There are a few ways that visitors can use to search for your photos.
They can use a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing to find your site and your photos online. For your site to be found in those search engines, you will need to use all Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools available.
In addition to using a search engine, potential clients can also search for your photos using the Search tool found on www.zenfolio.com
That search offers visitors a global search of all publicly accessible photos, galleries and collections from Zenfolio members.
Once they've found your site, potential clients can also use the Search function built in to your site to search for publicly accessible galleries and photos in your site.
Zenfolio Site Search
Potential clients can search for your photos using the Search tool found on the bottom of the main Zenfolio website - www.zenfolio.com
The search can also be accessed using this direct link - www.zenfolio.com/zf/search
This search tool is available to any visitor with or without a Zenfolio account.
In addition to the specific searches, visitors can browse the most Recently Added Galleries and the Most Popular items. They can also browse for photos based on Category.
When a search is performed, the text entered is matched against titles, captions, keywords, and categories of photographs and galleries.
As a photographer, you should try to include as much information as you can about the photos to make them easy to find. At the very least, assign a category and include a few keywords.
See the Help section on assigning Categories and Keywords to your galleries and images.
Keep in mind that descriptions can be provided for galleries and photographs separately, so you can assign specific categories and keywords to individual photographs while keeping gallery descriptions more generic.
It is also possible to exclude any gallery or photograph from being displayed in search results.
The Search tool built in to your site
In addition to the Search tool on Zenfolio's home page, each Zenfolio user's site also includes an individual search function as well. This search tool allows visitors to search through that site's photos for images specific to their needs.
For your photos to be found, it is important to enter title and caption information for your photos as well as keywords and categories.
This search tools can be displayed on the home page, in the header or in the footer. The header and footer can be displayed in all pages in your site allowing the search tool to be displayed in all pages.
It is also possible to create a link to the site's Search page and display the link in the Site Menu. This would be an alternative way to allow site visitors to search through the site without displaying the actual search field in the home page, header or footer.
It is also possible to exclude any gallery or photograph from being displayed in search results.
The default setting for your Zenfolio pages limits the search feature to your galleries and photos only. You can change this at any time if you would like to allow the search to include photos from all Zenfolio members.
To allow site visitors to search all Zenfolio photos
First go to Customize Website View.
In your account, hover your mouse pointer over Website then click on Customize Website.
The page will refresh with a new customization menu at the top, confirming that you are in the Customize WebsiteView.
- In Customize Website View, click Site Settings.
- Go to the General tab if it is not already selected.
- Check the box Include option to search all Zenfolio photos in search fields.
- Click Apply to save your changes.
- Publish your changes before exiting Customize Website View to make those changes live on your site.
