searches on Eezy, they will be shown assets with keywords that match their search terms.

Do I have to add keywords?

We encourage contributors to add add 20-30 keywords per resource. The most relevant keywords should be listed first, with the first 5 keywords being the most important. The minimum number of keywords per asset is 5 and the maximum is 50. Without keywords, customers cannot find your resources on our website.

How are keywords added?

You can use the contributor tools in the Content Manager to add keywords for one file at a time, or in bulk through our bulk editing feature or a CSV upload. Or, you can provide embedded IPTC metadata in the software program of your choice before uploading files. When editing assets, try to disambiguate any term that has multiple meanings. Terms that are not disambiguated greatly reduce the quality of search.

If I write an asset title and description, do I still need to add keywords?

Yes. Without keywords, customers cannot find your assets on our website. Relevant keywords need to be added in the keyword section.

How do I decide what is relevant about an asset?

It may be helpful to ask yourself a few questions to decide what's important. What strikes you about the asset? What makes this asset interesting and unique? What story does the asset tell? What parts of the asset are important to that story? What are the facets of the asset that a customer would be most interested in?

How do I maximize my keywording for search?

Keywording search plays an integral role assisting customers in finding 'that perfect asset'. Keywording streamlines the search process, helping refine results in order to display the most relevant options. The key in maximizing search potential is proper keywords. While Eezy has a team of reviewers dedicated to reviewing your content, the task of keywording falls to contributors as well and we always encourage contributors to add certain keywords prior to submitting new assets for review.

With that in mind, the following overview may give a clearer vision of which keywords will ensure that keyword searches link to those assets effectively.

Number of People:

Add whichever of the following keywords is suitable for your asset: "one person", "two people", "three people"

Add 'groups' to any asset with more than three people. 'Groups' is divided into many kinds of groups, like crowds, flocks, sports teams, and audiences. If you have one of these kinds of groups in your keyword list, your asset will be searchable by 'groups' AND the kind of group.

Remember to add the keyword 'no people' for ANY design that does not have a person in it, even close-ups and backgrounds. It may seem strange, but the search filter gives the best results when every asset without people gets tagged with 'no people'.

Age:

Add whichever of the following keywords is suitable for your asset: "infant", "child", "teen", "young adult", "adult", "middle aged", "senior". You can add as many age ranges as needed to cover everyone in the picture. Add only the most accurate age range. Remember! Don't combine age and gender into one keyword. Add "child" and "girl" not "young girl".

Ethnicity:

An ethnicity search is more and more common with customers and they often search by one or more of the most-commonly searched ethnicities: "Asian", "African American", "Caucasian", "Hispanic", "Middle Eastern". Remember to add these keywords if they apply to your asset.

Eye Contact (Photos specific):

Add the keyword "looking at camera" for assets that show a person(s) looking directly into the lens/at the viewer.

Time of Day:

Add the keyword "night" to suitable assets.

Once contributors have addressed and utilized keywords from the categories above, they can be sure that search will be a resource in leading customers to their assets successfully.

Can I use special characters in my keywords?

No, only text can be included in your keywords. Special characters such as dashes, periods, parenthesis, etc. will not be accepted.

Can we use slang or colloquialisms in our keywords?

Simply put: no. The terms in our vocabulary are based on proper English. If you use slang terms, your keywords might map to incorrect terms. For example, the term chow added to a food shot will actually map to the dog breed Chow Chow. Adding the term chick to an asset of a young woman will map to assets of baby chickens.

Is there a minimum or maximum number of keywords I can submit with my asset?

We require 5 keywords for every submitted asset. Although technically the maximum is 50, over-keywording an asset is just as harmful as under-keywording, and not necessary thanks to our vocabulary. Focus on the most relevant and important elements.

If I make a mistake with my keywords, can I change them after I've submitted the assets?

Unfortunately no, so keyword carefully! If the error requires immediate attention, send an email to [e-mail] referencing your username and the ID of the asset.

Do I need to include the orientation of my asset as a keyword?

Yes. Horizontal, vertical, black and white, color, square and panoramic should all be included in the keywords. 

The keywords I submitted with my asset are not the same as the ones that now appear on your website. What happened?

Eezy reviewers use a vocabulary for keywords and search. The keywords you submitted with your asset have been translated into the keyword language used by our vocabulary. This means that not only is your asset searchable by the terms you submitted, but it is also searchable by the synonyms and variant spellings of each keyword. This is all meant to enhance the quality of search terms and improve discoverability.

What are the most important keyword terms to include on an asset?

All assets

- Physical objects present in the asset

- Include "indoors" or "outdoors" when it makes sense

- Time of day, time of year

- Include 'no people' if no people are depicted

- Technical visual terms such as "abstracts, patterns, colors, still life, point of view, light attributes", etc.

Assets of People

- Ages

- Ethnicity (Caucasian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Multiracial)

- Gender (men, women, girls, boys)

- Facial expressions

- Emotions

- Concepts

- Specific activity or event

- Number of people (one person, two people, three people, groups)

- Portrait or Candid

- Body positions (sitting, standing, leaning, lying down, etc.)

- Direction model is looking (looking at camera, looking up, down, sideways, etc.)

- Length views (full length, half length: upper half, lower half, ¾ length, headshots, etc.)

Landscapes

If the asset is a landscape, 'scenics' is a good term to include, as well as a specific location if known. If there is a distinct horizon line, add 'horizons'. If the asset is a drone shot, please include keywords like 'drone' and 'aerial'.

Solid Backgrounds

- If there is a white background, include the keyword 'white background'.

- If there is a solid colored background, other than white, include the keyword 'neutral background'. Also include the actual color of the background.

- If the subject is a cutout (easily removable from the background) add 'cutouts'.

Can I keyword my assets in any languages other than English?

At this time, keywords can only be added in English.