Reader Question: Why Do Article Directories Ask Me for My Keywords?

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Originally uploaded by Ieneke

When you're submitting your articles, either manually through the directories themselves or automatically through SubmitYOURArticle.com, you may have noticed a field in the "enter article" page that asks you to insert your keywords.

What exactly is done with the keywords that you type into the keywords box when you're entering your article?

Great question!

The keywords you type in are used on many sites where some keywords are wanted for the meta keywords tags for the page where the article is published. In plain English, meta keyword tags are a technical thing to help Google and the other search engines determine what your article is about. Additionally, these keywords also help search functions on some article directories.

And here's another thing–If you've been submitting articles through SubmitYOURArticle.com, you can look at our own article directory and look up some of your articles.

Find one of your articles and click through to the full article page–look at the URL (the web page address) for the page that your article is on.

Notice anything interesting?

Aha! You see your keywords in the URL–pretty clever!

Yes, those keywords are taken from the information you entered into the Keywords field when you were submitting your article.

This is what many article directories do when they publish your articles–they will use the keyword information you provide when they're creating the URL for the web page where  your article sits. 

Why is it beneficial to have your keywords in your URL?

Having your keywords in the URL makes it easier for Google to establish what the page is about and adds to the keyword power of the web page where your article is published.

When Google is looking at your page it also looks at the information in your URL. Seeing keywords in your URL makes the search engines say “Ahhh, now that gives me better insight into what this page is about!” And when other sites link to you using that URL that contains your keywords, it also tells the same thing.

Not sure about what keywords are or how to use them? 

Check-out these related resources:

What Are Keywords 

How Do I Get Started With Keywords Research? 

How To Appropriately Use Your Keywords In Your Article Titles 

Keywords Are Like An Old Fashioned Library Card Catalog 

Posted: Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 12:00 am
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