Thousands of art buyers visit Medical Illustration Sourcebook each month to view a wide variety of medical and scientific portfolios in hopes of finding an artist to bring their next project to life. When searching for artists that specialize in particular styles, techniques or subjects, creatives from around the world use the Keyword Specialty Search and Image Search features of our site. Understanding how these features work allows our artists to direct creatives towards their portfolio, where they can effectively increase the visibility needed to secure work opportunities.
As part of our comprehensive web + print marketing program, you have unlimited 24/7 access to upload images or animations to your Medical Illustration Sourcebook portfolio. When you upload new images, you have the option of choosing Keywords, a Title, an Author, and a Description. Each one of these elements is crucial to your online exposure on Medillsb.com. The image below showcases the keywords listed on our specialty search engine, which are divided into the categories subject, market, and style/technique. Making sure to include all applicable keywords for your uploaded images will add your work to the selected categories when a creative uses our site to search for an artist.
The Image Search feature of our website highlights more specific keywords by allowing art directors to search a few relevant words, which are often more detailed terms that may not appear in the categories above. Here’s where the Title and Description come into play. The example below highlights how including descriptive and detailed information further increases an image’s ability to be discovered through searching a wide range of topics. The medical illustration below by artist Nicole Rager Fuller makes sure to include the terms *Neurons* and *Memory* in the title, and the terms *Alzheimer’s* and *Parkinson’s* in the image’s description.
If an art director either used the Image Search feature to look up *Alzheimer’s* or if they used the Keyword Speciality Search feature to look for *Disease Management* images, Fuller’s image would most certainly appear in the search results. However, if she had uploaded this image to her portfolio without keywords, how would creatives find her unless they were already looking for her profile specifically?
Furthermore, the best way to increase your online visibility on Medillsb.com is to make sure to be as descriptive as possible when uploading your images. Remembering to include detailed information regarding the content of your work may just be the reason you land your next work opportunity!
