Question about using keywords when submitting articles.

Mary Shows · Post by **Mary Shows** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:08 am

I have not been putting anything in the field for keywords when submitting articles and I am wondering if I should be. Is this feature to help buyers find your articles? Should I just choose words that most closely associate with my topic? I apologize if this is a dumb question. I am pretty new at this and would appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Mary

Keesa · Post by **Keesa** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:20 am

I usually put in keywords that I think people will use when searching for articles like mine.

Mary Shows · Post by **Mary Shows** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:44 am

Thanks for the reply, Keesa. I will use some keywords from now on. Do you just list the words with commas in between?

Keesa · Post by **Keesa** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:19 am

I usually include spaces and commas, but I think as long as the commas are there, it would work, with or without spaces. Make sure you start with your most prominent keywords first. I don't know how CC's search engine works, but as a general rule of thumb, the most important keywords should be placed at the beginning of the list.

Ed · Post by Ed » Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:02 am

This is a good discussion. Lots of people include keywords that no one would search for, or that are too general to be of any use, like modifiers. Modifiers or adjectives are generally not good keywords. In addition, using the plural is more acceptable - most people search for the plural of the word before they'll search for the singular form.

bad keywords:
history
life
shoe
blurry

better keywords:
Oklahoma history
old age
shoes
blurry photos

So a keyword list would look like this:
Oklahoma history, old age, shoes, blurry photos
NOT
Oklahoma, history, old, age, shoe, shoes, blurry, photos

No one will search for "old" or blurry - these are modifiers. Shoes come in pairs, no one wants information on a single shoe. History is too general, but Oklahoma history is helpful.

Does this make sense/help?
Ed

Mary Shows · Post by **Mary Shows** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:33 pm

Thanks for the replies and yes that helps. I am trying to learn how to choose good keywords for my articles. I have a couple of other questions. Is there a limit on the number of keywords you can choose? Not that I have that many in mind, I am just wondering. Also, does the keyword have to be an actual word in your article? For instance, I wrote an article on safe boating. The word "recreation" comes to mind as a search term, however, that word is not actually in my article. I apologize if these are dumb questions. Again, I am new at this.
Thanks for any and all help.
Mary

Ed · Post by Ed » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:03 pm

There is no limit, but as for your other question, I don't know. The article search feature is a known weakness that is being considered carefully, so I don't know what the limitations are/will be. I would be inclined to include "recreation" if you think it fits. It would be different if these keywords were for websites - that would be a big no-no. However, if the word helps customers find articles they may be interested in, all the better for everyone.

However, we've had a couple of instances with people going haywire with keywords that weren't relevant. I highly recommend NOT including the keyword "sex" in an article on lampshades.

Thanks!
Ed

catnipp333 · Post by **catnipp333** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:21 am

Just my 2 cents -- I use the text analyzer online & list the words (not all because they will give you ALL) that are 2% of the article. I "thought", to be a keyword, it has to be at least 2%????

Catnipp333

Keesa · Post by **Keesa** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:29 am

I used to write keyword articles, and the requirement was 1.5% keyword density. But in a case like this, there would be no reason to include the word "recreation" in an article, and yet it would clearly be the sort of article one would wish to find if one was searching for recreation topics, I would say include it.

But yes, Ed's example was a good one of keywords that wouldn't be included in a list. Talk about totally irrelevant!