Keyword Phrases

[Neone]

Is it okay to use phrases as keywords instead of using single words? I used a couple of phrases as keywords for my first two articles. My articles were accepted, and the editor didn't tell me that I needed to change the keywords so I assumed that I had done it correctly. But later I did some more research and discovered that I should only use single words rather than phrases. Will this cause my articles to not be found by potential buyers? (I certainly hope not because I tried to go back and edit the keywords, but was unable to do so for some reason.)

[Isabelnewth]

Hi, I assume you are writing on spec rather than for a request, as you mention buyers finding the article, and you mean the keywords that you enter near the bottom of the submission form. I don't think the editors particularly pay attention to the words you put in as key words on the submission form, and in fact I often don't put them in though I have no idea whether that matters or not.....I see that some of the searches recorded on the 'writing ideas' section are for a two word phrase, 'social media', so I should think a short phrase would work ok.

But if you really want to change an article that's been approved, you need to delete it from the catalogue and resubmit the edited version, but beware, you may get another editor who finds new faults with it!

Cheers.

[Neone]

Thank you for your reply. That relieved my mind!

[PaulMaplesden]

Hi, I assume you are writing on spec rather than for a request, as you mention buyers finding the article, and you mean the keywords that you enter near the bottom of the submission form. I don't think the editors particularly pay attention to the words you put in as key words on the submission form, and in fact I often don't put them in though I have no idea whether that matters or not.....I see that some of the searches recorded on the 'writing ideas' section are for a two word phrase, 'social media', so I should think a short phrase would work ok.

But if you really want to change an article that's been approved, you need to delete it from the catalogue and resubmit the edited version, but beware, you may get another editor who finds new faults with it!

Cheers.

Yes, this happened to me - Articles that were originally accepted got rejected by another editor, just because I had to resubmit with new keywords and price

[Courtney]

I use long-tail keywords all the time. I figure many people who are looking for a subject might use long tail keywords in CC's search engine to find exactly what they are looking for, just like someone searching on Google. For instance, someone who typed in nutrition would find endless articles, most might not relate to their needs. Someone searching for nutrition for children might find articles more tailored to their tastes only. I would keep them and continue using them. It might help more specific buyers find your articles easier. At least I hope that is the way the keyword thing works on here.

[Pellucidean]

You should be able to edit keywords after an article is accepted… I've always been able to do so, and when I just checked again, I was still able to.

More generally, I don't think editors care at all what you put in the keyword section, so you might as well put whatever you think will help clients find your articles.