Flickr Views: The Importance of Tagging

Mike Cash · 12-11-2011, 04:24 AM

A screen capture from the bottom of my Flickr Stats:

Notice the very close correlation between the number of photos tagged and the number of photos with views? And the number of photos not tagged and the number without views?

For your photos to show up in searches and get viewed, you first have to tell the search engine about the photo. List location, event, camera used, lens, used, any other gear used, objects in the photo, weather, etc etc etc.

**boriscleto** · 12-11-2011, 06:21 AM

Even lazy bastards like me can get views.

Name: Screen Shot 2011-12-11 at 8.20.41 AM.jpg
Views: 387
Size: 21.4 KB

Name: Screen Shot 2011-12-11 at 8.20.01 AM.jpg
Views: 406
Size: 42.6 KB

**mccook** · 12-11-2011, 07:47 AM

Heartily agreed. My stats show a very similar trend. Some of my most viewed images on flickr are IMHO crap images, but they clearly are well key worded and get views daily. Being an exquisite image by itself accomplishes little, as people need to actually see it to become interested, which is not apt to happen in the limitless sea of images that exist online.

Mike Cash · 12-11-2011, 12:56 PM

I'll admit, when I was getting a tiny number of views per day, it hardly seemed worth the effort.

**boriscleto** · 12-11-2011, 01:01 PM

Originally posted by Mike Cash

I'll admit, when I was getting a tiny number of views per day, it hardly seemed worth the effort.

And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view.

Besides, I mainly use Flickr to share pics here. I could care less about the "social" aspect of Flickr. Also, the more visible your picture is to Google, the more likely it is to be stolen. And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data.

alohadave · 12-11-2011, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by boriscleto

And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data.

It does, and displays it on each picture page if available.

Equipment tags are more for external searches and any equipment groups that you may be part of.

**boriscleto** · 12-11-2011, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by alohadave

It does, and displays it on each picture page if available.

Equipment tags are more for external searches and any equipment groups that you may be part of.

It doesn't search Exif for lens type. That's what I was trying to say. You can only find by lens type if it's in the tags or description.

Not that Mike is much interested in lens type in Exif anyway. His lenses wouldn't be there.

Mike Cash · 12-11-2011, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by boriscleto

And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view.

Besides, I mainly use Flickr to share pics here. I could care less about the "social" aspect of Flickr. Also, the more visible your picture is to Google, the more likely it is to be stolen. And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data.

I knew there would be at least one "I don't care and you shouldn't either" post. Thanks for getting it out of the way so early in the thread.

If you don't give a damn, that's fine. Some people do, and every once in a great while we get a post from someone wondering why their photos don't get views while other people's get tons....despite being crappy.

I also don't care about the social aspect of Flickr and don't use it as a social media site. As you can see, tagging is far more relevant to views than is posting to the various groups.

I take pictures. They show things. A picture that goes unseen may as well not have been taken in the first place. No, I don't get paid. So what? You're some great pro who only lets the hoi polloi peek at his photos if they fork over some dough? I'm not that stuck on myself.

**boriscleto** · 12-11-2011, 04:26 PM

Originally posted by Mike Cash

I knew there would be at least one "I don't care and you shouldn't either" post. Thanks for getting it out of the way so early in the thread.

If you don't give a damn, that's fine. Some people do, and every once in a great while we get a post from someone wondering why their photos don't get views while other people's get tons....despite being crappy.

I also don't care about the social aspect of Flickr and don't use it as a social media site. As you can see, tagging is far more relevant to views than is posting to the various groups.

I take pictures. They show things. A picture that goes unseen may as well not have been taken in the first place. No, I don't get paid. So what? You're some great pro who only lets the hoi polloi peek at his photos if they fork over some dough? I'm not that stuck on myself.

Yet you are stuck enough on yourself to point out you have 10 million hits. You also assume I have anything worth looking at.

Mike Cash · 12-11-2011, 04:53 PM

No, I pointed out the correlation between tagging and photos with views. I didn't post my total views in my initial post because I thought it was irrelevant. You wanted to pooh-pooh my point by showing your totals to show that you get views without tagging. Given that, it sort of became necessary to show mine to bolster the point that it does indeed make a difference. (And it isn't 10 million).

Why is the human race blessed with people who can't resist the urge to offer opinions on things they profess not to give a damn about?

TechGuru · 12-15-2011, 05:12 PM

Originally posted by boriscleto

And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view.

Heh, well I get something for the videos I make with my Pentax thanks to Google's AdSense and YouTube. I wish Google had a photo sharing service with AdSense integrated.

tonyjayice · 12-21-2011, 11:39 AM

Originally posted by boriscleto:

And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view.

Originally posted by TechGuru

Heh, well I get something for the videos I make with my Pentax thanks to Google's AdSense and YouTube. I wish Google had a photo sharing service with AdSense integrated.

..AAaand the more people who see your photos/videos, the more likely you'll be noticed by your work; by someone who might want to pay you..

loco · 12-21-2011, 12:53 PM

Flickr is currently the easiest and best way I'm aware of for someone who's just getting into photography to get their photos "out there" to be seen. While I have no expectations of ever being paid for my photos, I do care enough about them to want people to see them.

The social aspect of the site not only provides a good way to get views but also a good way to get familiar with other people's work which in turn often provides inspiration. While many photos (like mine!) may be crappy, there are some really wonderful images on Flickr.

In addition to tagging/keywording, joining and adding photos to appropriate groups is a very good way to get your pictures seen.

sjwaldron · 12-21-2011, 02:19 PM

I agree with you Mike. Tagging will absolutely help increase views. Just look at it from a computer science perspective. The computer needs something to index and textual data is currently the easiest and most effective type. I think someday search will be powerful enough to index based on visual content, but I think that's still way off.

Until then, without tags or descriptions/titles, a photo won't be easy for people to notice.

--------------------------------------

As others have said, I think Flickr could do a lot more with things like making lens data truly and easily search-able. I for one would like to be able to select from a list of lenses and see photos for that. It's hard enough finding the camera statistics page (Why on earth do they hide interesting stuff like that?)

I have over 82,000 views at the moment, but usually cull out photos every year and my tagging isn't too detailed. I really don't think I'll be renewing my Pro subscription anymore. Flickr has benefits, but I use Zenfolio for hosting most of my work these days.

12-11-2011, 04:24 AM	#1
Mike Cash Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Japan Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,950	Flickr Views: The Importance of Tagging A screen capture from the bottom of my Flickr Stats: Notice the very close correlation between the number of photos tagged and the number of photos with views? And the number of photos not tagged and the number without views? For your photos to show up in searches and get viewed, you first have to tell the search engine about the photo. List location, event, camera used, lens, used, any other gear used, objects in the photo, weather, etc etc etc.

12-11-2011, 07:47 AM	#3
mccook Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New Gloucester, Maine Posts: 26	Heartily agreed. My stats show a very similar trend. Some of my most viewed images on flickr are IMHO crap images, but they clearly are well key worded and get views daily. Being an exquisite image by itself accomplishes little, as people need to actually see it to become interested, which is not apt to happen in the limitless sea of images that exist online. Attached Images

12-11-2011, 01:01 PM	#5
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,477	Originally posted by Mike Cash I'll admit, when I was getting a tiny number of views per day, it hardly seemed worth the effort. And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view. Besides, I mainly use Flickr to share pics here. I could care less about the "social" aspect of Flickr. Also, the more visible your picture is to Google, the more likely it is to be stolen. And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data. Last edited by boriscleto; 12-11-2011 at 01:12 PM.

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12-11-2011, 06:21 AM	#2
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,477	Even lazy bastards like me can get views.

12-11-2011, 12:56 PM	#4
Mike Cash Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Japan Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,950 Original Poster	I'll admit, when I was getting a tiny number of views per day, it hardly seemed worth the effort.

12-11-2011, 01:37 PM	#6
alohadave Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quincy, MA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,024	Originally posted by boriscleto And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data. It does, and displays it on each picture page if available. Equipment tags are more for external searches and any equipment groups that you may be part of.

12-11-2011, 01:54 PM	#7
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,477	Originally posted by alohadave It does, and displays it on each picture page if available. Equipment tags are more for external searches and any equipment groups that you may be part of. It doesn't search Exif for lens type. That's what I was trying to say. You can only find by lens type if it's in the tags or description. Not that Mike is much interested in lens type in Exif anyway. His lenses wouldn't be there.

12-11-2011, 03:56 PM	#8
Mike Cash Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Japan Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,950 Original Poster	Originally posted by boriscleto And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view. Besides, I mainly use Flickr to share pics here. I could care less about the "social" aspect of Flickr. Also, the more visible your picture is to Google, the more likely it is to be stolen. And if Flickr would just search EXIF data you wouldn't need to tag photos with equipment data. I knew there would be at least one "I don't care and you shouldn't either" post. Thanks for getting it out of the way so early in the thread. If you don't give a damn, that's fine. Some people do, and every once in a great while we get a post from someone wondering why their photos don't get views while other people's get tons....despite being crappy. I also don't care about the social aspect of Flickr and don't use it as a social media site. As you can see, tagging is far more relevant to views than is posting to the various groups. I take pictures. They show things. A picture that goes unseen may as well not have been taken in the first place. No, I don't get paid. So what? You're some great pro who only lets the hoi polloi peek at his photos if they fork over some dough? I'm not that stuck on myself.

12-11-2011, 04:26 PM	#9
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,477	Originally posted by Mike Cash I knew there would be at least one "I don't care and you shouldn't either" post. Thanks for getting it out of the way so early in the thread. If you don't give a damn, that's fine. Some people do, and every once in a great while we get a post from someone wondering why their photos don't get views while other people's get tons....despite being crappy. I also don't care about the social aspect of Flickr and don't use it as a social media site. As you can see, tagging is far more relevant to views than is posting to the various groups. I take pictures. They show things. A picture that goes unseen may as well not have been taken in the first place. No, I don't get paid. So what? You're some great pro who only lets the hoi polloi peek at his photos if they fork over some dough? I'm not that stuck on myself. Yet you are stuck enough on yourself to point out you have 10 million hits. You also assume I have anything worth looking at.

12-11-2011, 04:53 PM	#10
Mike Cash Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Japan Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,950 Original Poster	No, I pointed out the correlation between tagging and photos with views. I didn't post my total views in my initial post because I thought it was irrelevant. You wanted to pooh-pooh my point by showing your totals to show that you get views without tagging. Given that, it sort of became necessary to show mine to bolster the point that it does indeed make a difference. (And it isn't 10 million). Why is the human race blessed with people who can't resist the urge to offer opinions on things they profess not to give a damn about?

12-15-2011, 05:12 PM	#11
TechGuru Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 77	Originally posted by boriscleto And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view. Heh, well I get something for the videos I make with my Pentax thanks to Google's AdSense and YouTube. I wish Google had a photo sharing service with AdSense integrated.

12-21-2011, 11:39 AM	#12
tonyjayice Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Photos: Albums Posts: 151	Originally posted by boriscleto: And now that you are getting a huge number of views, how is it worth the effort? It's not like you are getting paid by the view. Originally posted by TechGuru Heh, well I get something for the videos I make with my Pentax thanks to Google's AdSense and YouTube. I wish Google had a photo sharing service with AdSense integrated. ..AAaand the more people who see your photos/videos, the more likely you'll be noticed by your work; by someone who might want to pay you..

12-21-2011, 12:53 PM	#13
loco Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,846	Flickr is currently the easiest and best way I'm aware of for someone who's just getting into photography to get their photos "out there" to be seen. While I have no expectations of ever being paid for my photos, I do care enough about them to want people to see them. The social aspect of the site not only provides a good way to get views but also a good way to get familiar with other people's work which in turn often provides inspiration. While many photos (like mine!) may be crappy, there are some really wonderful images on Flickr. In addition to tagging/keywording, joining and adding photos to appropriate groups is a very good way to get your pictures seen.

12-21-2011, 02:19 PM	#14
sjwaldron Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,235	I agree with you Mike. Tagging will absolutely help increase views. Just look at it from a computer science perspective. The computer needs something to index and textual data is currently the easiest and most effective type. I think someday search will be powerful enough to index based on visual content, but I think that's still way off. Until then, without tags or descriptions/titles, a photo won't be easy for people to notice. -------------------------------------- As others have said, I think Flickr could do a lot more with things like making lens data truly and easily search-able. I for one would like to be able to select from a list of lenses and see photos for that. It's hard enough finding the camera statistics page (Why on earth do they hide interesting stuff like that?) I have over 82,000 views at the moment, but usually cull out photos every year and my tagging isn't too detailed. I really don't think I'll be renewing my Pro subscription anymore. Flickr has benefits, but I use Zenfolio for hosting most of my work these days.