Did you know that you can add titles, captions, keywords and alt attributes to your images, Groups and Galleries? Editing these details enables website visitors to find images on your website via the Search feature, and also serves to improve your Search Engine Optimization by helping search engines catalog the contents of your website.
If you’d like your site and its contents to be displayed in web search results, it’s important that you fill in these fields with descriptive text that accurately describes the contents of the image, Group, or Gallery.
In addition to titles, captions, keywords and alt attributes; EXIF and IPTC metadata information also helps to provide context information about your images for SEO purposes. As long as this information is included in your original files, Zenfolio will correctly read and display relevant EXIF and IPTC fields during the uploading process. You also have the option to edit metadata fields post-upload using the Bulk Metadata Update feature.
Finally, if you’d like to use the original file name as the image Title, you can simply check a box to do this for all of your images automatically upon Upload.
Click these links for more details on each data field.
You also have the option to edit these metadata fields using the Bulk Metadata Update feature!
Also see this guide for more information on using original files name as photo titles.
Editing Details in the Original Photos Page
- In the Main Menu of your account, go to Photos.
- In the Organizer, click to select the item containing the image, Gallery, Group or Collection you would like to edit, or double-click it in the Main Area. Thumbnails will load in the Main Area and the Title will display at the top.
- In the Main Area, click to select a thumbnail of the item you would like to edit. The thumbnail will become highlighted and related information will be loaded in the Details column.
If you're editing a Group, Gallery or Collection, do not click on any images or thumbnails within it. You can go directly to Group Details, Gallery Details or Collection Details under the Details Column to edit that item's details and information. - Click on Group Details, Gallery Details, Collection Details or Photo Details section under the Details Column (the name varies based on the item). The editable description fields will be displayed in the Details Column.
- Enter the desired information into the appropriate fields. Scroll below for more details on each field.
- Choose the category that best describes the item.
- Click Save when you've finished editing the item- or click Next Photo to save and edit the next photo.
Note: The above steps can be applied to multiple selected items as one operation. Hold the Control key on your keyboard (Command key on a Mac) while clicking on thumbnails to highlight and select multiple thumbnails at once. You can then go to the Details panel and edit the Details. The new Details data will apply to all of the selected items.
Click Here to skip ahead past the New Photos Page instructions
Editing Details in the New Photos Page
- In the Main Menu of your account, go to Photos.
- In the Organizer, click to select the Gallery or Group item containing the image, Gallery, Group or Collection you would like to edit; or double-click the thumbnail image in the Main Area. Thumbnails will load in the Main Area and the Title will display at the top.
- In the Main Area, click to select a thumbnail of the item you would like to edit. The thumbnail will become highlighted.
If you're editing a Group, Gallery or Collection, do not click on any images or thumbnails within it. You can go directly to Details to edit that item's details and information. - Click on Details. A panel will appear on the right side of the page.
- Enter the desired information into the appropriate fields. Scroll below for more details on each field.
- Choose the category that best describes the item.
- Click Save when you've finished editing the item
Note: The above steps can be applied to multiple selected items as one operation. Hold the Control key on your keyboard (Command key on a Mac) while clicking on thumbnails to highlight and select multiple thumbnails at once. You can then go to the Details panel and edit the Details. The new Details data will apply to all of the selected items.
Name/Title
First of all, why add a Title? Search engines recognize text, not pictures; so, Titles actually present an added opportunity to describe your images to search engines. Simply put, Titles are highly recommended for SEO purposes. You can change the Name/Title of an image, Gallery, Group or Collection at any time, and doing so will not break the original external links to it.
The Name/Title can be edited in the Group Details, Gallery Details, Collection Details or Photo Details sections within the Details column, or simply by adding/editing text directly under the thumbnails in the main window (seen in the image below).
You also have the option to automatically Title an image with its file name by simply checking a box that says Copy from file name.
Caption
What do I do with a Caption? Similar to using Titles, Captions present an opportunity to describe your images to search engines in a more thorough way, by using normal words and sentences (instead of a brief Title). Because of this, Captions are highly recommended for SEO purposes.
The Caption can be edited in the Group Details, Gallery Details, Collection Details or Photo Details sections within the Details column.
Captions added to a Group, Gallery or Collection may be displayed in that item's Thumbnails page on your website, while Captions added to single images may be displayed in the image's Photo Page on your website.
Editing Photo Copyright
How do I add or change Copyright? Most cameras automatically embed a copyright into the image's IPTC data. When the image is uploaded to Zenfolio, the IPTC data containing the copyright is automatically read and applied to the image. The copyright is then displayed in the image's Photo Page.
But, if you want or need to, you can also edit the Copyright of an image after Upload and at any time. The newly provided copyright info will then be displayed in the images' Photo Page.
Please keep in mind that displaying incorrect Copyright next to an image has legal consequences and you should only claim copyrights to images captured by you. You should change the Copyright if it is not taken by you, or consider removing the photograph from your account altogether.
Alt Attribute
What is an Alt Attribute? The Alt Attribute is the text that’s usually displayed in place of the image while it’s still loading, or when it can’t be displayed. It’s simply another way to index your images for search engine use, which, you guessed it, is great for search engine optimization.
By default, the Alt Attribute of an image is set to be the same as the Title of the image, but you can change the Alt Attribute of a photograph at any time.
Keywords
What are keywords and why use them? Keywords are used in conjunction with the Search feature and tend to be a popular means for website visitors to find certain images and Galleries on your website. In addition, adding any number of content indicating keywords and keyword phrases to images and Galleries is recommended simply for SEO purposes, as keywords provide yet another way for you to describe your images and Galleries to search engines.
Want to use more than one word in a keyword? Awesome. Simply use commas to separate keywords and keyword phrases, and use quotation marks to surround several keywords together. For example, “winter storm” or “Yellowstone National Park”.
We do recommend using only relevant terms in these fields, and beware of keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is when many words are added to the keywords field that are not highly relevant to the subject matter of the image. Repeating the same keywords can also be considered as Keyword Stuffing. This will have a negative effect on your site's SEO and will cause search engines to not display your site in search results.
Assigning Category
Why assign a category? Like keywords, Categories can be used in conjunction with the Search feature on your website to find relevant images, Galleries, and Collections, and serve as an enhancement opportunity for search engine optimization. You can actually assign a Category to any image, Gallery or Collection simply by editing the item’s details within the Details column on the Photos page.
Just so you know, Zenfolio will continue to add new categories to the list for you to choose from; but if you have a good suggestion in the meantime, feel free to send it on over to us using this Contact Us form.