Keywords Guidelines

Add correct keywords

What are keywords?

Keywords are a type of metadata. Like all other types of metadata, they describe content. So the keywords metadata field consists of any number of words describing page content.

Keywords are the most important metadata because they lead search engine users to webpages.

What are valid keywords?

A valid keywords field contains individual words or phrases, each separated by a comma or a semi-colon. To be valid, keywords must describe actual page content.

What keywords should I use?

Every webpage will have different keywords.

• Each key phrase should be no longer than two or three words.
• Remember to use plurals (for example, use 'arts', not 'art').
• Include commonly misspelled words (such as 'enviroment').
• Include full words, abbreviations and variants (such as 'statistics', 'stats' and 'statistical').
• Use plain English, not jargon (for example, use 'bins', not 'refuse collection').
• Avoid common words (such as 'the' and 'Internet').

Remember, the more specific your keywords are, the better the chance people who find your webpage through search engines will actually benefit from its content.

Do you have an example?

The keywords metatag for a webpage about Community Development should look like this:

<meta
name="Keywords"
content="community; communities; rural; environment; enviroment; anti-social behaviour; ASB; economic; partnership; safety; arts; culture" />

Keywords in forms and PDF documents

Separate each keyword or key phrase using a semicolon. Keywords for the Community Development page mentioned above should be displayed thus in LiveCycle or Acrobat:

community; communities; rural; environment; enviroment; anti-social behaviour; ASB; economic; partnership; safety; arts; culture.