Titles and keywords are a crucial part of how customers discover your content on Shutterstock. If they are incomplete, inaccurate, or incorrectly formatted, your submission may be rejected.
1. Titles for commercial content
Titles must:
Be in English.
Be a complete descriptive sentence of at least five words.
Accurately describe everything in the image or clip.
Exclude special characters.
Avoid single words separated by commas, as this looks like a list of keywords rather than a proper title.
Example of a strong title:
Night shot from city of [name of the city] with illuminated buildings in the skyline against dark blue sky.
More details:
2. Titles for editorial content
Editorial titles must follow a specific format.
Learn more here: Why was my content rejected for Editorial Caption?
3. Keywords
Common rejection reasons:
Repeated words or phrases. (There is no need to repeat words; search still works with single entries.)
Keywords that are irrelevant or incomplete.
Useful resources:
4. Metadata standards
All titles and keywords must comply with Shutterstock’s metadata policies.
Full documentation: Content Publishing Standards – Contextual Metadata
5. Key points to remember
Always use clear, descriptive titles in English, at least five words long.
Do not use keyword lists as titles.
Follow editorial caption guidelines for editorial content.
Avoid repeating keywords unnecessarily.
Ensure all metadata follows Shutterstock’s official standards.