What are keywords?

Keywords are the special words that help Search Engines index your site. These are the words Internet Surfers type into Search Engines, to find web sites. The words we all "Google".


Keywords on a Ning Network versus Web Pages:

On a Ning Network, keywords are added via the Manage/Network Information/Keywords. On regular web pages (outside of a Content Management System like Ning), keywords are added via meta tags. See example #1 below. You do not need this example for a Ning Network. I'm including it, for a sense of understanding keywords. You use the Manage/Network Information page to enter your meta tag keywords.


Example #1:

<meta name="keywords" content="keyword, another keyword, one more keyword, keyword" />

Important Note: From Ning Network Information page, enter quotes around double keywords. Then, Ning interprets them correctly and removes the quotes.

Keyword Importance:
Not only are keywords important from your Network Information page, they are important all over your site.

In addition to your regular keywords, Search Engines will pick up keywords from your site title, menu links, your site description, your tagline, tag clouds, and especially from the top-most text blocks of your home page.


A Great Little Keyword Secret:

Keywords are also picked up from some of your image files. How? When you add an image, be sure to add an Alt="text". If you add an image in a text box, add some special keywords to your image - - within your img src HTML TAG. I will show you an example below, #2.


Example #2:

<img src="image_filename" alt="Enter keywords for your image. Don't enter many.That could hurt more than help, with some Search Engines. The no-no is called stuffing."
  />

Important Note: The ALT TAG for images is actually used to indicate what the image is, when a site visitor cannot display or load images. The idea behind this keyword secret: If "pets" is an important keyword, use an image of a pet, and then the ALT TAG is appropriate. Also, go ahead and add a few more to the ALT, like "dogs, cats".


Keyword Density:

Did you know that words within your pages (like text boxes) that are in bold, have more weight with Search Engines?

If you have a Ning Network where the word "pets" is very important, make sure you use the HTML TAG for bold. Simply put, from a Ning textbox, select your special keyword. If you don't know the code for bold, just click on the B from the formatting bar at the top of text box.