Excellent metadata (descriptions and keywords) is a crucial element in ensuring customers can discover your content when searching on Shutterstock.com. Here are some best practices to help you make the most of your metadata.
Your description (title) and keywords serve different purposes and call for different approaches, but some guidelines apply equally to both. For example, always be respectful and accurate when representing people’s identities, and never include personally identifiable information.
Description/Title
Great content descriptions (titles) are unique and detailed. They read like a sentence or phrase and not like a list of words. Think of your descriptions as news headlines: try to answer the main questions of Who, What, When, Where, and Why, but also capture the mood and emotion behind your content.
DO | DO NOT |
✅ Use detailed, descriptive sentences or phrases to detail the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of your content. | ❌ Do not merely list keywords as your description. |
✅ Create a description that uniquely identifies your content. | ❌ Avoid repeating words or phrases |
✅ Include helpful details about angle, focus, etc. | ❌ Do not include links, specific camera information, and trademarks (unless it is relevant for Editorial content only) |
Keywords
Great keywords are detailed and precise. They relate directly to what is in the image or video, either by describing what it shows or what it might represent. The keywords for each of your images or videos should be precisely tailored to that individual work.
DO | DO NOT |
✅ Use specific and unique words (or compound words) | ❌ Do not enter unrelated terms or concepts |
✅ Stay between 7 and 50 keywords | ❌ Do not repeat the same words or compound words |
✅ Remember to include broader topics, feelings, concepts, or even associations | ❌ Do not include links, specific camera information, and trademarks (except for Editorial content) |
An Illustrative Example
Description/title |
|
✅ Good example: This title provides a clear and complete description of the image. | ❌ Bad example: Too short and general, not enough information included. |
Seamless pattern of a Shiba Inu dog with blue, red and pink floral background elements. | Dog Pattern |
| ❌ Bad example: Just a list of keywords. |
| Pattern. Background. Dogs. Flowers. |
Keywords |
|
✅ Good example: All keywords are relevant and encompass various aspects of the image and ways to find it. | ❌ Bad example: Overuse and repetition of keywords as well as use of unrelated keywords (also known as spamming.) |
Illustration, graphic, color, wallpaper, textile, background, creative, design, decorative, art, pattern, modern, yellow, dog, shiba inu, gold, flower, blue, natural, seamless, floral | Shiba Inu dog, flowers, cats, people, doctor, Husky, dog, dogs, dogging, dogged, doggy, dog standing, dog sitting, dog walking, smiling dog, golden dog |
For general information on Shutterstock’s metadata requirements, see the Content Publishing Standards: Contextual Metadata article.
For specific keyword suggestions, visit the Top Keywords section in our recent Content Briefs.