USERS TYPE IN WORDS OR PHRASES to search the Internet for things that interest them. Search engines match those words and phrases to specific web pages and then display the corresponding URL links. Users then review the links that the search engine provides.  

Search engines initially use a web page's list of keywords to find a web page for users. They are essential to web success. Without well thought-out keywords, web pages are often lost in cyberspace.  

Although all keywords are important, the first ten keywords are of utmost importance. Search engines give more weight to the first ten keywords than to any other. 

To direct users toward web pages, text writers prepare a list of 100-200 keywords.  

What makes a good keyword? Good keywords are general enough for anyone to use and yet focused on the purpose of a web page.  

To find keywords that work best with your web page's focus, you can do a few things.

• First try to think of what your users will type into a search engine when they are looking for what you are offering.
• Second, go online and find companies that are competitors. View their pages’ keywords. The keywords can be viewed in a page's source. A page’s source is written in HTML code. You can view the source of any page by calling up the web page, and then clicking on the “View” button on the browser. A drop-down window should appear. In that window, click on “source.” Once the HTML code appears, look for a line toward the top of the document that says, “<META HTTP-EQUIV='Keywords' CONTENT=," "<meta NAME='KEYWORDS' CONTENT=," "<meta name='keywords' content=," or a similar term. Following that notation is a list of the web page's keywords. 

Each keyword is different if one letter is different. For example, "online" is different than "on-line." The more combinations you have for your keywords, such as "write," "writes," "writer," and "writers," the better chance your page has of being found by the right users. 

When typing your keywords, use small and not capital letters. Most search engines will match your keywords to a user's search even if the user has typed his search in capital letters. If a web text writer has typed keywords with capital letters, though, the search engine will not necessarily show a match unless the exact same letters are capitalized in the search.  

Finally, if you look at enough "sources" for competing web pages, you will notice that some include commas between keywords and others only include spaces. Commas delineate individual words and phrases. Spaces allow words to stand alone or be combined in a search. I prefer using blank spaces, but whichever you choose to list your keywords, be consistent. 

Example Lists of Keywords:

To help you understand some of the terms and phrases that could be included in a keyword list, I have made a generic list for all types of writers. Look through these keywords for terms that directly relate to the purpose of your web page. Remember to put the ten most important keywords at the front of the list. Keywords do not have to be in alphabetical order. They are only in alphabetical order below for your ease of use. 

Example of

KEYWORDS FOR WRITERS:

(your name) (names of your books) (name of your publisher) activity activities adult adults adventure adventures advertising advice agent agents article articles arts asked association associations author authors autograph autographed autographs award best biography book books booklist booklists books bookstore bookstores boy boys business center chick chick-lit child child's children children's class classes classic classics classroom classrooms club clubs college colleges collegiate communicate communication commercial competition competitions computer computers concept conference conferences consultant consultants contemporary content contest contests continue continuing copywriter copywriting corporate correspondence council course courses craft creative critique critiques critiquing culture current curriculum curriculums develop development digest directory discussion distance ebook e-book ebooks e-books edit editing editor editorial edits education educational educator egroup e-group electronic email e-mail english enrichment epublishing e-publishing event FAQ fantasy feature features fiction first free freebies freelance freelancer frequently genre getting ghostwriter ghostwriters ghostwriting girl girls guide guided guideline guidelines help historical hobby home homeschool how how-to how-tos humanities idea ideas imagine imagination independent individual infant infant's inform information inspiration inspire inspiring instruct instruction instructor Internet internet job jobs journalism juvenile kid kids language learn learning lesson lessons level library librarian librarians libraries link links list lit literacy literature love magazine magazines marketing material media memoir mentor muse mystery mysteries new newest newsletter newsletters noncredit non-credit nonfiction non-fiction novel novels novelist online on-line online-media organization organizations outreach page parent parents personal picture plan planning poem poems poetry professional program programs proofread proofreader prose provider public publish published publisher publishing question questions quote quotation quotations read reader reading reference references regency register relations resource resources review reviews rhyme romance romances romantic sale sales school schools science site screenplay screenplays screenwriting script scripts self self-guided selling seminar seminars short signing slang speaker speakers store stores story stories student students studies study suspense taught teach teacher teaches teaching technical text textbook to toddler toddler's tos training true tutorial tweener tweeners university verse verses visit visits web web-based webwriter week win winning women women's workshop workshops write writers writer's writes writing young 

What do you do with your keywords?

Once you have your keywords and have made certain that the first ten words are the strongest for your page, give them to your web designer to program into your web page. 

Then once your web pages are complete, you can pay a company to submit your web pages to various search engines or you can go to individual search engines and submit your pages yourself.  

To submit your keywords yourself, go to any search engine's home page and find a link that says something similar to "submit a site" or "publish your page." Fill out the form provided.

Writing Web Page Content. Copyright © 1999 ©2003 by Sheila Seifert. Printed electronically in the United States of America. All rights reserved.  No part of this seminar may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author except by a review or when used for educational purposes where brief passages may be quoted.